Rikki’s Refuge in Orange County, Virginia, is a 450-acre, no-kill, all species peaceful sanctuary supported solely by donations from kind and loving individuals.
January 3, 2021 Sunday at Rikki’s Refuge
January 3, 2021 Sunday at Rikki’s Refuge
all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals.
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )
Sunrise …. I know some folks who say they’ve never seen one !!! At Rikki’s it means it’s getting light enough to work without your headlamp !!!
How do we decide who lives in a house and who lives in a barn?
We don’t. When ever possible (for their safety, the safety of others, and their health) we let them decide. Some kitties have always lived in barns and hat the thought of indoor confinement. Others have never been outside and the though of cold or wet of muddy paws is horrifying. Some kitties are totally free range cus they come for breakfast and dinner and we can catch them if they have medical needs. Others have aviary like outdoor areas to play in and stay protected. And others stay strictly indoors. Though every indoor area has a kitty door to a day room which is protected outdoor space to get fresh air and play in the grass.
Our goal at Rikki’s is to give each critter the home they find the most ideal.
Just like some of us want to live in the country in no more than a shack but surrounded by nature, trees, looking up at the stars at night. And others want all the comforts and conveniences of city life on the 104th floor of a condo. Each find the other’s life horrifying. And so it is with non-hooman animals too !!!
Why do selfies at Rikki’s always have an animal in them too? Well …. if you work at Rikki’s you are always surrounded and often covered in animals !!!!
Why is it less painful to work at Rikki’s in the winter? Cus you’re wearing more padding. In a snow suit, it feels great when they sink the claws in and climb up to your shoulders. In summer pants, not so much. With a heavy jacket on, the claws that are sunk in to hang on are no problem. In a tshirt, OUCH !!!!
Fuzzy Wuzzy climbs round for her morning smooch.
Then settles in for a ride on the head. See the claws digging into the hat to hold on? In summer, there is no hat!!! I once had a medical practitioner express concern about the little white “sunspots” on my shoulders and suggest I get checked by a dermatologist for skin cancer. Some of them were even raw or scabbed over! I burst out laughing and said that’s not cancer, that’s scars from all the cats who’ve ridden on my shoulders for years!!! They next suggested I get checked out at the loony bin ………. Some people just don’t get it !!!
Is that a Loch Ness Horse ?
Nawwww
Oink oink …….
Maaaaaa …… the goats are always the mischievous ones !!! If anyone can figure out how to get out of a fence, you can count on a goat !!! The ones who promise not to roam off property, or far off into the woods, are granted free range. Those who need a fence for their protection, are encouraged to stay in them !!!
Coooooo Coooooo the singing of the pigeons and doves is so beautiful. They sing at sunrise and sunset.
Pigeons? Do you go catch them in the city? No, they were generally homing pigeons or carrier pigeons or race pigeons. People keep them for competitions. How far away can you drive your pigeon and it still find it’s way home? That doesn’t sound so nice, does it? Some never do find their way home. Some go to other homes asking for help. They usually get turned into the pound. Most have bands on their ankles so the owners can be contacted. Few want a pigeon back who got lost, after all, they lost.
Pigeons are also released at events and supposed to go home. Some people consider it good luck to release them at weddings. Wonder if anyone ever did the stats on that? How do marriages fair when the pigeon fails to find it’s way home? These often end up on someone’s deck looking for food. They’ve never known non-captive life and have no idea how to find their own food. Take the wild out of an animal, and you have an animals that is dependant on humans for survival.
That is where Rikki’s comes in. An animal who’s dependant on humans, and no human wanting to be responsible for that animal for one reason or another. We will take care of them for life. And we don’t ask for any kind of performance out of them. We love them, just because they are who they are. Unconditional love.
Roosters? Why so many roosters?
Did you know that most roosters are killed shortly after hatching? Yup, nobody wants them. They sing so wonderfully. At sunrise, sunset, all day and all night. Anything catches their interest and they sing out that coooocckkkkkaaaaadooooodllllllldoooooo over and over …. they notice a new star, an airplane overhead …. Lots of people don’t love hearing their voice at all hours. People want hens for eggs. Roosters have no purpose.
In most industries they aren’t even worth keeping alive till they’re big enough to eat. Not that we at Rikki’s think that is an appropriate thing to do with any animal. Egg layers have been breed to be egg layers and urn them out faster than a natural chicken would. And “broilers” and others have been breed to have giant chests (everybody wants a chicken breast right? But no silicone!) or huge thighs, for people to eat. Ugghhhh …..
Ducks and Geese? How do they end up at Rikki’s? Geese are noisy by some people’s standards. At Rikki’s we think their honking and talking is all a wonderful part of nature. And if they out talk the humans … oh well … they usually have more interesting things to say anyway !!!! But their worse offense that makes people want rid of them? They poop. As if the people dumping them didn’t !!! They sit around on your porch, they poop. They poop where they are. Not all animals have the sensory input to know when it’s coming and manage it. For some, when it’s time, well it’s just time and drops out. How can we blame them for the way God made them? So we get out the hose and clean up instead !!! That’s what hoomans are for !!!
And peacocks? Yup, people think they are pretty. But gosh do they SCREAM. And that is how they talk. And they tend to wonder too. We’ve woken up to find a new peacock or two at our breakfast buffet. They usually stay. No idea where they come from. And never hear a report of a lost peacock either.
Their screams are very different for different things. The scream of a male to his woman sounds like HEEEEELPPPP in a very high pitched sound. When our first pair of peacocks hadn’t been with us long, I was in the shower one day, all alone at Rikki’s. I hear HEEEEELPPPP HEEEEELPPPP HEEEEELPPPP. I grabbed a towel, shampoo in my hair, and ran out. Nobody around. All silent. I went back to the shower. HEEEEELPPPP HEEEEELPPPP HEEEEELPPPP. Once again nobody answers me when I call, where are you, who’s here?
Sitting on the porch after getting the soap out of my eyes, I hear HEEEEELPPPP HEEEEELPPPP HEEEEELPPPP again. Mr Peacock was on the roof calling to Mrs Peacock on the ground. Finally she listened and joined him on the roof. If you live at Rikki’s, you know what the sounds are for “come here”, “I want food”, “I found food”, “I’m going to beat you up”, cus they are territorial !!!
We all know the stories of dogs and cats and why people “get rid of them”. Adorable big black puppy grows into an untrained, jump all over you, big black dog who’s lost his puppy cuteness. At Rikki’s we think they are adorable al their lives. We especially love our old grey seniors !!!
And the hounds. If they are good for hunting, they lose their homes real quick. At Rikki’s we let you be YOU and don’t ask you to do our bidding or get booted.
And so everyone lives happily ever after at Rikki’s
With YOUR help we can save and provide life long homes to well over 1,000 animals each and every day !!!!
January 3, 2021 Sunday at Rikki’s Refuge
