Posted by
Sherry Samuels

Last week in September

I can’t believe it’s going to be October next week. The time is flying by. The Team is preparing for cooler temperatures, getting winter supplies ready to deploy as needed in the coming months.

This is when the bears start eating LOTS of food. Our walk-in freezer is reorganized to accommodate increased bear food. Five pounds of nuts were dropped off for the bears earlier this week.

Thanks for the peanuts Donna!

October is when physicals happen for most of the Farmyard animals, so we’ll have updates in the coming weeks on them. This week’s vet rounds included Animal Care Specialist Rob working with Dr. Vanderford. A few pictures below of their time together.

Dr. Vanderford and Rob assess the scales on Optimus Prime, one of our Northern pine snakes.
Mouth looking good on Optimus Prime.
Chandler, everyone’s favorite opossum, was seen too. He has a cyst on his chest. It still measures the same 10 mm it has been measuring. We drain it, and it fills back up eventually to 10 mm. We pay close attention to Chandler’s feet and tail too, making sure no sores develop. Chandler typically licks up the applesauce (sometimes a cheese stick is also used) and ignores what we’re doing.

We’ve also been gathering up needed stumps for the animals. Our current stash had to be tossed out since they started to rot and became a great home for ants. We’ve gotten four so far, and I am off later tonight to pick up a bunch more.

The Farmyard chickens have a few new stumps to go along with their perches.

I’ve got a few items to share that make me smile… You know the deal: in addition to staying safe and healthy, we need to find joy and gratitude.

Last week for Rosh Hashanah I visited with family like never before. A whirlwind drive, no hugs or house entering, but apples, honey, round challah, and seeing family in person was wonderful.

We packed our own chairs and umbrellas. Here we are on the New Jersey Turnpike Service Area chatting about 8 feet apart.

Finally, one of our regular and loyal volunteers, Dan, came by to visit. He’s waiting to return until more safe to do so, but he got his own private visit tonight to check things out.

Dan- we miss you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leave a Reply