After several long days, I was planning on sleeping in this morning.

Phone rang early.

Head horse wrangler for the feds. Needs to return my tranquilizer rifle.

Now, he asked to borrow it last week, to use on a feral horse stud that was coming into one of the little communities to harass some domestic horses in their corral. But no, you don't loan this stuff out. And I'm gonna be way too busy to come out into the desert to tranq a horse. Suggest he contact a warden.

They're trained, and can use the gear if they're not too busy.

So, Monday morning a warden comes for the rifle and kit, as I'm heading out to gather wing barrels. And I hear nothing else about it.

'Til last night. As I'm taking down the next to the last barrel, after a full day of checking elk hunters on Ferris, I see headlights coming down the county road.

The fella whose horses were being harassed.

He reports that, while they had the stud trapped in a corral, the first dart (Yes, I know, a major faux pas. All the professionals insist these are syringes, not darts. It's a dart, okay?)... anyway, the first dart fell short. Second hit true, but had no effect. And the dart was shaken loose in the corral.

So they ended up just hazing the horse far from town, hoping it won't come back.

He reports they found the second dart in the dirt. Missing the needle (presumably still in the horse, sort of like a steel greasewood thorn). No idea why it failed.

So anyway, the call early this morning? The wrangler wants to return the rifle.

(I am wondering why he has it. Please, please tell me the warden supervised its use, and didn't just simply loan them the gun like I refused to do.)

Sure, I'll be home all morning. And back to sleep I went.

To be awoken no less than 15 minutes later, by heelers barking at someone knocking at the door. So wife, who is not having a sleep-in day and is dressed, heads to the door. After throwing on a shirt, I meet her in the hallway, and take the rifle case from her left hand.

And she hands me "whatever this is" that he gave her from her right hand.

The broken dart.

And I notice a little droplet of clear fluid on my finger. And another oozing out the broken needle hole.

Ohhh, crap.

Now, these are not reusable darts. You can't take them apart and clean them. There is only one fluid that can be leaking out of that dart.

Horse tranquilizer.

Not a good thing to be absorbing through your skin. Not sure what drug combo the vet would have given them to use, but at least it's not blue.

Immediately turn around to the bathroom and ask the wife if her fingers are dry.

Yep, she's okay.

As I rinse my finger, I tell her if I'm still in bed when she gets home, now she knows why.

No problems (neigh!) so far.