UPDATE ON FIRST BREEDING

JULY 11TH, 1998

Today marks the 27th day in the Angel saga... Yesterday was the big day which marked putting the nestbox into her cage. I put a small amount of pine shavings in the bottom of the nestbox and then put a good amount of hay on top of that. The minute I put the nestbox into her cage she seemed instinctively to know what to do. It was truly amazing to watch! She jumped in the box immediately and began rearranging my hay. Apparently I don't know the right way to do it!! Then, after I put in the nestbox, I gave her a great deal of extra hay in her hay rack. I wasn't sure if she would make use of it and thought she would end up eating most of it as usual. When I returned to check on her progress 15 minutes later, all of the extra hay was now placed perfectly in the nestbox and I could hear her feverishly jumping in and out of the box while scratching its bottom. It was quite a whirlwind of activity to behold and I was fascinated by her hard work.

At this point she has checked on the nestbox every hour and made minor changes to the hay. She seems at peace now as if she is prepared to face kindling. It's me who seems nervous! I will be watching her for the next 4 days now to see when she begins pulling hair from her belly and filling the box with it. This is the sign that kindling is very near and I can hardly wait! I have read that does can kindle anywhere between 29 and 32 days so the next couple of days of waiting will be hard. Still, I know it will be worth the wait.

Check back with us in the next couple of days and see how Angel and her kit(s) are doing. I hope to be able to report great news and a picture of a few little "gems"!