GEE Funny Farm is Thankful 2017

2017 has been a great year and as Thanksgiving approaches we recognize that we have a lot for which to be grateful!

1. We are grateful for all of you who trusted us with your birthday parties, community events, company parties, day care children, senior citizen residents, graduation parties, surprise parties, sloth encounters, wedding proposals, summer camps, etc. And we are grateful that Fox 6 Real Milwaukee came to visit!

A wedding proposal, our buckling delivered the ring.

100 day celebration at a local school

Photo shoot at Saturn Lounge

Suzanne and Brian with Abish (click the names to see Real Milwaukee)

Farm day at a local library.

2.  We are grateful for all of you who invited us back or came to see us for the second, third, fourth time....

3.  We are grateful for all of the nice people we meet.  I'm sorry that the news is full of reports about how awful people are, because that is NOT our experience!

4.  We are grateful for our animals.  We really have a great animal family.  We are awed every day that we can have such close contact with such wonderful creatures!

5.  We are grateful for all of you who have liked our Facebook page and made comments, liked and/or shared our posts.  You made it possible for the word to get out about us!  

6. We are thankful for all of you who took the time to write a review on Facebook or Gigsalad.com or through email. It helps others have an idea of what to expect, and it makes us feel good because we really do want to do a great job every time!

7. We are thankful for referral partners like Pine Ridge Riding Center, and Bear Den Zoo and Petting Farm, We appreciate the opportunity to work together to meet the wants and needs of prospective customers!

8.  We are grateful for all of the people who help care for our animals.  Our veterinarians, Dr. Loof who has taken care of most of our animals, Dr. Herlugson who takes care of my parrots, and Dr. Johnson who takes care of my horses, our farrier, Gary; our assistants Krystal and Angele; our hay guys, Wayne and Rob who grow the hay that gets us through winter; and our USDA Inspector, Jessica. We will miss Wayne who is retiring someplace warm and sunny.

9. We are thankful for the animal groups we are on where we can exchange ideas and ask questions to learn from the experiences of others!

10. And we are grateful that we live in such a beautiful place.

Thanks to all of you for our best year yet. We've been able to see people for the 4th or 5th time and have been able to do some new things!  We are grateful to all of you for making that happen!

We are Grateful in 2016

2016 has been a great year and as Thanksgiving approaches we recognize that we have a lot for which to be grateful!

1. We are grateful for all of you who trusted us with your birthday parties, community events, company parties, day care children, senior citizen residents, graduation parties, etc.

2.  We are grateful for all of you who invited us back or came to see us for the second, third, fourth time....

3.  We are grateful for all of the nice people we meet.  I'm sorry that the news is full of reports about how awful people are, because that is NOT our experience!

4.  We are grateful for those of you who allowed us to experiment with your group (you know who you are) with animals in training, or trying something new.

5. We are grateful for our animals.  We really have a great animal family.  We are awed every day that we can have such close contact with such wonderful creatures!

Animals we've added since last Thanksgiving...(from the top) Noah the chinchilla
Boaz the Flemish giant rabbit, our mixed flock (though the rooster that is usually
with them didn't come to the door for this picture), and Abish the two-toed sloth.
(below) just one video of Abish...see more on the GEE Funny Farm Facebook page,

6.  We are grateful for all of you who have liked our Facebook page and made comments, liked and/or shared our posts.  You made it possible for the word to get out about us!

7. We are thankful for all of you who took the time to write a review on Facebook or Gigsalad.com or through email. It helps others have an idea of what to expect, and it makes us feel good because we really do want to do a great job every time!

8.  We are thankful for people who have already booked for next year.  What a blessing THAT is!  All of you who have booked for this year and next are helping to pay for the veterinarian care, food, and housing for our animals.

9.  We are grateful for all of the people who help care for our animals.  Our veterinarians, Dr. Loof who has taken care of most of our animals, Dr. Herlugson who takes care of my parrots, and Dr. Johnson who has stepped in to take care of my horses the last two years while Dr. Loof is recovering from a serious illness; our farrier, Gary; our assistants Krystal and Angele; our hay guys, Wayne and Rob who grow the hay that gets us through winter; and our USDA Inspector, Jessica. We are also grateful to Angele and her husband, Gary, for the beautiful cabinets they brought us for our animal food prep area.  It is wonderful to have so much storage and a great place to prep food!

