THREE HOUR TOUR

When I woke this morning, I did not expect to see the Atlantic Ocean today.

Every day at Unity Farm Sanctuary has the possibility of surprises, changes, the unknown. Today started like any other, with morning chores, volunteers, feeding and caring for the animals. Then a weekly Storytime Tour for the preschoolers filled the morning with many smiles. These tours offer many opportunities for our rescues to show the preschoolers how to be kind to them.

During Storytime Tours, I don't answer calls and messages, but once the guests headed home, I replayed a phone message that an emergency had occurred in Marshfield MA, right next to the Atlantic Ocean.

Three white broad breasted turkeys and six hens had been without care and much feed for up to ten days, although recent rain had provided drinking water. The caretaker had been hospitalized with Covid19, and his roommate arrived back from a ten day roadtrip to discover the condition of the birds last night.

She reached out to the Sanctuary this morning to take them as surrenders, because the potential road to recovery for the birds' original caretaker will be long, and she is unable to care for them while also working long hours.

I drove an hour to Marshfield, on this beautiful day before the start of Autumn.

It took another hour to safely catch all the birds and place them in travel carriers. I will admit, one of the turkeys simply would not fit in the smaller carrier I had, so she traveled nestled between the other carriers.

One more hour to travel back to the Sanctuary. (yes, a "three hour tour", just like the song on Gilligan's Island - since I visited the Atlantic!)

The birds are doing ok, but are hungry. They are settling in here and getting used to the new surroundings. The white turkeys are the same breed as our sweet Lou, who passed last week. I have to wonder if Lou was watching over these birds so that they could be safe.

(At the coop/pen where the turkeys and hens were rescued in Marshfield MA)