Mules....

Today I got the opportunity to meet three new characters, Albert, Frosty and Ornery. These three fellas are as different as three animals can be yet live in the same place, for a few more weeks at least. These three are mules, Albert is the biggest at about 15 hands, Frosty is next at about 13 1/2 hands and Ornery is the smallest and by the looks of him eats the most. According to his owner,Captain D, he eats anything and everything and he keeps his belly nice and round. Frosty and Albert on the other hand only eat the center of the round bale, and want their grain twice a day. Picky.

Albert will soon be going to a new home in central Missouri. He has joined a "cowboy church" group and will be used to preach the gospel. Albert is a good mule, with a strong determination to see things first and has yet to do anything that appears to tire him in the least. His new job may be right down his alley because we all know that cowboys need to be preached at for a lot of things.

Frosty on the other hand is a coon hunting mule. according to Captain D he loves to coon hunt and will stay out all night long, leading his hunters over hill and dale, through creeks, rivers and meadows in search of the elusive Missouri raccoons. His fame is know all over the county. Captain D has to keep him hid all summer cause if the raccoons get the word that Ole Frosty is after them they just lay down, shuck their skins and wait for him to get there. His fame is so great that last fall two old boys showed up at Captain D's place. They were from this uppity coon hunting group from up north. They begged Captain for so long that he finally agreed to let them use Frosty. He just told them to keep him away from Beaver Creek. Now Beaver creek is a tributary of Bull Shoals Lake, and the Captain knew the Frosty had no business being anywhere near that lake.

Them two Yankee coon hunters started off just about dark and wasn't gone an hour when Frosty took off after a coon. They chased that mule over hills and through meadows, up ridges and over fences when all of a sudden that came across a fence with metal signs every few feet. Those signs identified the US Army Corp of Engineers survey marker fence line for the high water line along Beaver Creek. Them two fellas looked at one another with fear in their eyes. They knew ole Frosty had jumped that fence and was heading toward Beaver Creek. They ran, called his name and fretted till almost morning. By that time they was both worn out and had to return to tell Captain that they had let Frosty get to the creek, and although they looked all night they could not find him.

Captain D was on his porch when they returned, they explained what had happened and Captain D took off his hat, threw it down on the ground a stomped it.He had at them two Yankee coon hunters like a Baptist preacher gets after a room full of sinners. Finally he stopped and said' Boys, we have a job of work to do, there is only one thing Frosty likes to do more than coon hunt......that's catfish, we may never get him of the bank of that creek.