The great cabinets we have to store dishes, utensils, and food.
They are wonderful!

10. And we are grateful that we live in such a beautiful place. We have to say that we are enjoying the lovely weather right now and we are grateful that winter is a little slow in coming.

One of our pastures....

Thanks to all of you for our best year yet. We've been able to see people for the 4th or 5th time and have been able to do some new things!  We are grateful to all of you for making that happen!

Memorable Moments from Visits To and From GEE Funny Farm

  

Lizzy, the bearded dragon



We pulled up to a preschool and started unloading animals.  As I took out Lizzy, the bearded dragon, children in the playground area called out:

“Hey, does that dragon have wings?”

I answered, “No, she doesn’t have wings.”
“Does it breathe fire?”
“No, sorry, she is just a plain ol’ bearded dragon.” I’m thinking to myself, “Wow!  I hope they aren’t disappointed!”
Then I pulled out Sariah, the goose.

Sariah the goose being pet,
even if she doesn't lay golden eggs.

“Does that goose lay golden eggs?”
I gulped, “No, she is just a plain old goose.  Wow!  You guys are going to be a tough audience!”
They laughed.  The teacher said, “Umm, we’ve been reading fairy tales.”
They were a great group and they liked Lizzy and Sariah, even if they were just plain ol’ animals.

 I start out each event asking, “Who here is an animal trainer?”  I let kids who raise their hand tell me which animal they trained and what they trained it to do.  I mentioned this to the USDA Inspector. 

“What is something they said they’ve trained?” 
“Well, one kid said he trained his pitbull to sit.”
“Tell them to teach their pitbulls “release!” she muttered.

 Other things kids have trained:

• A giraffe…to run.
• A dog to sit. (more than one has said this)
• A cat to use the litter box.
• A cat to stand up for a treat.
• A bird to talk when it is told to (I needed to meet with this trainer since I can't do that!)
• A train to go on the track.

We were at one event that had really been misrepresented to us.  There were too many people and we had too few helpers and our animals weren’t secure.  My assistant at the time was shocked to look over and see a child squeezing one of our chicks.  An adult was standing there watching and asked, “How many chicks do you lose at events like this?” My assistant grabbed the chick and put it into a traveling cage and snapped, “None!  We don’t do events like this!” (Well, I thought it was memorable.)

We were at a camp for kids with special needs and every time he pet an animal one young man sang out, “I did it!”  He was so excited about it.  It was fun!

We were at a preschool and one of the little boys was very afraid of the animals at first and didn’t want to stay.  By the time we left, he had pet all of them (early on I remembered the young man who sang out, “I did it” and suggested that this little boy say it, too, and he did, with a big grin) – that was a successful visit!

Gabriel

We have Gabriel, a Shetland wether (a male that has been neutered), and he has had multi-denominational experiences.  He has gone to one Christian church to give people an idea of what a lamb might look like that would be slaughtered as a Pascal lamb.  He stood out in the foyer and allowed people to pet his regal body and he went up on stage and stood regally, after he ‘marked’ his area with a few droppings.  Gabriel also showed up at a Jewish family’s home as the Pascal offering as a practical joke (we’d been promised that he would remain unscathed – which we already knew since in both cases he was NOT unblemished).  After we made that visit, the family walked us down to the Rabbi’s home where we surprised HIS family. 

We had a group at the farm and during the hayride we got StUcK!  Everyone had to get out of the hay wagon while David got the tractor out (luckily he was in his office and ran out to help).  All the moms and the kids were very good sports!!  They waited patiently and then reloaded when David was ready!  We are thankful for visitors (and people we visit) that go with the flow!!

The front duck is a runner duck.

