Village Squire, 1978-03, Page 5Animals
I have
Icnown
Years of life
on the farm helped
him meet
many interesting animals
BY ADRIAN VOS
During our sojourn on the farm, we have met with an
assortment of animals.
That we encountered as many as we did, was for a great deal
because of bur eldest daughter, Annemarie. She liked to roam
through bush and swamp, on which forays she came inevitably
across all types of wild animals. When these happened to be
young ones, we could reasonably expect to be enriched with yet
another pet.
One of her first captives was a small hawk. Her sharp eyes
spotted it in the rafters of a barn, and she didn't rest until she
had climbed high up after it, and brought it down. It was, of
course, a young one, or she would never have been able to catch
it. As it was, it turned out to be remarkablely easy to feed. In no
time she had it eating out of her hand. She took it out on a long
string, and if the bird was hungry he would come when called to
eat a tidbit out of her hand. Soon after, we found out that it is
against the law to have wildlife without a permit, so she donated
it to the Riverside Park in Preston, where they had more birds.
Another of her feathered friends was a blackbird. She found it
walking around on our lawn. bitterly complaining that it wanted
a mother and a full stomach. Annemarie provided both, and
before long the bird was following her around even after it had
learned to fly. He was quite an impressionist too, and it was
funny to hear a chicken's tok-tok-tok and on turning around to
look for it, to find a blackbird sitting there.
In the fall of that year he disappeared, but the next spring he
was back. By that time he had lost some of his tameness however
and could be approached to a distance of about six feet only,
before flying off. Soon after he was gone for good.
Other birds in her menagerie were robins, starlings and
sparrows, who were fed with varying rates of success.
We had. of course, the usual variety of dogs. We had beagles
for rabbit hunting. We had farm dogs of indifferent breeds. We
had a boxer who disappeared at the same time our neighbours
lost their dogs. It was no co -incidence that a closed van had been
seen cruising apparently aimlessly at that time.
This particular dog was out with Annemarie on one of her
expeditions in the swamp, when she heard him bark excitedly.
She rushed up to him and found him attacking a litter of four
young raccoons. He had broken open a hollow tree, and she was
only just in time to save them. Needless to ask what she did with
the little critters. They couldn't have lived after their home was
broken into, so we agreed to keep one, but she must give the rest
away. She fed him with the bottle and even after weaning he
loved to grab a bottle with his little hands, turn unto his back and
drink from it. The 'coon must be about the only wild animal that
can be taken from the wilds and instantly tamed. But soon it
became necessary.to tie hin up, for if there was anything at all to
get into. he would be in it. He had a habit to startle you out of
your shoes, by jumping from a height onto your shoulder or your
head. Can you imagine, walking up to your door and having a
50 -pound animal jumping on top of you? Even tying him up
didn't prevent him from doing mischief. He would sit peacefully,
with his head on his chest, pretending to sleep. A chicken would
come wandering along. pecking a bit here, pecking a bit there,
all the time coming closer to where the 'coon could reach on the
end of his leash. Without appearing to have opened an eye, the
little rascal would unerringly jump, grab the chick, and pull the
head right off. After that happened a number of times it meant
that he -had to be kept in a cage. It is always sad to cage a wild
animal, but we had no choice. If put back in the swamp, he would
be back the next day. Besides, we were not so sure that he could
look after himself. In the end he became quite crabby, so we
gave him to an animal lover where he could roam free.
One time Annemarie came back from a holiday with two new
pets. I can imagine the glee with which our friends gave her a
pair of rats for pets. Not the tame variety of white rats. No, sir,
the common brown, bafn variety rat. We were happy when they
fell to the cat the very next day.
At an early time my wife Toni raised guinea pigs or cavies.
These critters have no tail. for having one would be too great an
VILLAGE SQUIRE/MARCH 1978, PG. 3.