"Cows Follow Me Home": Interview with Christina Perkins

Christina and Rye on the trail

MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
How long have you been hiking and how did you become interested in it?
CHRISTINA PERKINS:
I have been hiking for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Germany where, way back then, it was a way of life. We used to ride our bikes to the Teutoburg Forest and head out the trails. For school trips we went hiking. After school we went biking and hiking. It was just a way of life. I've always had active dogs and just love to be outside. I think I became interested, or stayed interested, because I enjoy the solitude, exercise, like to explore new areas, and [to] spend time with dogs. Back then they had hiking as "Volkssport" with lots of trails, maps, and badges for accomplishments. Organized hikes etc. I don't know if they still do.
​MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
“Volksport” sounds similar to what we do here with regard to patches for completing peak bagging lists or trail systems. When you first started hiking in the United States do you remember being surprised at the differences between your hiking experiences in Europe vs. here?
CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Yes, the region where I lived and hiked was quite different. Flat really. When I was young, I hiked in Northern Italy. Talk about steep. On school trips we hiked in Southern Germany and in the wine country. Different wildlife, different types of trails, but more people [hiking in Europe] even back then.
​MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
What was your first memorable hike after you moved to the US?

Maine's Tumbledown Mountain

CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Probably Tumbledown, way back when it wasn't crowded. . . it would have been early 90s. . .I think it was my first remote hike back then. It was very quiet, and I don't even think we saw anyone else. I loved the view and the lake. I had a dog who loved to sit at the summit and enjoy the view. I think my then husband hiked it with us.
MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
So, you moved to the U.S. and became an attorney, right? Does the hiking help balance out the challenges of your legal work?
CHRISTINA PERKINS:
God yes, if I didn't go hiking I would have been hospitalized years ago.
MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
I know you've been picking away at the mountains in the Maine Mountain Guide. Is it your goal to "hike the guide" or just visit as many mountains as you can? 

​CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Ha, I've been picking away at that for decades. No, I do not have plans to hike the guide. Rye [Christina’s dog] is getting older so we are slowing down a bit and of course I need titanium replacement toes. Makes life a bit hard. Rye and I usually just figure out where we want to go. We had planned on [doing] the Long Trail but I think she is too old now. Sometimes we pick trails where we can also kayak. Lake Estey [Roaring Lake] is one of our favorites.

​MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
So, tell me about Rye. I understand she's a rescue dog.
​CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Yes, she is a rescue from South Carolina. Not much is known other than she lived under someone's porch her first year of her life. No one could catch her. Eventually she was caught and ended up in a high kill shelter where a person felt they couldn't leave her behind. She had demodectic mange and no hair. In addition, she was terrified of humans. She made her way up to The Ark in Cherryfield, Maine via a series of foster homes. She was at The Ark for almost a year until she tested negative on a skin scrape. 

​​She was almost adopted out but the son in the family backed out because he felt it was not a good match. . .  the adoption fell through and I drove up to Cherryfield. When we first started hiking I still had the two older and retired dogs. I rode my bike a lot but I missed hiking. So Rye and I started our adventures. When we first started hiking she was so scared that we almost ran up the mountains. She would not sniff, pee or drink water. It was very sad. . . . she just ran. We did 3 miles an hour up or down. A few times I had to pick her up when we saw other people. Then hiking became her therapy and now she leads the way! Turns out she is a mountain cur mix. I had her tested when she had some weird symptoms and I had to use the rescue harness to carry her down the mountain. Her breed profile matches mine. Mountain curs live for adventure and get depressed when they spend too much time inside.
MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
She sounds like a good hiking buddy. I understand you also have other rescue animals that you care for?
​​CHRISTINA PERKINS:
She is perfect! Yes, I have Christopher, a steer. He will be 18 in May, if he makes it, and is the last survivor of a cruelty case back in 2004. All other adults and calves have now died. Then there is Liberty, the donkey. She is my longest happy relationship. She is 26 I think. Miss Venture is a retired racehorse who did not make enough money. . .[and] missed the truck going to slaughter. She is also mid 20s I think. She came to live with us when she was 7 maybe. Bocephus is a Premarin survivor from the horse farms. He is 22-ish I think. Premarin is the hormone replacement drug for women in menopause pushed by big pharma. They keep mares tied and pregnant to use the urine in the pills. We don't hear about it much anymore, but it used to be a big issue in the animal rescue world. [We have] cats. . . Ricky, Taylor, Jingle, Raven and Onyx; Andrew, Eddy, and Oliver, also known as the big orange blob. . .all rescues and "unadoptable."

MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
Have you ever thought about hiking with any of your other animals beside Rye?
CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Yes, when I had goats I used to think about taking a donkey and-or goat. But I never did. Probably because it's easier to take a dog.
MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
How did you become interested in animal rescue, and what does it take to take care of so many rescue animals--especially the large ones?

CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Well, I grew up right in the middle of the meat industry. Of course it was considered normal and I often wonder how I ended up questioning it. .  .and honestly I connect with animals. Always have. I have had cows follow me home, an emu show up (we were on the radio for that one), dogs move out of their owner's house and try to move in with me. Kids too, but their parents usually intervene. . . .as for large animal rescue, I kinda stumbled into that one and it was never really planned. My maternal grandmother used to ride goats before they had to flee [warfare in WWII Germany]. Her family lived in the middle of the woods with horses and donkey. She always told me if she won the lottery she would buy a donkey for me. So I kind of grew up wanting a donkey. Because I grew up in small farm country, I was surrounded by cows and pigs, and I always interacted with them.

In the early 90's my then husband found a donkey and wanted her. So we took her in. Then we felt bad because she was alone, so we rescued Jennifer, an alpine goat who was tied to a barn and kinda unwanted. Then we saw a little lamb, Brigitte, at the feed store. She was labeled freezer meat. Of course, that made me very angry. So we bought her (probably not accepted method in the animal rescue world). Then my husband found a baby goat, Cody, at the feed store sold for meat as well. He bought him and when I got home from work that day I had a baby goat to care for.

Then I started volunteering at a private cat shelter. The cats had come up for Long Island with a woman whose husband wanted to retire in Maine. She rescued two Jerseys from the neighboring farm. They moved and ended up divorced. The cows' fate was up in the air. I found a place to board them for a while but there was always the worry that they would kill them and pretend it had been an emergency. One cannot trust humans with cows. So, I hired a livestock hauler and moved them into our small barn.

Christina with Christopher

Then the market boomed in southern Maine, and we sold our house at a good price. Bought a larger farm in Litchfield and my husband wanted a horse. Miss Venture was born on his uncle's farm and didn't make enough money to earn her keep. She lived at the track and his own barn was full. So he called us. And she came to live with us. She hates men (they told us that before we adopted her) so my husband decided he needed to get a horse who liked him. Meanwhile we ended up getting Liberty's [the donkey] brother, Indy. He died about four years ago at age 20 overnight in his sleep. So we went to New Hampshire and got Bocephus as a yearling from a horse rescue who helped get him out of the premarin farm. He was a byproduct for them as they don't really want the males. I think he lived as long as he did because no one could catch him. Serena, my other Jersey, died shortly after we moved to Litchfield so we adopted Cookie, a cow, from Nevins Farm in Methuen. At that time, my husband wanted to work the rescue full time once I graduated from law school. So we were on the Farm Animal Sanctuary network. We got a call that there was a sad rescue situation in Butler County, PA. Christopher's mom, Tess, was one of the lucky ones. He was born in May 2004 at sanctuary in Watkins Glen. We adopted the two along with a flock of debeaked hens from another rescue and a rescued rooster. The night before Farm Sanctuary drove them all up, they called and asked if I minded if they brought a movie star. It was one of the Affleck brothers. Casey, I think. I remember meeting him, but Christopher was so cute I forgot about the movie star. Plus, we had to integrate the herd and that was stressful. Tess died of cancer a few years ago. The one thing in life I feel I accomplished was that she was able to keep her last calf until the day she died.

The large animals are of course a lot of work and responsibility, and it hasn't been easy. But they are family and I made a commitment when I got them. I have a good routine going and even during wicked cold spells I don't regret it. It's horrible when they get sick and die. At least with small animals one can go to the vets and there are cremation services. Not so with big animals. It's ugly and involves chains and big machinery. I'm lucky that both farms I lived we had neighbors who respected my views and were willing to come help with their big equipment without arguing with me that it " was just a cow". Most recently of course I had Christopher's surgery. He has recovered but I don't think I have. . .  we got through it and I'm thinking somewhere sometime another cow will need my help. . . His body is very old, of course and the 2200 pounds he was programmed to weigh have taken their toll on his body. I hope when his time comes he will be lucky enough to die in his sleep. He is the last survivor of the Butler County rescue. The rescued adults are long gone, of course, and even the calves born after are all gone. He is the last one. Kinda like me now that I think about it. My family is all dead too. 