We went to the birthday party of a 2-year-old.  We’d been told that he was an animal lover and it was no exaggeration!  He sat and petted animal after animal for over an hour.  His birthday gift?  A couple of ducks!  He made frequent visits to a neighbor’s where he had fallen for the runner ducks the neighbor had.

Another 2-year-old wasn’t very interested in the animals at his party, but one of the other little boys was ready to go with us and an even younger girl pet every animal much to the surprise of her mother!

We were at an event where there were chairs set up for the children with the plan for the adults to sit back at tables behind.  The organizer was shocked when adults sat in the first row!!  And once we went to an assisted living place.  The plan was for there to be three groups that would come out so it wouldn’t be crowded and everyone would have an opportunity to meet and pet the animals.  We were asked to set up in a patio area.  To our surprise, and the surprise of the organizer, EVERYONE came out at once.  It was very crowded, but the people were so excited and very patient as we made our way around walkers and wheelchairs and people with canes.  In spite of the crowd, it was fun! It just goes to show that people are never too young or too old to get involved with our animals!!

What Do You Do With a Kangaroo ... Er, Wallaby?

Some people keep dogs, some people keep cats, some people keep rabbits. We’ve got a wallaby (and then some, but let’s just focus on the wallaby here). We’ve done the wallaby thing before so you’d think (as we did) that we were not novices when we picked up Tabitha in the spring of this year. We had Clancy for over 13 years so we thought we had some experience, and we were right. We did have some experience. After all, we kept Clancy close by and we bottle-fed him. However, Clancy never did bond in the same way as Tabitha has. We can’t say exactly why. It may have been because he was older, or perhaps because he had a different personality, or because we didn’t know what we have learned this time. It also may have been because we got Clancy in January, so he was ready to move outside in May or June of that year. When all is said and done, this time around, we’re going to have a wallaby under foot for just about an entire year!

Clancy checking out his new shed.

Clancy at about 14 years old.

When you live in a house with a pet wallaby, you’re bound to get inquiries from the slightly envious, or the mildly disgusted, or the intensely curious. I know you’re bound to because we do. So here’s the lay of the Funny Farm household as run [ahem] influenced by a baby wallaby.

9-month-old Tabitha trying to find an itch.

“Where Do You Even Get a Wallaby?”

We got Clancy from one place, but this time we decided to try a different breeder, so we got Tabitha from Fall City Wallaby Ranch outside Seattle. I was lucky enough to be able to stay for several days when I went out to pick her up. Rex, the breeder, really loves his wallabies and kangaroos and spends quality time with them and their offspring. He was well acquainted with Tabitha since he had been bottle-feeding her for almost a month before I got there. He hadn’t intended to “pull her” (meaning remove her from her mother) until I arrived, but her mother became ill, so Rex had to pull her earlier than he wanted, even though I couldn’t be there yet. He really tried to talk me into a different joey because Tabitha was very small, but I loved her immediately and I guess he decided that I’d be okay because he let me bring her home.

Looking out the window to the wallaby, kangaroo, and 
wallaroo enclosures at Fall City Wallaby Ranch.
 If you are ever in Seattle, take the tour!

Rex holding Tabitha (8 months old)

Tabitha and Rex interacting.

“What Do You Feed a Pet Wallaby?”

We buy her milk formula from Wombaroo because it’s specially formulated for wallabies and kangaroos.

I started off having to feed her every four hours. Two of those feeding times meant I had to get up in the middle of my night to feed her and stimulate her to urinate in the playpen ‘litter box.’ This was good news since she has bonded well, but the bad news? I need a lot of sleep and I felt like a new mom. We were glad when we could cut one of the feeding times and instead feed her immediately before I went to bed and the moment I got up.

Now that she is fifteen months old, Tabitha also eats grass, hay (getting her ready for when there is no grass), and a special dry feed made for wallabies and kangaroos called L’il Hopper. Eventually she will graduate to Happy Hopper – same company, but made for older wallabies and kangaroos.

9-month old Tabitha taking a bottle.

10 month old Tabitha out in the grass and weeds.

11-month old Tabitha taking a bottle.

“Is She Litter-Box Trained?”

