Diamond Back Rattlesssss

Are there words to describe how humid it has been? Dante's Inferno comes to mind...

Don't get me wrong, I love the heat. But this humidity is deadly! Saunas are for occasional use to relax and detoxify, not carry out your daily routine in! Those of us brave enough (or without a choice) to sweat through the heat are probably burning a million calories a minute and losing gallons of salts. There are bottles of soda (how nice, a diuretic drink in the hot summer!) in the feed room fridge. But I recommend drinking water or something with electrolytes while your melting in the sun.

As for the horses' electrolyte intake, everyone has a mineral block available to them in addition to their complete feed. Horses that sweat more than others should be on an electrolyte supplement just for kicks. If you have a sweater and want me to give something extra, just leave the supplement in the feed room or tell me to get some for you and I'll pick it up on my next trip to the feed store. 

With the heat comes critters of all shapes and sizes seeking out water and breezes. Before nearly stepping on this 2 foot diamondback rattle snake, I thought I heard a bee buzzing near. Well, that buzzing was her rattle and she was directly in my walking path! Thank God for overcautious mothers - she pushed me out of the way! We immediately contained the beautiful snake (I called it a "she", my mom just kept telling me to "kill it!") under a wooden drawer and secured it with concrete blocks. I called Animal Services, Snake Busters, and Wildlife Rehab, and no one deals with Venomous snakes. After some research and seeking advice, we decided we would try to contain her more safely and relocate her. Thankfully Molly had access to a snake pole! Without that pole and Chris's bravery, I think we would have had a very difficult time! Due to the adrenaline rush while we were attempting to get her from under her wooden drawer, catch her, and put her in a trash can, we did not take pictures. But once the adrenaline wore off we remembered the camera and snapped some cell phone shots of her release:

Don't mind the terrible quality of these pictures. I used my cell phone zoom instead of getting anywhere close to this venomous girl!
So stay safe, be cautious of picking up logs and pieces of wood, feed bags, etc. Lots of wildlife living among us!

I bought 4 new high-velocity fans! I found a fantastic deal at Sam's Club so we were able to afford 4 fans. I'll be putting them up today. Hopefully we'll notice a difference! I think the change in air flow will be significant as you can't feel any breeze from a few of these older box fans.

Stay cool, hydrated, and steer clear of snakes!