I have found many abandoned and otherwise homeless dogs and cats. Most of the critters I rescue get
delivered to the Corinth Alcorn County Humane Society animal shelter, but a few manage to worm their way
into my heart in such a way that I cannot help but provide them with a home at Willow Oak.
Willow Oak is my 16 acre “animal farm,” located in Alcorn County, Mississippi. Situated just outside the town
limits of Corinth, Willow Oak is surrounded by a forest of white pine and tulip poplar, red oak and sycamore.
The fields of Willow Oak are covered with blackberry bushes and sage grass, and the fences are covered
with honeysuckle and muscadine. The 1.5 acre pond on Willow oak is filled with catfish, bass, and brim, and
the pond is framed beautifully with flowering dogwood in the spring and full-fruited hickory in the fall. I
would say that life at Willow Oak represents living at its finest. If you live in a big city with all of its
tapestries, the bright lights and all that goes with that, then I am happy for you; but at Willow Oak there are
no bright lights at night, unless you count the stars and a full moon.
I have lived in the big city, and I admit that living in such a venue does provide its excitement and its
entertainment. The noises, although annoying at times, can prove to be exotic, but at Willow Oak, about the
only sounds you’ll hear are the wind blowing through the leaves of a tree, or the distant and the occasional
wail of a coyote, or the crickets in the evening, or the croaking of the frogs down by the pond, or the many
species of birds that call Willow oak home.
Early mornings and late evenings at Willow Oak offer a symphony unlike anything you will hear in the city. I
can sit on a lawn chair in the middle of my front yard and listen in the distance to the call of the common
“Barred,” or “Hoot” owl. From over there will come a “hoot;” then after about three seconds, a return
“hoot” comes from back over this way. Then again over that way will come a “hoot,” followed within
seconds with another “hoot” over yonder: nature’s symphony in stereo.
But once in a while I hear a sound, which sends dread throughout my entire body. Off in the distance I will
hear the sad and pitiful sound of an abandoned puppy. I cannot say how many lost and homeless pups I
have retrieved from the woods that surround Willow Oak. And from whence do they originate? From where
do these puppies, most in the six-week-old range, emanate, and how do they come to be abandoned?
It was on one such occasion as I was lying in bed, taking a lazy afternoon nap, that I heard the puppy. It was
a rainy and drizzly early spring day; the temperature outside was cool, and I was in no mood to go traipsing
around the woods looking for a puppy whose distinct cry I could hear from my house. There are many
noises that come from the woods, and on more than one occasion I have heard what sounded to be the cry
of a puppy, only to discover that I was hearing the chirping of a bird, but on that day there could be no
mistake. Somewhere out there – somewhere in all that thick abundance of trees and vines and bushes was
a little lost and very much scared puppy.
Where do they come from? How do they get there? I have never been able to figure out the answer to
those questions: I can only surmise, but wherever they come from it falls on me to go to their rescue. In
this particular case, I managed to track down the source of the sound and return with the little waif to the
secure, warm, and dry confines of my living room. I had found a little solid black, what appeared to be lab
puppy. He had let out a desperate scream when I scooped him up, but by the time I landed at home with him
he had calmed down considerably.
After drying myself off I set about the task of checking him out. He did appear to be some sort of lab mix,
but he had huge feet – way too large in proportion to the rest of his body. And he had one other thing:
mange. His body was covered in sarcoptic mange, and he had it bad. The poor thing had open sores on his
body, which in some cases oozed blood and other fluids. I knew what to do. The first thing I always do with
a new rescue is to isolate it from the rest of the crew. This I did immediately by stowing him away in one of
my bathrooms.
If I do not immediately deliver an animal to the shelter I always isolate that animal until it can be delivered;
and even in the case of a dog or a cat that I end up keeping, the wanton vagabond remains quarantined
until I am certain of its health and disposition towards the others, and of their disposition towards it. In this
case, the little guy would be isolated for the minimum two weeks; in the mean time he would received some
good grub, fresh water, and a warm dry place to reside. Plus, he would get some regular baths and a
regular course of ivermectin, which can be purchased at your local Co-op or at Tractor Supply.
Ivermectin in the injectible form is what I use to treat a dog for mange. There is a formula, but I just
administer ¼ to ½ cc, depending on the size and age of the dog. That way I treat mange and worms at the
same time.
I have just described the arrival of Oscar to Willow Oak. If you have ever been on my website (www.
danieltaylor.us) you have seen the large black lab. That is Oscar. Actually, he is mixed with some species
that makes him much larger than the normal Laborador retriever. Whatever else Oscar is mixed with I do
not know, but this one thing I do know: Oscar is nearly the size of a small pony. He is huge – one large dog!
But he is sweet, and I love him, and when he was a baby, Oscar had it pretty rough. The sores took some
time to heal, and the mange eventually cleared up, but poor Oscar did suffer with his maladies for some
days before he began to feel relief. The poor little guy would cry into the night, he hurt so bad, and I would
do the best I could to make him comfortable.
I guess his experience from early on is what made me become so attached to him; but to this day, although I
love all my furry friends equally, Oscar possess a unique corner of my heart. I do live me some Oscars! He
has brought a lot of love into my life. And, Oscar gave me one other thing. Within a couple of days after I
had rescued Oscar I noticed that I began to feel a tiny bit uncomfortable, myself. As a matter of fact, within
only a few hours of having returned with Oscar to my house I began to feel a little tingling on my shoulders
and back, and a little on my arms and upper thighs. And actually, within a week I was all over covered in
welts and spots – little tiny red spots covered nearly every square inch of my body. I made a visit to my
veterinarian who upon close inspection diagnosed my problem: sarcoptic mange! I had the mange. I had
undoubtedly contracted mange from little Oscar.
Well, the vet wrote me a prescription – a tube of some white, chalky stuff – and having quarantined myself, I
set about to cure myself of the mange. Mange is not a comfortable thing. The itch is indescribable. And
there is a little fever associated with the malady. Mange is caused by a bug – a tiny mite that burrows its
way under the skin. It is a miserable condition. Every day I would soak in a tub of hot water, laced with
Epsom salt; then I would cover every inch of my body with the chalky-white cream. The pharmacist told me
how to administer the cream; one has to strip completely naked, and one must remain so after the cream
has been administered. The cream must be applied all over. Every square inch of the body must be
covered.
One does not want to rub the cream off of one’s body, so …, well, if one is not already a nudist, he becomes
one if he wants to cure himself of the mange. So for two weeks I lived at Willow Oak sans clothing. I had
the idea that exposure to the sun would be a beneficial thing so I would take a daily excursion to the pond –
sandals only, and soak in the sun for a couple of hours. Fortunately, Willow Oak is isolated enough so that
going naked outside is not a great inconvenience for the neighbors. My dogs, on the other hand, might
have something different to say about that. For them it must have been a very traumatic experience –
especially the first day or two – to see a naked white man all covered over with a chalky, white substance,
coming at them from out of the woods. The first day that I did this, upon returning to the house all of the
dogs were gone! They had all found little hiding places here and there among the furniture and behind the
doors, and had hid themselves from this heretofore unseen monster who surely must be intent on doing
them harm!
A couple of weeks were required to do the job, but eventually I did recover from my bought with mange.
Oscar recovered from his, and together we returned to the real world happy and healthy.
Oscar eventually filled out and filled up those large feet of his. He loves to run around the yard, barking
and chasing, and being barked at and chased.
I do love me some Oscars! Even though he gave me a very bad case of the mange.
Please take a moment to read or leave a comment in my Guestbook, or read more about daily life at Willow
Oak in my journal, or email me one of your own stories.
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