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Serenity Animal Farm, Clanton, AL (2025)

08/04/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Like I’ve said before, everyday around here is an adventure. Recently, our big boar pig, Mr. Wilbur, decided to go on walk-about. He tore the fence up and dug into the Zebra pen. He didn’t make it far before he quickly regretted it. Oriel, the crazy Greater Rhea bird, spotted him and raced down to confront him. He wanted to know what that big pig was thinking by invading his pen. Mr. Oriel surrounded him and strutted all around him trying to pick a fight by hissing and pecking at him. Mr. Wilbur didn’t want no part of the Greater Rhea and literally cowered down. He squealed every time Oriel pecked him.
The minute I lifted the fence back up and called him, Mr. Wilbur came running and quickly shimmied back into his pen. He was sure glad to be away from that crazy Rhea bird. I don’t think he will try to get into the Zebra pen anymore after meeting the Rhea bird. He will remember being pecked on the butt by the Rhea bird for quite some time. We all make mistakes , the trick is to avoid making the same one twice.
There is nothing like the peace and tranquility of living on a farm, until a big pig decides to go on walk-about and a visiting.

08/01/2025

Hello Farm Friends! The old feral barn cat finally came back home. I guess he needed a few more days to overcome his claustrophobia of being hemmed up all night in the feed shed. Either that or he went on sabbatical for a few days to spend time with the neighbors.
Since the cat was a fraidy cat and didn’t catch a rat, I asked around the farm for a volunteer. Ms. Angel dog stepped up and volunteered her services.
I had hoped the cat had scared them to go find a new address but apparently that didn’t happen since we found some chewed up paper.
Ms. Angel dog raced in the building and checked out every inch of the building. It wasn’t long before I heard some barking, and she came running past me with a rat in her mouth. The problem was when she got outside the bigger dogs had a tag team wrestling match for possession of the rat and she lost her hard-earned rat.
Apparently, Ms. Tammy dog won because I saw her run up the road with the rat hanging out of her mouth with half a dozen dogs in hot pursuit. Did that deter Ms. Angel dog, not one bit. She went back inside and searched the entire building from top to bottom. She came out once with a wad of stuffing in her mouth. After a careful examination she figured out there was no rat in it, but she at least destroyed their house.
Now when I open the feed barn door, Ms. Angel dog goes in and gives it a once over checking for rats. This dog is amazing in the places she can squeeze into and wiggle through. As for now we are rid of those pesky rats.
No thanks to our lazy barn cats. All they want to catch is a nap.

07/30/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Another glorious week of sunshine and vitamin D. It was good for a few days without all the rain we had last month. The problem now is the extreme heat. It’s hot enough outside to scald a lizard in the shade.
Recently we have had a rat problem in our feed shed. I tried putting a barn cat inside the building overnight thinking it would catch a rat or scare them off. How did that work, you ask? Not too good.
After I finished feeding, the feral barn cats were hanging around the feed shed waiting on something to eat. I got a bright idea to open a can of cat food and place it on the floor inside the feed shed and walk away. It wasn’t long before one of the feral barn cats smelled it and ventured in. I jumped and quickly slammed the door shut trapping the feral barn cat inside the feed shed. The cat immediately went to caterwauling really loud. This only brought a platoon of farm dogs circling the building trying to find the howling cat. The cat was howling, and the dogs were barking. If I was a rat hidden in the feed shed, I would go find another address to call home.
It took me ten minutes to shoo all the dogs out of the feed shed fence so I could close the gate. They had the building surrounded and a couple even crawled under the building hunting the howling cat. They were determined to find that howling cat, and were running everywhere trying to find him. Every time I would chase a dog out, they would double back and run back in while I tried getting another dog out. It was chaos. I finally grabbed a sack of treats and persuaded them to come get a treat if they came out of the fenced feed shed. I finally got them all out leaving the howling cat trapped inside the feed shed. When I say he was howling, it was so loud the zebras stood at the fence and stared at the building trying to figure the noise out. It sounded like someone was trying to cut off his tail with a butter knife. I left the cat inside the building all night. I did leave the inside light on for him.
The next morning when I got down to the feed shed there were two dogs that must have spent the night laying outside of the fence. They figured if they waited that old cat would come out eventually.
I eased in the gate and shut it behind me so none of the dogs could get in. The minute I opened the feed shed door to peek in, that old cat shot out like a blur. It ran past me, jumped on the rabbit cage, leaped over the fence and hit the ground running across the pig pen. It scared the ba-jeepers out of the pigs when it raced past them. They squealed and ran away from the moving cat. You would have thought the grim reaper was hot on his heels trying to get one of those nine lives back as fast as he was running. It was over the fence on the other side before I could blink an eye. The farm dogs all tore off in hot pursuit but couldn’t get into any of the fenced areas. The cat was long gone by the time they figured out what just happened. Apparently, he didn’t like being locked in the feed shed all night. I probably gave him post traumatic shed syndrome with the feeling of being trapped inside a building, with a rat or two spending the night with him, while howling dogs were barking just right outside. I hope I didn’t traumatize him too bad.
It's been three days, and I haven’t seen hide or hair of that old cat. As fast as he was running, he probably didn’t stop until he hit the county line. Bless his heart, I hope he finds his way back home. Like Motel 6, we’ll leave the lights on for him.

