Critter Pics

A sea of brave and greedy ducks.	Bread had to be guarded zealously against just this sort of thievery.	The new ducks thought nothing of putting their bills right into the bag of corn.	Missy Miss and her fuzzy ping pong balls.
Ultimately, only three of Missy's young would survive to adulthood.	Family portrait: Pretty Lady and kids.	An incorrigable gang of ducks.	Family portrait: Brown Duck and kids.
The ducklings came in a festive variety of colors.	The ducks gave me their trust - it was a treasured and priceless gift.	Pretty Lady and Peepers, an intrepid little Pekin with an indomitable spirit.	Zoe, the Barky Dog.
Winkie, my pleasant handful.	Muffin hot on the trail of an unsuspecting rodent.	Buddy - a loner who prefers the solitary comfort of his favorite spot in the linen cupboard.	Spanky desperately wanted a family, and he got one.
Junebug is a shamelessly greedy soul.	Gracie with 4 legs.	Gracie with 3 legs.	Red's horse Obie.
"Don't forget the horse!"	The author and Obie.	The author with Crazy, the lesson horse.	The gang's all here: everyone survived the blizzard of '07.
Find-the-cat: Buddy's hiding place when the pet-sitter came.	The author in London, with Monty	St. James Park, London: it's just no good without a few Pekins!	One of the Queen's horses. We weren't formally introduced.
If Spanky could attach himself to Muffin permanently, he would.	This constitutes a close friendship for Buddy & Gracie.	Junebug likes to help me with filing.	Spanky helps with computer work.
An unusual visitor to the chicken coop.	McKinnon's Pond in winter.	Kelly with "Fowl Weather" author Bob Tarte.	They don't leave much room for me.
Everyone gets into position for a photo shoot to promote Bob Tarte's new book, "Fowl Weather".	Bob and Kelly enjoy a quiet moment after the photo shoot.	Can you spot the duck nest in this picture?	Or in this one?
The Healing Barn's dearly-loved, and sorely-missed, Newt the mule.	The Healing Barn's current mascot, Sarah Belle, AKA "Donkey."	Kelly, Belle, and Christy Cordell, who makes my pottery worth a whole lot more by painting beautiful designs on it.	My new lesson horse, Rebel.
Pretty Boy went to the vet with a wing problem.	What the doctor thought was an abcess turned out to be cancer.	To save his life, the doctor amputated half his wing.	Pretty Boy has since been given a clean bill of health.
It's my job to keep the population down by pulling domestic duck eggs from the nests.* *Photo courtesy Lad Strayer.	Pretty Lady managed to have ducklings in spite of me, but in the end, predators got them all.	Freckle Duck had ducklings too, but predators got them as well.	A typical summer feed.
That tan blob on Pretty Boy's head is his torn eyelid.	Dr. Susan stitched him up.	And into my bathroom he went.	Where's the water?
Bath time!	I'm smiling, he's growling!	The duck buffet at Chez Meister	After seven days, healed - and free! - at last.
Nancy and Allen doing some work on the Healing Barn.	Nancy gets old Molly ready for winter.	The dung heap is the perfect vantage point for taking horse photos.	The enigma that is the wild mustang, Baby.
What starts out as a simple gathering...	...soon turns into a maddening crowd!	Dr. Chrys checks out a Pekin for cold weather problems.	Turns out the old duck was fine.
Gracie samples the duck pellets.	Belle samples the halters.	Horses sample the barn help.	The ducks sample the corn.
Spring '08 Dr. Chrys checks Pretty Boy's eye for lingering signs of infection	Spring '08 "Are we home yet?!"	Spring '08 Belle is into feng shui.	Spring '08 Kelly with the always-charming Nicky Newman.
Spring '08 Freckle Duck doesn't have the best camouflage.	Spring '08 Pretty Lady is hoping I don't see her.	Spring '08 Forced off her nest, Lady tries to scare me away.	Spring '08 The useless chicken eggs Lady guarded so courageously.