This is the #1 question that I am asked. Simple answer? Sort of. She is pretty good about urinating in her playpen on doggie pads. The side of the pen has been cut open so she can get in and out easily. Most of the time her scat (feces) is small and firm and can be swept up – because she drops fecal matter everywhere – though mostly on tile floors and doggie pads we have now put down in her ‘favorite’ places. Yes, she has bowel movements when she is in her pouch. Usually it is easily removed – dumping the scat out over the garbage can or outside. 
Once in a while the scat can be looser and messier and harder to clean up from the pouch or wherever. Sometimes she decides to urinate on the tile or the plastic, and sometimes her bowels are loose. Do you recognize the problem here? It is called a tail! Even though she doesn’t step in it, her tail drags through it . . . so we sometimes get trails of, well, whatever.

Occasionally, like when we leave her home alone, Tabitha has been known to leave scat and urine on our bed. So, every morning I cover the bed with a plastic drop cloth and throw a couple of dog pads up there.

“Does She Jump All Over The House?”

Well, speaking of the bed, it is high (even for a bed) -- about 3 feet off the floor (because it has drawers underneath) -- and Tabitha can jump up on it from a sitting position on the floor. This means that she can jump on furniture, tables, chairs, counters, etc. So far she has limited herself to the bed, the hearth, and one of the bathroom counters. We may have encouraged these limitations by making sure every door is closed along the hallway and we have gates up to keep her out of the living room and basement.

Tabitha on our 3 foot high bed. 

The hearth

A bathroom counter...

“What’s It Like Living With a Wallaby?”

What about other aspects of a wallaby as miniature roomie?  

Well, for one thing, she chews on things such as my good sneaker laces, David’s biking gloves, and the straps of her pouches. She has also stripped wallpaper off the wall and chewed on the carpet.  On the bright side, I guess I might finally learn to put things away, I wanted the wallpaper off the wall, and we needed new carpet before Tabitha.

My poor shoelace.

Our poor carpeting and our wallpaper.

Even the toilet paper is not safe!

One of the fun things about Tabitha being in the house!

Tabitha waiting at the door for me.

 For another thing, she doesn’t seem to share her space so well. She hisses at our border collie, Amos.

Her hiss is soft and quiet and isn’t all that intimidating unless you’re an ant. However, he is a passive dog and tries to stay away from her. She will follow him around, and once in a while he finally growls. Soon we will see how she does with our mini pig, Neum. He comes inside at night, but goes directly to his crate, so there hasn’t been much interaction. However, with colder weather coming, he will be inside a lot more. I may have another post when we see how that relationship shakes out.

Then again, there are many great things about having Tabitha in the house. There is still a lot of bonding time. She now comes and demands a bottle when she wants it and she often drinks a little and comes more often during the day. This is probably more what would happen if she was in the wild. I know that my goat kids sip a bit from the doe and play and sip a bit and go, etc. They never stand and drink like the ones I’ve bottle-fed have been expected to. I still get to cuddle her when she is in one of her pouches.

She isn’t crazy about being held without a pouch, but she is very cuddly when she is in one. She still wants attention – and we’d miss that if she was outside. When we take her out and let her do her own thing, she likes it, but she wants me where she can keep an eye on me. That’s really okay, of course, because at fifteen months old, she would still be hanging out with her mom if she were in the wild.

Still, even with all the nice things about having a wallaby close at hand, we will all be happy when spring comes and Tabitha moves into Clancy’s old digs, because, when it comes down to it, a human house isn’t really designed for even the cutest, sweetest little macropod.

Wallaby development for the first 13 months.

Talking Turkey....cuz Turkey Day is Coming --

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it seems appropriate to talk turkey.  Here are some things you might not know about the turkey:

1. With about 600 million turkeys in the world (National Geographic, May 2011), about 90% of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving and 50% consume turkey at Christmas (www.home.aristotle.net/Thanksgiving/trivia-submit.asp  2012).  

A white broadbreasted and a Spanish black heritage turkey -- the same age.

2. Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere, with the first turkeys being domesticated in Mexico and South America (www.infoplease.com/spot/tgturkeyfacts.html  2012), and there is evidence that they have been around for over 10 million years (www.baltimoremd.com/content/turkey1.html  2012). 

Turkeys are curious birds and investigate everything -
and we haven't had one drown in the plastic goose/duck pond,
though my cousin said that she had one that drowned in a trough
(it got in and couldn't get out).

3. Contrary to popular belief and in spite of the musical that I really like (1776), Benjamin Franklin did not go head to head with others in favor of the turkey being the national bird.  The legend seems to have originated with a letter to his daughter about six months after the national coat of arms was accepted with the bald eagle as the national bird.  His letter mainly referenced his feelings about a military fraternity and after finding fault with the society's motives and its concept, he writes:

    Others object to the Bald Eagle, as looking too much like a Dindon, or Turkey. For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country. His a Bird of bad moral Character...Besides his a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. His therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country, tho' exactly fit for that Order of Knights which the French call Chevaliers d'Industrie.

 I am on this account not displeas'd that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bid, and withal a true original Native of America...He is besides, tho' a little vain and silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Genadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.

 So, while Benjamin Franklin may not have been that happy with the choice of the Bald Eagle, he never actively promoted the turkey (www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=MMM.Turkey?action=print).  The things we learn in history class...

I left the dog kennel open and came home to roosting turkeys. 
When they saw me, they came to greet me. 
Who wouldn't like that?!?

4.  Several sources claim that, unlike wild turkeys, domesticated turkeys can't fly.  It is clear that they haven't been to GEE Funny Farm where our turkeys fly short distances on a regular basis.  While we have mostly heritage turkeys that are much more similar to wild turkeys in build and functioning ability, we happen to have a broad-breasted turkey who flies over our six foot fences on a regular basis -- which surprised even us, since that has not been our experience before.

Several of my heritage turkeys, at a young age,
roosting on our 6 foot kennel fence. 
Yep, they flew up there.

5. And finally, there is the claim that domesticated turkeys are so dumb that they will look up at falling rain and end up drowning.  Snopes says it ain't so. And we certainly haven't had that experience.  You can go to Snopes to find out what they believe caused the myth.



My favorite turkey, Sariah, coming
to visit at the front door. 

Sariah at the back door.
How can I not love this bird who seeks me out?

While we have heard from people that turkeys are 'dumb.' Ours come when called and know where to find food and water (including from the dishes of the other animals on the other side of the fence).  And while we may be among the Americans enjoying turkey at one of our holiday meals, we really love and appreciate our birds.  We are glad that they enjoy a life of leisure and fun as they wander where they will every day and that they have a secure place to go at night (from which they can and do escape if I'm not on hand when they feel it is time to get going in the morning - they fly through the opening between fence and 'roof.')  I really like turkeys...and not just eating them.

On the Wild Side...Living with a Raccoon

We found the ad in the local paper for a 12-week old raccoon.  We went to see her.  She was sort of friendly and so cute.  I talked David into getting her.  Only later, I saw a 12-week old raccoon, and my pet had never looked that young --- live and learn…don’t believe everything people tell you, though I’m afraid I’m still a sucker sometimes.

We took Dizzy home – and I immediately changed her name.  She seemed to respond to her name, looking at me when I said it, so we pondered something similar and came up with Desi.  Not sure why we thought that was better, but we almost always rename our animals even today, even when they are adults when we get them.

Desi moved into our trailer house.  We really knew nothing about raccoons.  David was on his way out of town for the weekend…a trip to Lake Powell with his dad and brothers.  So I was home with a raccoon who climbed into our couch and wouldn’t come out.  Okay, so she wasn’t really friendly.  I spent the weekend enticing her with ‘junk’ food that might entice her to respond to me.  For three days that’s what I did.  I sat near the couch and gave her fruit or a cracker or a piece of cereal every time she would look out at me.  By the end of the weekend she was coming out to get treats. 

Desi on her couch
(I don't remember why the cushion was there).

