06 November 2016

Mystery kit and Daylight Stupid Time

First, before I do my semiannual rant about the clock stupidity, a bit of a mystery yesterday afternoon.  Hubby found a newborn kit (baby rabbit) on the ground by the right side of the cages.  Given this position, that ruled out Brooke, who is in the far left cage.  Shalimar was just bred October 23rd, so it was not hers.  Gracie had been in with George the week prior, but that would be early ... and when I pulled her out to inspect her, her nipples are tiny and hard.  So, I pulled out the new girl, Ginger, who I was assured was "definitely not pregnant."  Ginger was born in January, and not bred before I got her.  Her nipples were large and soft and a lot easier to find than Gracie's, who has had two litters prior to this breeding.  So much for "definitely not pregnant," as she must have gotten bred during the transit.  I called Lynn up, who says rabbits "usually" have more than one kit, but it isn't impossible.  Another possibility is that Cutie Pie, the outdoor cat, got any other kit(s).  So, Ginger is back by herself for a couple days for recovery before I toss her in with Jack again.  At least I now know why she was refusing to let Jack breed her.

Now ... about this idiocy with changing the clocks.  Where in the (*bleep*) did this crazy idea that somehow this is for "the farmers' benefit" come from recently?  There is not a single critter here that gives a flying leap what our clocks say, because animals are on sun time and not clock time, despite my best efforts to keep the goats on a 12 hour milking schedule.  The goats keep insisting I am early for morning milking and late for evening milking these past six weeks in particular.

Folks, for the record, Daylight "Savings" Time was started during World War Two as a way to conserve energy back home so more fuel could be used to power the war machine in both the European and Pacific theatres of combat.  Period.  It does not really affect a farming schedule, except for when us rural folk have appointments in town or need to be aware of business hours.  The energy conservation is much higher in the cities.  Basically, this is just a big annoyance, 71 years after the end of WW2.  The dog came in to wake me up the exact same time as he did yesterday.  Of course, I haven't yet changed my bedside clock so when I opened my eyes I just thought the dog was on time.  Anyway, y'all have now been informed so you know not to repeat the absolute ignorance of DST being "for the farmers' benefit," because the livestock does not care.

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