Life and Death in an Ice Storm

In preparation before arrival of the ice storm, all four K boys were splitting and stacking firewood. We wanted to be ready to heat house and cook in case we lost electricity. Fortunately, we had power throughout the storm.

The dogs prepared by resting up and conserving their strength. 

I asked K2 to construct a shelter against the fence closest to house and barn for our cows and sheep who live in the pasture. It was big enough for all eight animals. We stacked hay under the tarp on our side of the fence, so all we had to do was go out once or twice a day and drop it over the fence.

Also made sure the bird feeder was full of seeds for my feathered buddies.

We placed hay under the big cedar tree for the four new sheep in front yard. All went well until...

...early Wednesday morning, I received a phone call and walked into my office for privacy. Looking out the window, I was horrified to see the ram and one ewe in the middle of the pond - barely moving. I hollered for the boys to get up and dressed for a rescue operation. K2 was the first out. He lassoed the ewe and pulled her ashore, then he jumped into the frozen water to grab the ram who had gotten stuck under the ice. The rest of the boys were wrapping the ewe in towels and I arrived with a wheel barrel to transport her to the barn where we wrapped her in a blanket and buried her under straw. After a short period, S ordered her patient moved to the basement for real warmth.

Poor ram didn't make it to shore alive. I stored him in snow-filled truck bed until K2 could get dried and warmly dressed again before butchering him. 

Our pregnant ewe, Spot, was barely hanging in there and things did not look good, She was grinding her teeth and laying on her side shaking uncontrollably, but S went to work rubbing her dry and using the electric hair blow-dryer. She kept squirting water in her mouth, then a molasses-water drink. After a few hours of this, S had the boys stay with Spot while S took me to the dentist. I came down with a toothache Monday afternoon just before the storm hit. Great timing. Had to wait until Wednesday afternoon for both the roads and the dentist office to re-open. The bad news is I get to have a root canal as soon as the roads open to the big city within the next two days. The good news is...

Spot was alive and standing up when we got home Wednesday afternoon, and was soon re-united with the other two pregnant ewes in the yard. Nothing short of a miracle. God does answer our prayers.

This ram was headed to the freezer anyway, but I was hoping to feed him lots of hay and grass over several months and get him fat. As it is, he didn't yield very much meat. K8 posthumously named him Leonardo Dicaprio (actor whose character drown in freezing water in the movie Titanic). K2 and S were up late cutting and wrapping instead of getting to bed early. They both leave at 0500 Thursday for a long drive to attend a conference in Atlanta. 

The ice storm didn't seem to bother any of the four dogs. They were out and about day and night. Dandy is laying in the snow chewing on a bone.