 

We were told that she should get a mixture of dog and cat food.  She seemed to eat that okay, so that was what we fed her.  I found a book about having pet raccoons. It confirmed the cat food/dog food idea but other things it said bothered me, like that we should never punish her, that she would not understand…

David was happy with the progress when he came home. I could put a leash on Desi and walk her around the trailer house.  She had decided that the couch was a good place to sleep.  She was very good about using a litter box.  She liked to play in the bathtub.  I thought she was awesome.

My family was having a group campout nearby.  I decided to take Desi.  Since I don’t like to camp, she would also give me a reason to come home at nights – perfect!!  So, I took a leash and a litter box for in the car.  Desi was an excellent traveler.  She hung out on the backseat unless she got bored, then she would climb up in front with us.  I was in love.

At Oak Creek with Desi.

 

Desi was interested in the ferrets and would try to get their food (it was cat food, since there was no such thing as ferret food at the time). 

David liked to wrestle with Desi, which I didn’t think was a good idea.  I didn’t do anything that would encourage any mouthing that might lead to biting.  Later, David was sorry that he didn’t listen.  Desi loved to rough house with David – but as she got older, the biting was fierce and painful.  Lesson…Don’t do things that won’t be cute when the animal is an adult.

A wiser David playing tug-of-war with Desi.

Life with Desi was a little like living in a Disney movie with a wild animal invading your household.  Really, David was a good sport.

 Once while we were out, Desi went into the bathroom to play, I guess.  While in there, the door was shut and she pulled out all of the drawers (remember this is in a trailer house).  The drawers being pulled out made it impossible to open the door.  Desi’s little paw, that looked remarkably like a hand, was reaching under the door and she made mewing sounds wanting us to rescue her.  Luckily, the hinges were on the hallway side and David ended up taking down the door to let her out (our hero!).

Another time, we had been out and when we arrived home it was to a bloated raccoon sitting in our pantry with everything that she hadn’t managed to eat dumped onto the floor.  David wired cabinets shut. I couldn’t open them, but Desi could.

The couch became less and less comfortable as Desi made herself at home. She removed and relocated stuffing.  Also, people would freak out as her little paw reached out from between cushions to feel around….but that was funny to us.

We learned that raccoons learn many skills from their moms.  Things like getting out of trees or climbing down didn’t seem to come naturally.  Desi was interested in fish and crayfish in the water, but had no idea that she could catch them, though she did eat them if David caught them.  She did love to play in the water and would chase after things, but she was never very successful at catching things…even things that she did like to eat.

David rescuing Desi when she was afraid to climb down.

 

When David got a job in Virginia, we were told by other people that having a raccoon as a pet was illegal in some states.  I contacted Virginia and learned that they didn’t care.  So, we made a road trip from Arizona to Virginia with Desi in the backseat of the car.  At night we had a cage that we put her into.  She drew attention at every stop as we got her out for a walk and potty break.  We also had a litter-box behind the seat that she used without fail.

Ready to go....

Desi in the backseat between the ferret cages.

Wanting attention during the long trip. 
Most of the time she was great with David,
but when she decided to 'play' it could get pretty painful
(he still has scars).

 

We got a Norwegian Elkhound puppy, Tewa, and Desi loved to play with her.

Desi with Tewa.

Desi in her pool with Tewa looking on...

 

Desi went with me to the local science center and we went to some schools to talk about raccoons and what they were like as pets. 

We learned that dog food and cat food don’t have the nutrients that a raccoon needs.  Raccoons need a lot more iron than is available in such foods.  Desi ended up with an iron deficiency twice.  The first time I caught that there was something wrong and got her to the veterinarian in time.  The second time David was taking care of her and he was a lot more leery of her since she thought that attacking him was a game (that he taught her when she was young), and he didn’t catch that she was ill.  To this day, I worry about leaving my animals with someone else because I have caught things that others have missed (even veterinarians) because I know them so well.

A couple of years ago, I saw a baby raccoon that had been hand-fed.  Soooo sweet!  However, David says, “No raccoon,” and he doesn’t say no very often, so we are still raccoonless.  Maybe some day….