Liberty

​MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
Have you thought of rehabbing and rescuing wild animals?
CHRISTINA PERKINS:
I cannot take on more than that at the moment and am not qualified to do actual rescue. I found an injured pigeon in my garage. One of the flock that lives in the barn. I was able to catch her and fortunately Avian Haven was willing to take her. They were trying to find transport for her out of Belfast and then I said I will just drive the whole way, so they didn't have to find transport. I was quite impressed with their compassion for the pigeon (and me). Usually, we are ridiculed: "it's just a pigeon". She didn't make it, but I sent a donation because they really were my only option, and she would have died miserably otherwise.

MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
Getting back to hiking. . .what’s your favorite piece of hiking gear?
CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Rye's rescue harness! And our Garmin inReach. 
​​MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
What are some on your favorite hikes (and why?)​

CHRISTINA PERKINS:
My favorite dog free hike is the Traveler loop [Baxter State Park]. I like the terrain and of course the views. It's a challenging trail and not as busy or urgent as Katahdin. Rye and I really like the Caribou Mountain loop [Sullivan, Maine]. It gives us quite a bit of climbing and so is good practice for bigger hikes but still has the feel of backcountry, remote hiking. I don't think it is as busy as some of the other trails. We can take the unmaintained trail down to Tunk Lake for a swim in the summer or paddle out to start the loop at the beach for variety. We love the views and it's close to home. We love the Bold Coast trails for the view and the water. Often, we see whales right from the trail in Cutler. The trail has been beat up and we don't go there as much as we used to a few years ago.  We really like the East Grand Lakes Highlands Trail. Rye can see Canada for a good portion of the trail and the views from the platform are quite nice. We don't see many people there, so we enjoy that. Once the [Canadian] border opens, we want to go across in Forest City just for fun. It's such a tiny crossing. In northern Maine we like the Quaggies [Quaggy Joe Mountain] and love watching the sunrise over Canada from the shelter near the north peak. We like the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge because it's not busy and we have friends who know a lot about the history so we get an education at the same time. Bigger trips or longer trails we do on the weekends. We try to pick a more challenging local one for one weekend day and the travel the other weekend day. But sometimes we do both. We like Catherine Mountain because it's enroute to downeast and the rocks and moss going up from the unmarked trailhead are fun. Plus we can extend it over to Caribou and beyond. And we have lots of water around for paddling. Locally one of our favorites is the Mead Mountain loop. It's a minute from our house and we can extend it if we want to. Mostly we like it because it's not as busy and we like the rocks and moss going up on the back side. We take the road down and there is a beaver pond and frogs. We usually see a lot of birds and rabbits and it's a really quiet hike.
MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
Do you have any hiking plans for the coming year?
CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Yes, we do indeed have plans. Debouille Mountain, for sure. Nahmakanta, hopefully for an overnight. The new Pineo Ridge trail (Downeast Lakes Community Forest]. We heard the trail in Houlton is expanding to the other side of the river. Scopan Mountain is always a favorite. We liked the Mars Hill and the IAT. Rye helped Eric put markers up so we need to go check on those. We also want to paddle out in the National Monument and do Deasey and Lunksoos for an overnight. Shaw Mountain is on our list. We skied at Medawisla last winter and were headed that way to snowshoe up but I decided it was too cold for us to go alone. We didn't make it back up there last fall.

Christina and Rye hiking Maine's rocky coastline.

​MOUNTAIN PEOPLE:
Do you think caring for all the rescue animals and your connection with hiking and the outdoors are related?
​CHRISTINA PERKINS:
Yes, I do. They are part of nature just like I am. And it does require a large amount of daily outdoor time. And physical effort.  I am able to move a big, fat round bale by myself (most of the time) and have impressed farmers when they watch me use my leg muscles from hiking and biking to move that bale! Particularly this year, I actually have been thinking that I really enjoy the quiet, peaceful time out there. No other humans about when it is that cold, dark or storming. Just the pigeons and the ducks coming up from the lake. And the deer who hang out with Christopher. And of course my owl. And the fox. So yes, it's quiet, cold, peaceful, and outside. Just like hiking. I think that the ducks that I feed all winter are the same ones that follow us in our kayak. . . when I call them as we hit the water.

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