jmgoyder

wings and things

Jan 7

Mathilda’s arrival

by jmgoyder

A hundred or so posts ago, I said I would tell the story of Mathilda’s arrival into our lives. Mathilda is the miniature pig who grew into a non-miniature pig (see November 9, 2011 post), and who now lives on a proper pig farm.

Well, Husband, Son and I brought Mathilda home in a pet container that was only just big enough (she was already larger than anticipated at a few months of age).

So, once we were home, we were, as usual, greeted vociferously by our two miniature dacshunds, Doc and Blaze, who became even more excited when I got the pet container out of the back seat of the car. Mathilda had her backside pressed against the door to this container so all the dogs could see was her funny little tail which they sniffed curiously. Naively, thinking that they would adore their new little/big friend, I opened the door and Mathilda backed out.

Now, looking back, I am sure the dogs were okay with what I believe they assumed was another dog. But when she turned around and they saw her snout, there was a rather horrified pause as the dogs stared, shocked, at this peculiar looking creature and then, whammo, their alarm turned to hatred and, chaos ensued as their whines turned into growls, then high-pitched barking.

I was holding little Mathilda in my arms, trying to calm the dogs and introduce them in a civil way, when she leapt away and sprinted across the paddock with Doc and Blaze after her.

Husband: I don’t think this is going to work.

Son: Mum, you’re an idiot.

Me: Arghhh!

We eventually whistled the dogs back and put them in the ‘naughty corner’, a big, fenced yard we use to contain them when necessary but Mathilda didn’t come back. As you can imagine, I was terribly distraught, and wandered around outside for hours, calling her. The relief when she turned up the next morning was overwhelming!

Of course, months later, when Mathilda had GROWN, the situation was reversed and Doc and Blaze were terrified of her, but all in all, I learned a very important lesson:

Dogs and pigs are not compatible!

Animal

10 Comments »
Dec 22

Annie get your gun

by jmgoyder

That fox and I are going to do battle.

We have tried fox traps, lights and numerous other fox deterrents, including the introduction of two beautiful Alpacas (because I was told they keep foxes away), and we have built up the night-time yards so they are too high for a fox to climb in. So far, these yards have kept that fox out during nights, but it has become so brazen that, as you know from previous posts, it somehow got our first three free-ranging emus in broad daylight.

So, I am going to get a gun, learn to shoot and get my gun licence. Now, for those of you who find this disturbing, it’s important that you know that the fox is not natural to Australia; it was introduced in the mid 1800s for recreational hunting purposes and, fast forward to now, it has become a murderous pest. Foxes not only kill domestic birds, like ours, they kill a lot of the wildlife too.

I think the presence of the Alpacas has helped but they are such gentle animals I can’t imagine them killing anything!

Son named them Okami and Uluru. ‘Okami’ is, apparently, the Japanese word for a great spirit, god or wolf, and ‘Uluru’ is the Aboriginal term for what used to be called ‘Ayer’s rock’. So they have really powerful names, but their soft natures seem to contradict their reputation for being able to stomp on the fox problem.

So, what do you think about my getting-a-gun idea? I don’t see that I have any other choice. Obviously, as an animal lover, I empathise with this fox’s need to feed her cubs wherever they are but sometimes enough is enough!

That fox and I are going to do battle.

Animal Wings

7 Comments »
Dec 22

Welcome home!

by jmgoyder

Last time Husband was in hospital in Perth, a visitor came in with three Irish terrier pups and Husband fell in love with them. So, after he got home I made some enquiries and found him a puppy, Jack, and Son and I surprised Husband. My mother was kind enough to go and get Jack from Perth and bring him home to us, so when she arrived we told Husband to close his eyes and I put Jack into his arms – well, kind of. Even at 4 months of age, Jack was a lot bigger than our miniature dachshunds, Doc and Blaze!

As you can see, Husband and Jack bonded immediately and they have a wonderful friendship. Unlike Doc and Blaze who are ‘outside/inside dogs’ ie. they are mostly outside but can come inside too, Jack is more of an ‘inside/outside’ dog, so he spends a lot of time at Husband’s feet in the living room and stretches out on the bedroom floor if Husband is having a rest.

On the phone to Husband yesterday, he said, “You haven’t bought any more birds, have you?”

“No,” I said, truthfully.

“Or dogs?”

“No.”

“Okay, then,” he said with a relieved sigh.

I didn’t tell him about the galah I’ve ordered. Husband has always loved galahs!

