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"GOAT BOAT" FIRE EVACUATION VEHICLE AND WRITING SHED!
Wren and C.T. are writers who operate a small goat rescue ranch, The Seldom Herd. Wren is editor of the poetry journal Califragile and a widely published poet with a 2 books coming out soon (Thistle and Brilliant; Skeptical Goats).
C.T. is the author of 3 books of prescriptive non-fiction (On Conflict and Consensus; Food Not Bombs: How to Feed the Hungry and Build Community; Consensus for Cities).
Our rescue ranch is home to 7 goats and the 2 Livestock Guardian Dogs who protect them from predators, plus our indoor dog and cat, as well as Raja, a feral peacock! As featured occasionally in Wren's writing, most of the animals have their sad tales. Ponder (above) is an Alpine who came from a dairy at 2 weeks old. She was taken from her mama so the dairy could keep the milk. We bottle fed her.
Pippin, a Cashmere goat, was found wandering Skyway. She'd recently given birth but the baby was not found. She had suffered horrible neglect, with painful hoof rot, arthritis and matted fiber. But she's bounced back after lots of vet care and is learning to trust us.
Simile, a mini Nubian/Nigerian mix, came to us at 8 weeks old after she'd nearly drowned in a vat of used motor oil. She arrived at the same time as Pippin, who adopted her!
Rye(Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy mix) was rescued from a feed lot the day before her herd went to auction.
Levi (Nigerian Dwarf) was bought as a baby to be companion to someone's mini horse. This is usually a good idea but the horse rejected him. He ended up with us after his first owner tried to keep him in the house! He was adopted and raised by Rye.
Gossip and Eureka (Nigerians) are twin babies who came to live in the Seldom Herd because their owners didn't want any males in their herd. Gossip was a runt and has had lots of health problems.
Our guardian dog Dana (an Akbash, LGD breed from Turkey) was donated because she has a deformed paw. Here, she can realize her purpose guarding goats. LGD's make poor pets.
Our other guard dog, Tonka (Akbash/Great Pyr/Anatolian), had been chained in the sun with only a piece of metal roofing to burrow under. He didn't get critical socialization and we're working with a trainer now to build his confidence and trust in people. He's thriving!
We're situated at the end of a 4 mile dead end road in wildfire central! In the past couple of months, we've been surrounded by the fire in Yosemite, the Carr Fire and the Mendocino complex fires. We lived under a bowl of smoke and didn't see the stars for weeks. Last year a fire in the canyon below us burned up to our property. We watched from our porch as helicopters with water dipped below us. They put that one out before we were evacuated. We had a friend on the way with a horse trailer, but it was a nail biter! We need to be able to respond to various scenarios quickly!
We had planned to someday buy an rv/bus type rig as a fire evacuation vehicle for The Seldom Herd. Having saved our pets from various bad situations and horrible fates, we don't want to lose them in a firenado if we can help it! We're also reticent to accept any more rescue requests since we have no evacuation vehicle.
We expected to just cross our fingers for the next 2-3 years but a new need has presented itself that combines with this one. Wren just had two manuscripts of poetry accepted by Finishing Line Press!
What's the connection? Fair question. We live in a one bedroom, open floorplan cabin. Wren's having extreme difficulty completing her writing projects with Cricket (Sheltie above, with peacock) barking, Leeloo pawing her legs, and C.T. chastising laundry. Wren needs a writing shed. When we thought about spending new money on that before the evacuation vehicle, we envisioned losing goats and shed in a fire. But if the writing shed were on wheels...Thus, the Goat Boat!
We know what we're getting into. We partially crowdfunded the above RV which we used to tour Occupy encampments and teach consensus workshops. Below, C.T. cooks and makes organizing calls from the "boat" we called Serenity, after the Firefly series, where the spaceship was always breaking down and having parts fall off. Not certain it would drive across country, we rehomed it when we moved to California. (This enabled us to repay a friend who loaned us part of its cost.)
Now settled in our California home, we would like to purchase a similar older RV that's mechanically sound. These are easy to find. We've saved $1400 so far and will continue to save. We'd like to raise $4000 from friends, family and the world so we can have about $7000 to obtain a decent rig. We'll gut the insides, adapting it as a heatable writing room that can contain crates of animals on short notice.