07/28/2025

Hello Farm Friends! John Denver said it best, “Life on the farm ain't nothin' but a funny, funny riddle…...
Yesterday as I walked into the house, Pea-cake asked me, “what is that on the floor?” I looked down and said, “looks like something came off of my boots, sorry”. As I grabbed a bottle of water, Pea-cake shrieked and said, “Look, it’s a pile of slimy worms”. I looked down and sure enough, it was a pile of slimy worms.
I asked what dogs were in the house last? Pea-cake said, Mr. Cash Dog and Buddy Dog were in earlier. “They need wormed”, I said. I looked on the white board and their last worming was on April 15th, so it was about time to worm them again. I went in and grabbed the bottle of Panacur and went out on the porch. I found Buddy Dog lying on the porch. I drew up a syringe of Panacur and grabbed Buddy Dog. I squirted it down his throat. He tore off the porch in a dead run, gagging all the way, he didn’t care for getting a dose of wormer one bit. As I was headed to give Mr. Cash a dose, Pea-cake hollered for me to come back inside. Once inside she showed me the paper towel used to cleaned up the worms and said, “look closely, it’s not worms, its raw squid”. “Huh, Raw Squid, where did that come from”, I asked inquisitively. Pea-Cake said, “there was a pack of squid in the freezer, that came in with the last meat donation and I took it out to defrost it for the barn cats”. “It was setting on the counter”, she said. “The plate is still there but the squids are all gone”, she said. “Cash is the only one that could have reached it and eaten it up”, she said. I laughed, thinking about poor ole Cash eating a tub of slimy squid tenacles. As he walked around the house some must have fallen off his mouth.
As I was walking outside to check on Mr. Cash dog, I saw another little pile of squid on the edge of a rug by the door. I told Pea-cake about it so she could clean it up.
Mr. Cash dog seemed alright and just sat looking at me with blank “lost in the thought” look.
As I entered the house, I saw the squid was still on the floor, so I went and grabbed a few pieces of paper towels to go clean it up. Pea-cake asked me, “what I was doing with the paper towels?” I said, “clean up the squid on the rug by the door since you didn’t clean it up?”
She said, “look at it close, it’s not squid but frayed rug fibers where the puppies chewed on the end of the rug”. I looked closely and sure enough, it was just frayed rug fibers and not slimy squid. Maybe it’s time to get my eyes checked since it’s been a minute since I had an eye exam. I had one of those “My Cousin Vinny” stretch the tape measure flashes.
Poor ole Buddy Dog got himself a big dose of wormer unnecessarily because I thought he had worms, but it was nothing more than kitchen counter slimy squid tenacles. Bless his heart and Bless Mr. Cash dog’s heart for woofing down a tub of slimy squid tenacles on a hot Alabama afternoon. Everyday around here is an adventure dealing with animals.
It's the journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination.

07/25/2025

Hello Farm Friends! We received a request to show before and after sheep shearing. As such, here is our beautiful Ms. Bo Peep modeling her winter attire and her summer attire on the red carpet (gravel road). Sheep are sheared primarily for their health and well-being. Overgrown wool can lead to overheating, discomfort, and increased susceptibility to parasites and diseases. Shearing also improves their mobility and prevents wool from becoming a breeding ground for pests. Another reason for shearing is also to harvest the wool.

07/23/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Can you say “WHOA, I don’t need any help from you”.
I can. Mr. Cooper, our rescued Blue and Gold McCaw was watching me put the sheets back on the bed after washing them. Apparently, he didn’t like how I was putting the fitted sheet on the bed. He just jumped off the top of his cage and hollered “Weeeee” as he glided down and landed onto the bed. Before he could grab ahold of the fitted sheet I snatched it away, telling him, “I don’t need any help from you Mr. Cooper”. He just squawked and started walking across the bed toward the sheet. I quickly shifted into high gear, snatched him up, and put him back onto the top of his cage. Since birds are not house broken, I acted with lightning speed. Last thing I needed was for him to “go” onto the bed and have to clean it up. As I finished making up the bed he would holler “Weeeee”, just to make me think he was about to jump onto the bed again. He made me turn and look each time. Then he would just laugh, “Ha, ha, ha” while bobbing up and down. A Parrot is the only animal that tells you what he is thinking even if you don’t ask.