Animal Wings

8 Comments »
Dec 15

Seeing

by jmgoyder

Until the birds, I never used to see anything beyond my job as a university lecturer, the Husband and Son, and my own navel (not necessarily in that order!)

Now, I have begun to see in a new way. Here are some pictures that ‘describe’ how an unobservant person like me has had her eyes opened.

Oh, just in case you’re wondering, one of the pictures is of a strange new bird we have recently discovered dancing around the place. I don’t really want to shoo him away but I might have to!

Animal Wings

13 Comments »
Dec 12

Darwinian devastation

by jmgoyder

Yes – survival of the fittest, the pecking order, natural selection – all of that.

In the bird/animal kingdom this is quite straightforward and even makes its own sense, but in the human kingdom it’s not quite so easy.

Husband, Son and I had an interesting conversation the other night about whether our birds and other animals had feelings, memories, consciences and, despite a vigorous to-and-fro debate, we didn’t come to any conclusions.

This frustrated Son who likes to have answers; it amused Husband who thinks Son and I are a bit odd; but, for me, this inconclusiveness is a gift of mystery and, once I got used to it (years ago), I became enthralled with all of those unanswerable questions about suffering, about unfairness, about why and why and why….

Neverthless I keep wanting to intervene in that life and death cycle; I keep wanting to insinuate myself into that in-betweenness, to save us in the same way I might have saved our first Zaruma.

Strange post I guess – sorry; I am between a 17 year old who wants to embrace life and a 75 year old who is faltering. To be inside this situation is a bit unbearable, but luckily I can do that ‘stand back’ thing, so I know it is all going to be all right.

Animal

10 Comments »
Dec 6

An emu dilemma or two

by jmgoyder

The new emus are being delivered sooner than expected and I am just waiting for the phonecall from the emu breeder who happens to originate from the same town where we live. Small world! He now lives in Perth but he is coming south to visit some friends closeby so is going to bring us the Emerys – yeeha!

Okay, now the very benevolent Husband knows we’re getting another Emery or two (I thought it best not to mention the number 6), however the not-so-benevolent Son doesn’t have a clue because he has finally unsubscribed from this blog (another yeeha for more reasons that one!) Obviously Son didn’t see that previous post about me getting more emus – wonderful!

This time I will have to much more vigilant. The fox who killed the other emus did so in the daytime when I thought it was safe. The day they disappeared, we had seen them at 3pm but by 4.30pm they had gone. I now have two fox-proof yards with a third one being refortified, plus I have the greenhouse. Every afternoon, at around 4.30-5pm I lock the geese, ducks and turkeys into the yards so they are safe for the night. That’s what I did with the emus before; my mistake was thinking they would be safe if they ventured outside the house block (5 acres) into the surrounding paddocks.

So I have two dilemmas:

1. I will have to keep a very careful eye on the new Emerys; and

2. I will have to prevent Son from noticing their presence.

I much prefer the first dilemma!

I may have used the following picture before but it’s of Emery. I can’t wait to see the new Emerys!

Animal

6 Comments »
Dec 2

Canada, 1968: the squirrels

by jmgoyder

The taming of all these birds has made me terribly nostalgic for my childhood in Canada. One of my fondest memories is of the squirrels. The following is my mother’s story. She tells it well, don’t you think?

“Not long after arriving for our big adventure in Canada, when the children were 5, 7 and 9 respectively, Dad told us one evening that we were to wake up really early the next day because he had a surprise for us. He wouldn’t even tell me what it was.

So at dawn the next day, with that secretive Charlie Chaplin walk and wink of his, he bundled us into the car, patting his bulging pockets and driving us off into the unknown.

 It was a beautiful municipal park in Toronto, entirely deserted at this early mystic hour.

His finger to his lips he crept ahead of us to the base  of the biggest, widest tree, and from his pockets he drew out the bags of peanuts he’d been hiding. Handing them out he showed the children how to tempt the squirrels down from the treetops, to cheekily grab the nuts right out of their hands before scampering triumphantly back to the treetops with their trophies.

We had never experienced anything like this in Australia. Taming native creatures right in their habitat, to eat from their hands gave the kids the most tremendous thrill, and a memory to last forever. I can still taste the dew, and hear the silence of that magic moment.

Later on, when we were invited to stay at the cabin of friends on one of the myriad of lakes north of Toronto, Julie actually tamed chipmunks to eat out of her hands, a feat seldom attained with those tiny timid creatures, but that’s another story. M.L.”

