The Black Mare

Seventeen hours after the amazing event, I have a dozen pictures of the day, and the three fine sons, up in a gallery called "Chinchilla Kits." The usual -- go to "user info", scroll down to "pictures", and click for the four galleries. The entire furry family is doing well and I was unbelievably restrained in posting so few images because I am utterly besotted. And these little guys are so fast! so jumpy! so bold! Totally ready to take on the wide world. I am in awe as well as being in love.

This morning, between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. Eleanor and Sam became parents for the first time. Eleanor is safely delivered of two fine babies, one silver [like Sam] and the other undetermined, because it's still quite damp and tucked up under her staying warm. I arrived on the scene at 7:15 when mother and babies were still soaking wet; I set up the space heater to help keep the chill off the bonnie wee chinnies until their coats dry and fluff. Eleanor, who takes exceptional care of her ebony coat, is not pleased about the moist-and-matted aspect of this process, but in all other ways is proving to be a splendid mum. Sam has been watching and checking in, but not in the way. He's down with them all now, snuggled into the towel to offer additional warmth and comfort. Later today I will have to sequester him in one half of the very large cage as Eleanor is receptive to breeding over the next ten days, and I don't want her strained by a second pregnancy so soon. Once that heat has passed, they will all be together again until the babies are weaned at about 8 weeks.

I've been hand-feeding Eleanor Calf Manna pellets, which are rich in calcium and protein. She's had them throughout the pregnancy as a supplement, but I think a few more are in order after her superb performance. She's quite whacked, and currently tucked over her children sound asleep.

The kits are about the size of a healthy adult gerbil, even soaking wet. Dry, they will look larger. They are fully furred and their eyes are open; their tails have a thick coat of short hair that will grow to become the fine plume of an adult in about three months. Their ears are adorable, and what can I say to do justice to such exquisite and delicate whiskers? Their noses are busy pushing around in mum's warm coat, and they have the most astonishing chirping call, quite loud, and probably translating roughly to "nipple? nipple? NIPPLE!"

I am taking stills -- though not happy about the flash, so keeping that to a minimum. Wish it wasn't such a gray morning here. I am also taking digital video, of course. I'll get pictures into my gallery later today for all to see. Must get back down and watch!

I finally managed to get images uploaded, captioned, and annotated in three galleries. There is one for chinchilla photos, with shots of Sam and Eleanor; I'll add baby pics when the kits arrive. There is one with pictures of the birds, and one with pictures of Fox. All of the Fox pictures were taken during training sessions with either Bob Burrelli or April Hart, who live and work in Massachusetts and taught me my foundation skills in natural horsemanship.

You can view the images by going to my profile, scrolling down and clicking on the public images link on that page, and off ya go. Please note that the thumbnails are cropped; to see the entire image you have to click on the pictures and go through the album one photo at a time.

Off to put dough into bread pans for a second rise.