A Disappointing Day

I was so excited to be off to our first auction of the year! To top it all off it was one of my very favorite type of auctions... an exotic animal auction! Yehaw! I could only imagine what might be there and was hoping, and very nearly breathless, with the prospect of maybe, just maybe, coming home with a new friend.

Well, at least that is how the day started... In reality it was not such a great day. First off, before we even left home, it started to snow. Snow!!! Yesterday had been so beautiful and the weather man had promised a beautiful sunny day! Oh well, I wasn't going to let a little thing like snow get me down, but it sure did look nasty.

So the ride there wasn't a lot of fun. No worries, I was just excited to be going, We finally arrived and wandered around looking at what was for sale. Hmmm...  for an exotic animal sale there really isn't much I would call exotic... There were a few Pekin ducks I was interested in and maybe a few Buff Orpington chickens. Actually other than some rabbits there was nothing else but birds which I thought rather strange for an exotic animal sale. And then the bidding started! Weehaw! Umm... Wait! Woah! No way can I afford that! I couldn't believe some of the prices and at first thought I was mistaken. Unfortunately I wasn't. Here's a sample of what was selling and for how much.

2 week old Pekin ducklings $8.75 each (some still dyed weird colors)

2 week old (breed unknown) chicks $7.50 each

Pair of Pilgrim geese (age unknown) $145

Blue Pea Fowl, male (age unknown) $290

Bantams 1 rooster, 2 hens (age unknown) $77.50

Guinea fowl, all males (age unknown) $25/each

Lion Maned rabbit $35

Pair of African geese  (age unknown)$185

Buff Orpington rooster and hen (age unknown) $37.50 

Come to think of it maybe the Puff Orpingtons weren't such a bad price but without knowing their age I wasn't touching them. To top it off I had inadvertently overheard one of the sellers telling his friend that whatever he was selling had been in his barn for the last 30 years. I knew this was an exaggeration, but still. So there I was walking away empty handed... Not much to do but stop for a few groceries and go home before the roads were too icy to get anywhere. The only real thing of interest in the whole day was the cool pattern of ice accumulated on our tires when we arrive home.