07/21/2025

Hello Farm Friends! We had all our alpaca and llamas sheared the first week of April. This is the first time in over eight years that our alpaca shearers arrived without a sheep shearer. During the last six weeks we have tried and tried finding someone to shear our sheep without any luck. We did find a shearer out of Atlanta, but we would have had to mortgage the house to afford her. I know what the cost to shear a sheep is from Ohio to Iowa and she was double the highest price along with an additional farm fee just for showing up. We couldn’t afford her. She also sent a page of a dozen requirements including what to feed them in the 48 hours before shearing. Really? I talked to several sheep owners, and they never heard of that. So, we just prayed every day that we would find a shearer because the sheep were miserable in this Alabama heat.
Then last Friday we received a call that a sheep shearer was coming through Alabama and would be there that afternoon. I was 3 hours away from the farm that morning and went into panic mode with such short notice. My left eye started twitching and I talked with a studder. I couldn’t pass this opportunity up, so I agreed to a 4:00 pm shearing. I started reaching out for someone to help me catch the sheep for shearing. We only have 13 sheep that needed shearing, but they were in 8 different pens. This meant we had to chase them down and catch them to be sheared. My good friends Edward and Phillip were available and came over and helped us. This was a godsend because I couldn’t do it by myself. I got home about an hour before the shearer’s showed up and grabbed the generator and an extension cord for their clippers.
The shearer’s showed up a little after 4 and we started. It thundered all around us but never rained a drop. Only by the grace of God did we get done before it started to rain but the sheep finally got a haircut. I felt sorry for Mr. Edward and Phillip. They worked their tails off with me chasing sheep. After two hours they looked like they had been drug through a briar patch backwards and were wore slap out. During all the chaos I do believe they had a little fun wrangling sheep. When we were done the shearer’s quickly left on their way to Texas. They had a 10 hour drive to their next job on Saturday morning. I want to give everyone that helped make shearing 2025 a success and a big thank-you. I know that the sheep are cooler and glad they finally got sheared! Now if we can find a farrier all will be good.

07/17/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Like clockwork around here, an animal was not in his pen a few days ago at feeding time. I usually just breathe a deep sigh and say huckleberry when an animal is on walk-about because it’s such a normal thing around here. Today it was Mr. Tobias, a pot-bellied pig. He has never gotten out of his pen since arriving here over a year ago, but today he was gone, he had just slap disappeared. We resumed feeding and started looking for him as we traveled around the farm. A short time later he came waddling down the road happy as a lark wagging his tail. He was enjoying his walk about. The minute he saw me he turned and just waddled up into the woods. Of course, I walked after him hoping I could walk him back into a pen somewhere. If I can’t, he could get out onto the gravel road and get hurt or keep walking until he left the farm and got lost. So, getting him back safely into a pen is paramount.
I spent the next two hours walking around behind him. I would take two steps, and he would take ten. It was like a game where he had to maintain a certain distance away from me. Soon as he got the correct distance he would stop, turn around, stand there smiling and wait for me to catch up. When I would get close again, he would start walking again. I was walking through briers, branches, and rough terrain in the woods, so I was slower than him. Then something spooked him, and he shifted into fifth gear and quickly raced off deeper into the woods. In a flash all I saw was his butt and wiggly tail disappear smooth out of sight. I lost sight of him in the blink of an eye. It was that quick and he was gone. As I walked out of the woods it was like walking on egg-shells. Every step I took I was careful and looking at the ground for a snake curled up somewhere. Something spooked Mr. Tobias and I figured it was probably a snake. I’m not too keen on tromping through the woods on a ninety-five degree day in mid-July in Alabama, when there are lots on danger noodles out and about.
Since Tobias was gone, I resumed feeding and hoped he would show back up before dark. There was no sign of Tobias when I finished feeding so I headed to the house. After a while, I heard the dogs outside howling, so I knew something was up and went to investigate. They were letting me know Mr. Tobias was hiding in the butterfly bushes in front of the house. Now what do I do, the sun was quickly setting, and I didn’t have time to get him back down to a pen. So after some quick thinking, I quickly grabbed some Garrison goat panels and built a new pen around him where he was standing in the bushes. If I can’t get him into a pen down on the farm, I’ll just bring the pen to him. It was slap dark when I got done, but Mr. Tobias was in a pen, safe and secure. This was only temporary until we can relocate him back to his home pen. However, it was right in the front yard where you turn your car around. I really never ever planned on having a pig pen in my front yard but when dealing with animals you have to do things, and improvise, to take care of the animals. If you don’t think life is about improvising, then you haven’t been paying attention. Even if it means having a pig pen in your front yard, you will quickly learn how to handle any situation for the safety and well being of an animal.

