So in the past 6 years since I have known T, I have had many, many, MANY little experiences with animals that were really not "normal" to me ... ! I have randomly told different friends about little things that happen, and someone said I need to put them all together for a blog. So here goes...
1. One of the first things I remember (animal wise) with T is when he came to pick me up one night for a "date" with his old black flat-bed truck. He said he had a "surprise" outside and so I was a tid-bit excited! (I'm thinking "roses?") But alas, we walked outside and there on his flatbed truck was a dead baby buffalo. A baby BUFFALO you say? Yes, a baby buffalo. (T says it was a yearling buffalo, but whatever!) My first question is "why is it dead? what happened" the Second question is, "why do YOU have a dead buffalo?" I think the story speaks for itself when T casually explains he is going to skin it to make "chaps" out of it. WHAT? "Chaps?" What the "heck" are "chaps?" But that's a whole other story. SO... we took this buffalo out to the barn that he lived in (that should explain a lot) and hung up the buffalo (which seemed so effortless, but who just hangs buffalos up like it's no big deal?) to skin. WOW. I should have known what was to come!! I would walk in the barn to visit T and come across a full size SKINNED buffalo dripping with blood. Sick. SIDENOTE: Yes, he did make a couple of "beautiful" pairs of chaps. Owen actually wore some for Halloween this past year - there are pics of him on this blog!
2. I am going out of order, but another big memory for me is when we bought a house out in Eagle Mountain with 5 acres. We LOVED it. It was so nice to walk out of the house with just jammies/underwear on and not worry about who could see you. Or walk down the dirt road to the barn and feed the horses and see the new baby kittens. I remember when I was pregnant with Owen I wanted to ride my horse, but didn't dare (because I have a history of "falling" off), so I would take my horse on a walk with me! DON'T. Who does that? Granted we lived on a dirt road up by the mountain and I would just head up a trail, but still. We would go "hiking" together!! But I am rambling because #2 is not even about me taking my horse on a walk. It is about when T brought 3 donkeys home (to rope). He was so excited to tell me that he traded for 3 donkeys. I don't remember what he traded, but the fact is that we now owned 6 horses, 3 donkeys, 2 dogs, and a bunch of new cats. When he brought them home, we met, and I actually liked them OK. Two of them were halfway normal donkeys (as far as donkeys go), and the other was the evil twin brother to Shrek's donkey. He was a little mini one and COULD NOT STAND TO BE FENCED IN. No matter what we did, he would get out and end up eating the hay like he was starving to death. A couple of times I had to get a halter and go get him from up the road and walk him back to our house. I always felt so uncomfortable walking the donkey back...you just can't hold your head high and strut with a donkey on a rope following you. The best is when I was at work and a neighbor called (that I really didn't know) to ask if if it was my donkey that was in her yard eating her flowers. Ummmmm.... yep. I guess. That's when it hit me that it was considered MY donkey (I don't know why it wasn't T that she called!) and that we had a donkey problem at our house.
3. Without going into too much detail (because it is embarrassing), I have drug a dead racoon around our yard on a rope for the hound dogs to chase. I don't even want to explain, other than that was an all-time low (and T wasn't home to do it - and supposedly it NEEDED to be done). Macie, my niece, was over at our house, and she wanted to do it, so I said "go ahead!" Her mom, Rae, came to pick her up in the middle of it all, and was disgusted that her daughter was dragging around a dead racoon. She made her drop it right then and there and wash her hands. I didn't think much of it - I was going to wash her hands when she was done!!
4. We have a $4000 hound dog at our house "on loan" right now, and a $2000 hound dog. T is trying them out to see if they can really hunt a bear. They better be able to hunt the bear, kill the bear, skin the bear, stuff the bear, and turn into a bear if we want them to - for that much money! (We are NOT BUYING THEM, in case anyone is wondering). So T is gone 1/2 of every week at the Fire Station, or hunting, and the 2 hound dogs are under my supervision. I am used to our other 2 dogs - they obey, they don't bark, they are just genuine good dogs. The hound dogs are good, however, they howl, they poop A LOT, they eat A LOT, and they chew A LOT. I am not used to that. So... I was walking from the back to the front yard, when the $4000 dog named Toad (which I call Frog) got out. I raced to the front yard to catch him. I wasn't about to replace that dog! I got a hold of his collar before he got out of our yard, but he didn't want to come with me. And he is a big dog. So, he ended up knocking me over and dragging me across the yard. On my pregnant belly. I wasn't about to let go of his collar! This actually happened twice before I got him in the back yard. I immediately called T and told him the dogs need to leave SOON. A couple of hours later, I thought it was hilarious. I just hope none of my neighbors saw the whole thing.
5. I didn't know exactly what T was into when we got married. I knew he liked to hunt, but to hunt how I grew up meant that once or twice a year you went camping with the family and shot a deer. Apparently that is not hunting. T hunts elk, deer, bear, lions... not only in Utah, but in any state he can draw a tag and has a connection. If that is not enough, he traps. I was so excited for the fall to be over with one year, and the next thing I know, he is going trapping. Like the mountain men I learned about in 4th grade. Anyhow, if he catches a bobcat the pelt is worth sometimes a couple hundred dollars, so he will skin it and then stretch it out (in our garage). I used to not even go near the garage if there was a dead animal stretched out. But this last winter, I had just got done making some caramel popcorn, and I was so excited to have T taste it. So I waltzed out to the garage, where T was actually skinning a bobcat, and put some popcorn in his mouth. I didn't think much of it, but T thought it was the coolest thing ever...
6. I have gotten bucked off of a couple of really broke horses. I could go into detail, but T would say that I am not telling the truth. I think it was the horses. He thinks it was me. Whatever the case is, I still love riding horses, and I still am lucky to have married a cowboy because I grew up wanting to have my own horses to ride!
7. I have rounded up cows, roped cows, and helped brand cows. I never in a million years thought I would be doing those things. And they were fun!!
8. When we lived in Eagle Mt, we bought our house from a couple that couldn't take their indoor cat with them. So they agreed to sell us the house if we would keep the cat for them. I have always wanted an indoor cat, so I was all for it! I soon learned that indoor cats have way too much hair for me. Also, this was a mouse catchin fool! We would wake up in the mornings to find dead mice in our hallways. He would usually kill them and just leave them as close to our room as possible - like he was giving them to us as a present! He took it too far when he left the guts to a mouse in our bedroom one night. I woke up and thought that T had dropped some gummy bears on the ground, so I picked them up and immediately wanted to puke! From then on, I could barely tolerate that cat. I just coudn't look at him without thinking of that slimy feeling in my hand that one dreadful morning...
These are just a few that I thought of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more! But I have to say that I have enjoyed all the animal experiences I have had. I love animals, and I figure my life would be boring if T wasn't in it to expose me to all these things! Thanks, honey!
