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My love for all creatures, great and small, was obvious from a very young age.
I was lucky to have had a wonderful childhood, brought up with an assortment
of furry friends and scaly oddities..... a Dalmatian called Jana who lived
until she was fourteen, a shed full of guinea pigs (they were Mum's) hamsters,
gerbils, terrapins, fish, tortoises, newts, toads, and a rabbit, but no cats.
I've made up for that now !!
I was the girl who carried home - in a basket upfront of a pushbike - the dying
crow I had picked up from the roadside; who placed a hedgehog I'd pulled out
of a puddle on the kitchen work surface (which, to my Mother's despair, quickly
became coated in fleas !!) who begged Mum to go to my Gran's to collect
snails from her iris bushes to keep in jam jars fed with lettuce; who hatched butterfly
eggs in the house, that escaped and covered my sister's bedroom wall with tiny,
hairy, black caterpillars !
As a young child I remember saying to my Mother "When I grow up I'm going to
fill my home with animals".
My Mother's reply was " You will grow out of it...."
Walk this way ...........
Guinea Pigs
At one point there were nearly thirty living here - people had a habit of dumping
them on me when, for genuine reasons, they couldn't keep them any more. There are
only two left now, the cats have become such a major part of my life that I decided
to let them slowly, in nature's way, decline. They are sweet, gentle creatures that
need company. They chatter away to each other, and love to graze on the grass in
the sunshine. I say that I won't have any more when these have gone, but they have
been part of my life for so many years that I'm unsure of that last statement !!
Axolotls
(At home fondly called "The Creatures")
I've always been fascinated by the weird and wonderful, and when I first saw an
albino axolotl in a pet shop I was captivated by this "strange but kind of
cute creature". I didn't take the little chap home because I didn't know anything
about them. Instead, I went away and did some research.....Along came Lucifer (Lucile?)
in 2006, followed last year by a little albino fellow named Pong Wiffy.They
eat an abundance of earth worms - which I dig up rain or shine, grow at an alarming
rate to reach a foot (30 cms) in length, live as long as a cat, re-grow lost
limbs to perfection. Maybe they are strange, but there's something very appealing
about them !!
The name "Axolotl" comes from the Aztec language, "Nahuatl".
One of the most popular translations of the name connects the Axolotl to the God
of deformations and death, Xolotl, while the most commonly accepted translation
is "water-dog" (from "atl" for water and "xolotl",
which can also mean dog).
Lucifer (or Lucile)
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Pong Wiffy
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THE CHICKENS
I visited Ardingly Smallholders Show several years ago, taking home with me three
little Pekin bantams. Sadly only one of these originals is still with us, Amelia
- she is a little sweetheart ! A few years back, on my 40th birthday,
a single egg she'd been keeping warm hatched out, Basil Forty ! They now live
together. Basil isn't as laid back as his mother.....he'd pick a fight if
allowed, and struts his stuff forgetting he's just a tiny bantam !! At the
other extreme, Smeagle is a very daft, laid back, gentle lavender Pekin cockerel.
Last year four scruffy Salmon Faverolle chicks made their entrance. They
live down the garden in the purple blackberry shed, roaming free during the day.
Hattie, Daisy and Maisie have become very tame, beautiful girls.
The cockerel " HRH Zachariah Cockerel " (so called because he's all the
colours of a crown of precious jewels) is a little more timid. Chickens
make nice pets, are creatures of habit, and are far from stupid with very individual
personalities. But, they need their own part of the garden as they are naturally
destructive and noisy !! In February, H.R.H&nbsb;Zachariah went
to live in a new home, after a complaint about his very loud cockadoodling
!! I made that choice rather than him getting an Asbo ! Zachariah now lives
in a very nice home with his new girls at Mackenade Farmhouses, near the farm shop.
You can see him there, over the fence with his new harem! I wish him a long
and happy life and thank you to his new family for taking him in for me....Nearly two weeks on....Kye and I went to visit Zachariah. He doesn't live
far away, so it was more of a case of plucking up courage, unsure of
what to expect and how I'd feel . We couldn't see him to start with, then there
he was, without a care in the world, pecking around in the middle of his new
family. He'd made himself quite at home, the big fellow didn't recognise us, that's
ok, as long a he's happy, he was....I walked away with a smile on my face. Zach
had come up trumps, and still the King !!
Long Live Zachariah Cockerel !! "Cock-a-doodle-doo !"
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HRH Zachariah
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| Zac in his new home |
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| Amelia |
Amelia passed away on 01/07/08. Such a gentle girl, thank you for your seven years
of life...
The Salmon Faverolles
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Basil
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R . I . P 10/06/04 - 05.05.09
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Smeagle
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Smeagle
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Handy Tip : "Scaly Leg mite can be easily and economically
be treated with surgical spirit"
Some new girls have become members of the family...three "Black Rock hens"
Gerti - Pixi- & Mrs Pompom !
I learnt that the "Black Rock" (Plymouth Rock X Rhode Island) male
chicks are born with a spot on their heads. Making it easy to pick the cocks out
from an early age. Funny things, with a prehistoric look, very different from the
" children's book" Faverolle. They all stick together in a
little pack, very bold and outgoing, with a definite toe fetish !!!! I must buy
some steel toecap wellies !!!
Four little orphan ducklings joined us on 16th June 2009, they were found in a nearby
garden.
Wellington and his three girls have decided to stay, and I must say that's fine
by me.
I just love them, they are very welcome here.
Wellington and the "Well-lets"
"Stefan The Gardener"
A Final Word
Please think very carefully before taking any creature into your home. It
should be for life, they do grow up, and it's our duty to care for them, finding
them just as appealing as they grow older - and allow them to become fully fledged
members of the family.
I am always happy to offer advice if I can.....
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