Tuesday 30 March 2010

Worming Time!

It's time to worm the Garden Girls.   


I use the Flubenbet-on-bit-of-grape method, and do each Girl individually.  Every day, for 7 days.

Lily and Daisy are fine. They don't mind being picked up, so it's over in a second with them.  Delilah and Millie, however, most strongly object to the indignity of being picked up.  A "chase" around their paddock ensued (twice, once for each girl), made much longer than necessary by the cherry tree.  They have learned that if they run around the tree, I can't catch them.

I should probably clarify that I don't run after the Girls. That just gets them scared,  and gets me shattered.  I walk after them, trying to back them into a corner somewhere, where I can then pick them up.  It's all in slow motion, but ir's remarkably tiring.

Anyway, today Millie and Delilah were Having None Of It, Thank You.   So, I went inside, defrosted some sweetcorn kernels (in a cup of hot water), and then recaught the other two, giving them sweetcorn while they were in my arms, in full view of everyone else.  Then I caught the DOrking girls, and they got sweetcorn.   Then I tried again with Millie.

Once more, she chased around the cherry tree and then she ran as fast as she could into an area which she normally avoids because capture is inevitable.  And sure enough, I managed to corner her easily.  She was rewarded with corn, and with a laced grape, and then put back.  And I returned to the fray once more, for Delilah.
Delilah is an aged and big girl, and I'm always partially afraid that she'll have a heart attack from the exertion of running away from me.   Still, needs must.  And she ran into the same area that Millie had headed for.   

Hmm. Perhaps they just wanted to put on a show of resistance,  just for face saving?





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