07/15/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Part 3 of 3. Last Thursday morning I was casually walking down the front steps of the house carrying a shovel over my shoulder. I had left the shovel on the porch the night before. Suddenly, out of nowhere, my head was covered in red devils. Dozens of red wasps jumped on it. I screamed, dropped the shovel and tried to run while swatting my head like I needed to be put in the nervous hospital. I fell down, when I stumbled down the stairs trying to get away. I quickly got up and tore off like the grim reaper was hot on my heals, still swatting my head as I ran. Those red devils were all over my head with another platoon of them chasing after me. I tore off headed for the lake, thinking I was going to run and jump right in. For some unknown reason I just tore right past it wide open in a dead run. I ran until I was slap out of breath, stopped and tore my shirt off. I quickly threw it on the ground and stomped it until I felt any red devil still hanging on was lifeless. Then I shook the shirt like I was trying to extinguish a fire before I put it back on. My head was on fire and itched like I had stuck it smack dab in a fire ant bed. Shortly thereafter I had twelve some odd lumps come up on my head from being stung, It felt like the surface of the moon when I scratched it. Might have known it was the one day I didn’t put a ball cap on. I went back to the house and slipped in the back door. I grabbed a bottle of Clorox and went around to the back yard. The dogs thought I was plum loco bending over pouring bleach on my head. So, if you see me in town this week and I have bleached blonde hair, it’s those red devils that caused it. I’m not going through a mid-life farm life crisis just yet. I waited way past dark to spray the nest. It was right above where you walked down the front steps. I can’t believe I never saw it until then, as many times as I’ve gone up and down those stairs. The only thing I can figure, was that the shovel I was toting must have come close and to their nest which caused them to attack. I didn’t get stung when I sprayed them with wasp spray. Why you ask? Because I outsmarted them. I was wearing my trusty ole bee suit. That bee suit and me have become real good friends lately. Now my problem is scratching my head. Those red devil bites sure enough itch all the time. I think I have already scratched two or three bald spots on my head already. Hopefully, nothing that won’t grow back in a few weeks.
Spiritually, they say wasps represent protection, suppressed emotions and boundaries. Really? To me, those red devils represent anger, bad words and sure enough aggression. I’m pretty sure sometime during this week as I was racing away from those red devils and yellow jackets or stomping them after I sprayed them, I was probably hollering some words that would embarrass me and the preacher. I’m not really sure, but I feel one or two may have slipped out. So, I guess wasps might suppress emotions. As for boundaries, if I find another nest I’m going to give them a new boundary they won’t ever forget in a can of wasp spray. After twenty-five stings in a single week, bald patches on my head and blonde hair, I think I’ve earned the right to be mad at them. Everyday is an adventure around here. Some make you just shake your head back and forth while others make you scratch it until your hair falls out. Just another day of farm life.

07/14/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Part 2 of 3. Two days later I was bushhogging up in the Alpaca field. As I turned the tractor to start down the next row I suddenly was swamped with yellow jackets all over me. They came out of the ground somewhere. I don’t know how I did it while swatting those things, but I stomped the gas and tore off trying to get away from them. The tractor raced around and around the field before I finally jumped off and tore out of there. I ran all the way down to the llama pen. At some point, they quit chasing me. Luckily, I had a long sleeve shirt on and only got stung four times. I left the tractor up on the hill and walked back to the house. Bees two. Mark zero. The next day when I walked back up there to get the tractor, the field looked crazy. As I was driving all around trying to outrun the yellow jackets, I didn’t turn the bush hog off. The field looked like I was cutting figure eights. Since I didn’t want to encounter those yellow jackets again, I put my old bee suit on and finished cutting the Alpaca field. I’m sure I probably looked a little crazy wearing a bee suit driving around on a tractor bush hogging. It worked is all that mattered to me. I finished and never saw another yellow jacket. I do know the thirty minutes I was finishing bush hogging, I almost passed out in that old bee suit and hood. It was like sitting in a hot sauna wearing that hot thing. I couldn’t get it off fast enough before I passed out due to heat stroke. I probably lost ten pounds in thirty minutes. Just another adventure on the farm, although I didn’t like getting stung 13 times so far this week. Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 3.