Please consider supporting animal rescue and the arts in one motion: Goat Boat!
Wren and C.T. are writers who operate a small goat rescue ranch, The Seldom Herd. Wren is editor of the poetry journal Califragile and a widely published poet with a 2 books coming out soon (Thistle and Brilliant; Skeptical Goats). C.T. is the author of 3 books of prescriptive non-fiction (On Conflict and Consensus; Food Not Bombs: How to Feed the Hungry and Build Community; Consensus for Cities).Our rescue ranch is home to 7 goats and the 2 Livestock Guardian Dogs who protect them from predators, plus our indoor dog and cat, as well as Raja, a feral peacock! As featured occasionally in Wren's writing, most of the animals have their sad tales. Ponder (above) is an Alpine who came from a dairy at 2 weeks old. She was taken from her mama so the dairy could keep the milk. We bottle fed her.Pippin, a Cashmere goat, was found wandering Skyway. She'd recently given birth but the baby was not found. She had suffered horrible neglect, with painful hoof rot, arthritis and matted fiber. But she's bounced back after lots of vet care and is learning to trust us.Simile, a mini Nubian/Nigerian mix, came to us at 8 weeks old after she'd nearly drowned in a vat of used motor oil. She arrived at the same time as Pippin, who adopted her!Rye(Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy mix) was rescued from a feed lot the day before her herd went to auction. Levi (Nigerian Dwarf) was bought as a baby to be companion to someone's mini horse. This is usually a good idea but the horse rejected him. He ended up with us after his first owner tried to keep him in the house! He was adopted and raised by Rye.Gossip and Eureka (Nigerians) are twin babies who came to live in the Seldom Herd because their owners didn't want any males in their herd. Gossip was a runt and has had lots of health problems.Our guardian dog Dana (an Akbash, LGD breed from Turkey) was donated because she has a deformed paw. Here, she can realize her purpose guarding goats. LGD's make poor pets. Our other guard dog, Tonka (Akbash/Great Pyr/Anatolian), had been chained in the sun with only a piece of metal roofing to burrow under. He didn't get critical socialization and we're working with a trainer now to build his confidence and trust in people. He's thriving!We're situated at the end of a 4 mile dead end road in wildfire central! In the past couple of months, we've been surrounded by the fire in Yosemite, the Carr Fire and the Mendocino complex fires. We lived under a bowl of smoke and didn't see the stars for weeks. Last year a fire in the canyon below us burned up to our property. We watched from our porch as helicopters with water dipped below us. They put that one out before we were evacuated. We had a friend on the way with a horse trailer, but it was a nail biter! We need to be able to respond to various scenarios quickly!We had planned to someday buy an rv/bus type rig as a fire evacuation vehicle for The Seldom Herd. Having saved our pets from various bad situations and horrible fates, we don't want to lose them in a firenado if we can help it! We're also reticent to accept any more rescue requests since we have no evacuation vehicle. We expected to just cross our fingers for the next 2-3 years but a new need has presented itself that combines with this one. Wren just had two manuscripts of poetry accepted by Finishing Line Press! What's the connection? Fair question. We live in a one bedroom, open floorplan cabin. Wren's having extreme difficulty completing her writing projects with Cricket (Sheltie above, with peacock) barking, Leeloo pawing her legs, and C.T. chastising laundry. Wren needs a writing shed. When we thought about spending new money on that before the evacuation vehicle, we envisioned losing goats and shed in a fire. But if the writing shed were on wheels...Thus, the Goat Boat!We know what we're getting into. We partially crowdfunded the above RV which we used to tour Occupy encampments and teach consensus workshops. Below, C.T. cooks and makes organizing calls from the "boat" we called Serenity, after the Firefly series, where the spaceship was always breaking down and having parts fall off. Not certain it would drive across country, we rehomed it when we moved to California. (This enabled us to repay a friend who loaned us part of its cost.)Now settled in our California home, we would like to purchase a similar older RV that's mechanically sound. These are easy to find. We've saved $1400 so far and will continue to save. We'd like to raise $4000 from friends, family and the world so we can have about $7000 to obtain a decent rig. We'll gut the insides, adapting it as a heatable writing room that can contain crates of animals on short notice. Please consider supporting animal rescue and the arts in one motion: Goat Boat!Organizer
Wren Tuatha
Organizer
Magalia, CA