Sofia’s “Animalality”

Cleopatra IS pretty, but unfortunately not very interesting.

I find the behavior of my animals endlessly interesting.  I could, and sometimes do, watch them for hours.  As I was sitting out back a few days ago, observing, I came up with the word “animalality”.  Like personality, only in animals instead of persons. Doesn’t roll off the tongue, but I still like the concept.

Each animal in my barnyard has a distinct animalality.  And just like humans, some are more boring than others.  I don’t write about Cleopatra the hen much, because she doesn’t do much to write about.

I’ve written about Sofia a few times, because her animalality is so very distinct, with distinct being a polite word for odd.  

Her habit of sleeping next to Doink amazes me each and every evening when I go out for my last check of the animals.  In the summer I fluff Doink’s straw bedding with a rake every day to keep it fresh.  (With that one sentence I now officially sound like a nut case.) Every evening, he methodically uses his ridiculous little hooves to scrape all the straw and his blankets around until he’s satisfied.  This takes a while.  Then he hunkers down.

And every evening, there’s Sofia.  I take pictures of this a LOT.  Not many of them come out, because it’s dark in there.  But here’s a few shots of the odd sleeping arrangements I’ve been seeing over the summer…

Snug as two bugs in a rug…I know, you can barely see her in the back, but she’s there, wedged behind the red wood.

We’ve got some fresh hay and she’s beginning to look a little too snug..

No really, I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT’S COMFORTABLE.  It’s hot, it’s the middle of summer, and Sofia is almost covered in straw.

Now you can BARELY SEE HER HEAD.  (Note the blue towel in most of the pics.  It’s Doink’s favorite.  He shuffles that thing all over the place until he gets it just right.)

This was the night I panicked. WHERE IS SHE? Completely buried, still behind the red wood. I tried to move the straw away to find her and she was totally still. She. Did. Not. Move.

In the past few days, Doink has shifted his sleeping position. Sofia moved right along with him.

I don’t know what you do in the evening, but keeping track of the animalalities in the barnyard keeps me (mostly) out of trouble and entertained!

(Shared at Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tuesdays With A Twist, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Down Home Blog Hop, HomeAcre Hop, FarmGirl Friday and From The Farm!)