Sticking with the Blaugust2023 introductory stuff, here’s some autobio info you won’t find in my social labels. I own several animals on my Texas homestead: some are livestock, some are pets. If you’ve seen my blog lately, though, you already know my favorites.

Guinea Pigs

These cute little creatures are my very own newest pets — my favorites — and their names are Bon-Bon, Truffles, and Butters. I wanted piggies for a long time and just recently added them to my life. They live in my home office, keeping me company throughout the day. In the evenings, I take time to cuddle them and treat them to snacks; their favorite now is celery.

Dog

We have a dog; his name is Doc. He's a big ol’ thing: half Doberman, half Giant Schnauzer. He’s very furry and is so large that his tail nub wags in a different zip code. Doc doesn’t seem to know how big he is. We have him as a pet, living indoors, but he also spends just as much time outdoors as protector of the homestead. Yet he thinks strangers come here to pet him. A friendly giant indeed.

Cats

Four cats live here. One, Zelda the Siamese female, is only an indoor feline and was gifted to me in 2018. Louie, the all-black male, is indoor/outdoor and belongs to my wife. Two other females are outdoor only as “Barn Cats” except in bad weather. Their job is to destroy field mice, a food source for unwanted snakes. One’s a tabby named Judy. The other is Summer, a calico/tabby mix, who was a stray that decided to stay no matter what we thought. Also, they come inside the house far more than they should.

Snake

My oldest son has owned a California King Snake for about 10 years! He feeds it dead mice and has cared for it all these years. It’s black and white striped and named Oreo.

We often get wild snakes outside. Either they’re passing through, seeking a den, or hunting for food. Bull and Rat snakes go for the chicken coop and its bountiful eggs. Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes are found here too. In fact, a couple swam up our toilet, and when we first moved in, there were two dens of them here. Our toilet snake story went viral online and we ended up on a TV show (Intruders) for Animal Planet!

Goats

We keep four girls and one boy, a registered Savanna. They’re meat goats, so we sell a handful of new goats each year at auction. Otherwise, they’re great for keeping a few acres of grass mowed for me.

Chickens

In the country, you must have chickens lest you be overrun by grasshoppers and other pesky insects. Bonus: you get lots of eggs to eat. We typically have around 40 hens and a few roosters. New ones are born each year. But we also lose some each year, usually due to predators like bobcats and coyotes.

Summary

Ok, that’s a lot of creatures. My wife loves animals and worked as a Vet Tech. We’ve had other pets over the years, like a box turtle and a gerbil. We might also get a bird and some fish eventually.

Besides the basic functions or services these critters provide, caring for them has also been good for my kids as they learn to do farm type chores and tackle responsibilities.

They’re kind of a big part of my life, but I don’t blog about them. Well, I started blogging about Guinea Pigs last month. Maybe I should tagline or rename my blog: Gadgets, Games, and Guinea Pigs.