As J.B. summarized in yesterday’s blog post, we’ve been hard at work caring for Negra as she recuperates from a trip to the sanctuary’s clinic.
Neggie continues to enjoy her cozy solitude and appears to be making a speedy recovery. We caregivers have been supplementing her cocktail of meds with enrichment puzzles, movies, and even the occasional sips of Sprite and nibbles of a sweet Hawaiian roll. It’s safe to say that, despite the laceration on her backside, Negra is thriving in this temporary clinical setting. (Think of Forrest Gump happily eating ice cream despite the bullet wound in his buttocks.)
Despite the unpredictable events of the Chimp House, J.B. and special projects volunteer Adam found time this weekend to complete a facelift of the upper pasture. The area was previously grazed by our neighbor’s horses but will now be the main enclosure for the rescued bovines during the summer. This afternoon, Betsy, Honey, Meredith and Nutmeg made the trek up from their winter paddock to the new frontier. The area is currently dotted with wildflowers and partially shaded by pine trees, and we think they’re going to love it up there once they get used to the terrain.
(Note: the wildflowers include quite a bit of lupine, which is problematic for pregnant cows when grazed in large amounts. Since none of the cows in our small herd are breeding and they generally avoid the lupine anyway, we’re allowing it to remain on the pasture for now.)
Here are some photos of Betsy taking an initial romp around the new area:
And here is a wider shot of the four bovines hanging out at the far end of the new pasture:
There aren’t many things that get the Jersey cattle to show their excitement, but giant fields of green grass seem to do the trick.