Thanks, Meggles!

Enhanced by Zemanta

Animal

10 Comments »
Nov 13

Copulating confusion

by jmgoyder

First it was the dogs, Doc and Blaze, a father-and-son-miniature-dachschund-duo. After we lost Inky (Doc’s wife and Blaze’s mum), Doc kept trying to, you know, ‘do it’ to Blaze. It became such a problem that we had to take Doc to the vet for a hormone implant, after which he left his son alone thank goodness!

Then it was the pigs (half sisters don’t forget!) Vegemite started trying to ‘do it’ to Mathilda. I found this much more disturbing because Vegemite had a rather aggressive sexual drive so when I tried to stop her she would raise her hackles and bare her substantial teeth. It’s not that Mathilda minded particularly; she didn’t even seem to notice what was happening at the back of her, as long as there was wheat in front of her. Anyway, this is another reason both pigs are happier now they are with boars.

It wasn’t until the Indian runner drake did the same kind of thing with his brother (despite the fact that there were two girl ducks available), and the peacocks – the males – started flirting with each other, that I began to realise that the sexual antics of fauna might be a little different to those of humans. I realise this is debatable but my point is that I no longer fret when I see what I now call ‘an incident’.

Oh now naive I used to be! The first time I saw our rooster, Courvoisier, copulate with one of our first hens, I didn’t realise what he was doing. I thought he was attacking her so I screamed out “stop it, stop it, Courvoisier!” But it was all very fast and the hen, Sussex (her breed name), just shook herself and walked off as if nothing had happened, although she did have a rather smug look on her face and that’s when I sort of understood.

And now I totally understand!

Animal

2 Comments »
Nov 12

Vegemite

by jmgoyder

Before replacing my pig passion with birdiness, and before Mathilda experienced her growth spurt, I purchased another little piglet – Vegemite – who happened to be Mathilda’s half-sister. This worked out beautifully because our dogs (two miniature – yes miniature – dachschunds) hated Mathilda, so she was a bit lonely. Mathilda and Vegemite adored each other.

However, it wasn’t long after the above picture was taken that both pigs became bored with simply nibbling grass and began to dig and I mean DIG! For those of you tempted to get a pet pig, let me tell you pigs dig; they dig with their snouts and they dig fast. In the space of a few seconds Mathilda and Vegemite would dig holes the size of small craters. I could have planted a forest if I had wanted to.

So, in the face of Husband’s and Son’s fury, I was forced to put them in the chook pen which, because it was winter and raining, soon became a dam of sorts. When noone was looking, I would let them out to free range with explicit instructions not to dig, but to them a patch of pristine lawn was like a gift, so confining them to the pig pen (the chooks had moved out) became the norm.

And, yes, Vegemite also grew rather big, so when the pig farmer took Mathilda, he also took Vegemite. But their largeness was to their advantage because the first thing the farmer said was “bloody hell, they’re way beyond slaughtering – meat would be too tough – I’ll use them for breeding.” I tried not to appear too shocked because it hadn’t occurred to me that he might want to eat them!

Animal

22 Comments »
Nov 9

It all started with a pig

by jmgoyder

Oh how I adored Mathilda. She was just a teensy bit bigger than the miniature pet piglet I had anticipated. Yes, the breeders were kind enough to show me her parents who were also just a teensy bit bigger than the miniature pigs I’d read about. It was explained to me that there was a slight difference between miniature pigs and pet pigs but I was too smitten to care. Husband, Son and I had travelled three hours to get her, so I ignored Son’s “she’s a bit bigger than the photo in the article you showed me, Mum!” and Husband’s “couldn’t we get a miniature something-else?” and we brought her home. The above picture is of her second day with us (the first day is another story).

Okay, so, after a few months, and several hundreds of kilos of wheat, Mathilda started to look a little on the big side. I didn’t notice, but many of our friends did and would make rather unfortunate comments about her size. “What a cute tea-cup pig you have there” was one of the cruellest, however I learned to laugh these remarks off because, well, she was still Mathilda and I still adored her.

Alas, Mathilda outgrew our pigpen and our garden and became a bit restless so we eventually sold her to a local farmer who had a boar of the same breed (not miniature), so now she is happily frolicking and procreating in proper pig paddocks. But I miss her – my Mathilda.

That’s when we decided to get some birds. Birds are relatively small.

Animal

7 Comments »
Newer Entries »
Blog at WordPress.com.