Two interesting new people have entered our lives, Donna and Treasure, they brought Izzy to us and might be giving us another Romney – we’re going to take a look at her tomorrow. Donna’s friend, who owned the sheep, had to move suddenly, the sheep all need homes. Donna works at the hardware store, her friend Treasure is a gardener.

They offered to help us safety-proof our pasture gate so there will be no animal escapes. Equines like ponies and donkeys are eerily observant and clever, the grass is always greener on the other side for them, and if they can find a way to slip out of the gate they will.

Because we live on a state highway, animal escapes are serious.  The death of the bear two weeks ago reinforced the danger of the road. The animals could easily be killed and so could the people who might crash into them. All farms have animal escapes, to some degree they are unavoidable. But if there is any way to avoid them, we are making sure to try.

The pasture gate now has a spring so that it automatically closes, and a wooden bar to keep it from opening out. If the animals nose against the gate, it won’t go anywhere, and there is now no danger of it simply blowing or sliding open.

People sometimes don’t understand that no farm is escape-proof, it just isn’t possible. Animals are big, savvy, curious and often hungry. Fences are long, expensive, and vulnerable to many things. Our fences are built to keep animals in, so far that has been the case. We mean to keep it that way.

Donna and Treasure are handy and competent. Good people to get to know. Donna works at the hardware store, she and Treasure are passionate animal lovers, they were blown away by Red. And laughed, of course, at Fate and her antics. Every week, i do a safety walk around the farm making sure we are right and buttoned up. On a farm, you have to worry about keeping things out as much as keeping them in.

Aside from the early Zelda  escapes, carried out before the new fencing was fully installed, nobody has gotten out, nobody has gotten in (some deer maybe, and we find coyote scat once in awhile in the outer pasture). A record I mean to keep.