07/14/2025

Hello Farm Friends! This is part Part 1 of 3. Can you say this last week has been a doozy? I can. It started with a simple feeding of Mr. Cedric the Camel. I noticed he was wet from a recent rain, which was odd. Apparently, he did not go inside his shelter during the rain. As such, I decided to go investigate. Sure enough, there was a nest of red devils, those mean red wasps, up in the roof boards. There must have been 50 working on the nest. I skedaddled out of there as fast as I could. I quickly returned with a can of wasp spray. Mr. Cedric followed me just long enough to figure out I was going to do something he wanted no part of, so he turned and quickly trotted off. He looked at me like I was thicker than two short planks to try and pick a fight with those red devils. I aimed the can best I could, and pulled the trigger. Might know I missed the nest by a few inches with the spray. It splattered missing the nest. Before I could zoom back in on the nest, a dozen sentry’s jumped off the nest and took flight straight towards me. In the second or two it took to spray the nest, those red devils were all over me. I think I screamed as they dive bombed onto me. I tossed the can in the air and took off in a dead run, swatting wasps as I went. Don’t know why, but I headed straight across the field where Mr. Cedric was standing at attention watching me. As I neared Cedric, his eyes widened and he took off in a dead run. I remember running toward one end of the field and meeting Mr. Cedric flash past me going the other way. Those red devils never quit chasing me. I was still screaming and swatting as I hit the gate and plowed right through it and kept on running, leaving it open. I didn’t stop until I got to Chicken Village. Just when I thought it was safe I got stung again. This red devil must have landed and hung on until I stopped. I tore my tee shirt off and threw it on the ground and was stomping it like it was on fire. When my breathing started to return to normal, I assessed the damage. I had been stung seven times. I looked back towards Cedric. He was standing behind a pine tree looking both ways for those red devils. He doesn’t like them either. At dark I went back and retrieved my can of spray, thinking I could sneak up on them in the dark. How did that work you ask? Not too good. Those red devils stung me two more times spraying the nest. Apparently, those red rascals can see in the dark better than I can, but luckily they are all gone and Mr. Cedric can continue using his shelter.

07/09/2025

Hello Farm Friends! It has been a happy and sad time around here these last few weeks. Since April, we were literally blessed with ten dogs that were dropped off and abandoned. Eight puppies and two young dogs. I’m happy to say that seven of the puppies have been adopted and sent to new loving homes around the country thanks to us partnering with Ms. Ashley with Precious Paws and Claws of Alabama. Thank you Ms. Tina for coordinating these adoptions. I know that two went to Birmingham, one went to Pennsylvania, one went to Virginia, and one went to Florida. One puppy is leaving today to his forever home, but I don’t know where yet. Two dogs, Mr. Ted and Ms. Treasure, have become family members and found their permanent homes here with us. We just couldn’t let them go because we became so attached. We made an executive decision to keep the last lone puppy. We have changed his name from Sneezy, the last dwarf, to Norman, aka Mr. Norman. Every home needs a Mr. Norman. Norman means man from the north. We assume Mr. Norman came from somewhere north of here. This still leaves us with over twenty some odd dogs but hey, it is what it is, but who’s counting. I wouldn’t trade this life experience for all the craters on the moon.
Every time a puppy left, a piece of my heart went with them, which makes me sad to see them go. However, I am happy they found loving homes. Every time a puppy leaves here there is a condition we put on all our adoptions, that if something happens and you can’t keep him or her, you can always return them to us without any questions asked whatsoever. We love them that much.
Working with all the puppies for months you get really attached and it’s really hard to let them go. Watching them grow up and discovering things like grasshoppers and butterflies is amazing and heartwarming. It was so funny watching a half a dozen puppies running and jumping around the yard chasing after a grasshopper or butterfly fluttering about or all of them chasing after a ball. It’s an experience most people never get the chance to experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
A dog is one of the most amazing and fascinating animals that God put on this earth. I just wish the human race would quit hurting them so much. Their loving demeanor does not compare to anything or anyone else on the planet.
How would I describe our farm dogs? Playful, affectionate, energetic, loyal, gentle, protective, curious, gentle, protective, protective, happy, intelligent, brave, obedient, curious, comical, friendly, cheerful and family. What can be better for your heart than a dog!

Serenity Animal Farm

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