Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Chicken Little's BIG day -- Cortar los Pelotas!!! Ahora!


It looks like he knows what is about to happen! We gave Chicken Little a nice meal last night around 6 (he and all his friends). In the morning when he was peering into the rejas with the 5 other faces I let him into the Big House - a dream come true! However, while his buddies had their morning meal we got the cat carrier and he had his first car ride! How exciting is that? Somersaults and rolling and general noise making all the way to the vet.


Here he is last night with his crown jewels and his little friend (maybe girlfriend) looking on. Boy this twig is fun! So we dropped him off at 8:30 and retrieved him at 3:30 a bit zoned out and wobbly. $113 later we now officially have a new family member who is worm free (had hookworms), vaccinated for everything (leukemia, rabies, respiratory stuff , worms etc etc), jewel-free and ready to lounge around with us for good. So what do we do about the others? They all are feral (we can only pick up one of the old ones) and probably all have hookworms and pass them around. A few of them have coughs, which I guess is the big problem here - respiratory problems and hook and heart worms. The moms can pass hookworms on to the little ones, they can cough them up, if they roll around or share the pooping zone (and bird spa) they can pass them around. So how much can an unemployed person do? Heart worm medication at the vet was $20 for 6 pills and they all need it every month. On line the pills are 31- but we will keep looking. Not sure about spaying, but neutering is $55 and all the shots were$35 or so. The vet will help out some if we keep bringing cats in but I don't know how much to expect her to do. Even if a shelter offers it less expensive the cost of gas to get there and back will make it cost the same. So we don't know what to do next so it is one cat at a time. Maybe the heart worm pills will at least keep all their GI tracks parasite free! So Chicken will spend at least one night in the house even though he isn't exactly happy about it!


So here's a picture of my mini Moralon tree. It is small right now but gets GIANT leaves and is a tree native to Puerto Rico.
Here is a picture of a Moralon leaf from a mature tree. I can envision using it to press designs into the cement benches we are going to make. Cool, huh? I had this in the carport and Chicken Little sat on it like a toad on a lily pad.

More vetiver - very exciting! I can't wait to see it grow! So back now to the upset kitty - we'll see how long we can keep him in the cat carrier. Until morning I suspect and then we'll have had enough and we'll set him free...

5 comments:

Fran and Steve said...

I don't think I've seen a leaf that big. If you get a chance, please post a pic of the moralon tree! I can't wait to see how the vetiver turns out. Our property is at the top of a hill which was flattened for a pad, and erosion is a huge problem around some of the edges. I'm hoping the jungle vines which have overtaken the pad in the past 3 years will help until we can plant something (probably vetiver). But that won't happen till we move there in 2010

:( Spreadsheet sounds very cool, I love organized data too. No need to deny nerdiness :) ...Fran

Anonymous said...

Jeff & Katrina,

Thank you for posting the picture of the moralon seedling & leaf. I can not wait to get updates. Your yard is truly coming together as a paradise. I know its a lot of work so kudos to you both.

Also, thank you for the vetiver link. I actually learned quite a bit, I never heard of it before. Maybe more people will learn about it in the neighborhood. I think people in PR are learning about eco-tourism and what it means to do conservation of natural resources.

Take care,

H Jr.

Anonymous said...

Thanks - we figure we better do most of the work while we aren't going to jobs! It is surprising to me that vetiver isn't used extensively here around foundations, walls, along hillsides etc. It seems to stay in a nice "row" or whatever pattern you plant it in and it is used a bunch in other countries. The way the rain comes down - when it comes - is a lot all at once. I am really excited to see how the vetiver does! In the states builders used hay bales around construction sites to hold back runoff - vetiver is a more permanent, nice looking solution! katrina

Anonymous said...

Cheech goes in for his operation on Monday. Shhhhh, it's a surprise ;). Luckly he likes riding in the car, oddly enough. We have recently become aware that he really thinks he is one of the dogs.

Anonymous said...

Better a dog than a chicken! Our guy has stopped foraging with his chicken friends and pretty much knows he has a good thing going.katrina