The Animals that Stole Our Hearts
We found
Shanks hiding in the corner of her cage at our local animal shelter where
she had been taken after being found soaking wet and shivering in a road side
ditch. Everyone assumed that she had been born to a feral mother who abandoned
her young kitten because the new creature lacked a hind leg. Adopted at the
age of only 8 weeks, Shanks has been with us now for over 13 years.
Shanks is our happy cat. Her favorite toy is 20oz a soda bottle cap and a leather belt that we long ago gave up trying to get away from her. Despite missing a hind leg, she is as active and healthy as any cat but if humans are around she would much rather be carried than walk on her own. She begins purring as soon as you touch her and she loves to cuddle up on your chest.
One year ago, we found Soleil attempting to keep warm by huddling
under cars in our parking lot and after a few weeks of coaxing managed to
bring her inside. She is approximately 6 years old, friendly to the point
of being clingy, healthy and happy. We haven't figured out what her favorite
food is yet because she will eat almost anything, including olives! Guano
is her favorite playmate, though Guano doesn't seem so sure about this relationship
in which he is not the dominant one.
Soleil is our second cat that is missing a standard cat appendage. In place of her tail, she has a little cottontail-like bob that she twitches when she is excited. We assume that an ancestor was an American Bobtail since it appears to be genetic.
Guano is a
rescue cat of a different kind. His life started in a kitty mill where he
was born the runt of a litter of six kittens. Thinking that the runt would
be difficult to sell, the owner of the mill planned to dispose of the little
guy who was barely a full pound at 6 weeks old. We heard about the little
black cat that no one wanted and decided that we wanted him. His name was
chosen because of his pointy bat ears and his not-so-pleasant penchant for
flatulence. Guano is the term for bat droppings, once so highly valued that
the US actually signed a Guano Declaration, which declared that the US had
the right to collect guano from any where in the world that it was found.
Once in the house, he completely took over and became known as Captain Guano or Capitan for short. He is now almost on foot tall and has a chubby belly that swings side to side when he runs. His favorite foods are yogurt, blueberry if you please, and tuna hold the mayo.
Ghost
Dancer is an adoption we made through Black
Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. Her story is as follows: Of late we have been
keeping Ghost Dancer in the home pastures, due to her extreme wildness and
the fact that we never know when the bullet in her hip might cause suffering.
Ghost Dancer acquired the bullet many years ago, when she was still running
wild in Nevada. She is easily seen, a pretty buckskin mare with blaze face
and a black mane which hangs to her chest. She hates to be noticed and will
even hide behind her own foal to avoid being singled out for attention.
Even with her tradgedy, she has strong friendships with other horses. She is most content when she is with her old friend, Prairie Lark. Despite her years, she still produces foals. They have all been far gentler than their mother, but still possess her strength and agility. Sometimes in winter, the bullet in her hip bothers her a little, but our veternarian agrees that she would die of fright should we confine her to try to take the bullet out.
Black Hills Sanctuary does fantastic work and is always in need of funding to sustain the herd of wild mustangs that roam free across their land. Please consider visiting and adopting a wild mustang.
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