There is no trash collection service out in the country, so consequently the Handlers review their purchases carefully, even thinking through what they will use the packaging for afterwards. The idea of taking trash into town or to the landfill to dispose of is just a ridiculous thought. They even re-purpose plastic bags into multicolored patchwork covers for their various mounds of compost. You can imagine the surprise, then, when yesterday the Handlers ended up bringing home what others would have called "trash"!
The Handlers had gone into town to do their twice-monthly shopping. Female Handler (FH) spotted a large plastic bag of vegetable waste in the produce section of one of the local markets. Peering into the bag, she noted that the waste was truly a smorgasbord of fairly recent vegetable and fruit trimmings.
After asking three employees what became of such waste, she was led to the store manager, whom she asked whether she could take the scraps. Understandably, the manager immediately said "it is not permitted." Once FH explained that she's got goats and this would be a feast for them, and truly what a shame to waste this...the manager consented, and a very satisfied FH walked out with a large bag of produce scraps.
Once they got home, there was much work in separating the spoiled portions of the produce from the good and cleaning the latter. The good portions were then offered to Chochi during the Handlers' milking of her last night as well as this morning. No complaints from her. Heck, she even rewarded the Handlers by relinquishing a third more milk than normal this morning. Kudos, FH, kudos. I clap my paws to you.
The bagworm in Uruguay is worth studying. It constructs its so-called bag out of twigs and leaves that often come from the very tree on which it will camp out for a spell. It suspends itself from the tree like a Christmas ornament and occasionally crawls to another part of the tree in order to suspend itself from there. Eventually, it will attach itself for good in one spot and pupate within its bag, beginning its transformation into a small moth. Until that day, however, when it settles down to take its first step to adulthood, it is free to roam this immense world and hang its hat, er, bag, where it wishes. I should add that one of the beauties of its mobile home is that, well, it's mobile! Don't like the neighbors? Unhasp yourself and move! Now, if only "pulling up stakes" could be so easy for me and my handlers ...
This afternoon, I watched a bagworm scale a granite wall. Not having the ability to see far, he just started climbing up the face, pulling his home along with him. This was no easy task, as the slightest breeze could slam his home against the face of the rock.
Little by little.....he made his way up the face of the rock....
Once at the summit, this bagworm noticed that there was a quartz face to also climb.
There is no rest for the weary.
Finally, this bagworm made it to the quartz summit!
But...now what?
I guess the real estate wasn't a lot to write home about...so he decided to come down.
Sonny and I lost interest. The excitement was overwhelming....
Really, all I ask for is a lazy day. Or even a dull day. They just don't happen here.
1. Carnaval in Uruguay
It's the longest in the world. They make it last over a month, and it starts right here in Colonia with Las Llamadas (the calling of the candombe groups from around the region). It started on the weekend that mini-Female Handler (m-FH) came over for her birthday with the intention of relaxing (January 12), but instead the Handlers took her to watch the procession down the center of Colonia on Avenida General Flores.
For three hours.
Late into the night.
And they only saw 7 groups.
More were lined up at the water's edge getting ready to beat their drums, among other things. Here's a sampling of one of the groups. Note the ogling boys in the lower left. They were doing a "study" of the dancers, obviously...
The finale of Carnaval is tomorrow night (Fat Tuesday).
2. Chinese New Year
Yesterday began the Year of the Snake on the Chinese calendar. The Sunday before, Female Handler (FH) was in Buenos Aires visiting m-FH. They were in Chinatown to pick up supplies.
Something fishy about that sauce...
What they didn't expect was to be accosted by a dragon dancing in the street thanks to the Taiwanese Association of Argentina.
3. Parched Soil
Until yesterday, it hadn't rained since sometime in December. The ground had been parched. The almond harvest started a week earlier this year than last, and the only positive outcome is that the almonds are dry at picking (and will not need to be further sun-dried). In spite of the dryness, a flower still manages to bloom in the orchard.
And because of the sparse pickings, Tontin likes to wander a bit into the sorghum field next door to eat the green leaves. BAD BOY!
But yesterday, what was forecast to be a sprinkle ended up being a capricious downpour lasting about 20 minutes with some marble-sized hail thrown in for good measure.
4. Gourmet Coffee
The Handlers are getting the hang of making gourmet coffee (the "t" in "gourmet" would not, in this case, be silent). They make it with what they have. No fancy equipment. Just Uruguayan coffee (which hardly deserves the name "coffee") and a lactating goat.
How they do it is pretty simple, but if I shared the secret, they'd have my hide (which is now clean from the downpour).
5. Skinning
On the subject of hides, Male Handler (MH) is focused on a new obsession idea: lizards! As in the baby one that I killed two days ago that MH confiscated from me and put in the refrigerator with the intention of skinning it at his earliest convenience (its entire body wasn't even as long as the mere tail of the adult shown in the photo below). The skinning took place today. The exposed flesh of the subject was translucent and white--like raw shrimp. And, interestingly enough, it smelled like raw shrimp! MH thinks that when he cooks it (and he will!), it will taste like cooked shrimp. If he is correct, then he will call the result camaron de campo. (By the way, CW, this could be a new menu offering)!
More than once today did he walk into FH's office to show her a skinned lizard, and the length of the tongue...and the mouth. A fishy smell permeates from his clothes. Rather than being absorbed with the smell, he is consumed with the joy of discovering something new and ...using FH's sewing pins to flatten out the skin. The skin in the above photo is only the upper half of the tail of another baby lizard that I had caught earlier and, in this case, eaten (all but the tail and hind legs).
6. A last note on smells
Sonny, the youngest of the goat herd, has been incessant on humping MH's leg. Sonny does not do this with FH at all. When Sonny is out of his pen, which is often at this early stage of life, he is invariably looking for MH. And then... yeah. And of course MH is pushing him away. But a push doesn't hinder a goat as pushing is just what they do. Finally FH suggested that he give up those pants that he's been wearing over a month. Once he did that, Sonny was a tad mellower.
Just an example of what I would not include on a lazy or dull day.
The littlest kid put up a good fight. The maggots that found a home in the umbilical cord area were screwworms. And then they found her mouth...
If you are interested in learning more about screwworms, just Google it. There's a lot of information out there. I would not recommend reading about this before a meal. Or even right after a meal, for that matter.
We put her to rest yesterday morning.
We are monitoring her brother who seems to have doubled in size since his birth two weeks ago. Umbilical good - check
Teeth awesome - check
Other areas....good - check
He has a name now. "Sonny Crockett" because he wears white so well, and has a 5 o'clock shadow (from dried milk). I'm sure Don Johnson would be thrilled to know that there is a billy goat in Uruguay named after his character....
I was shown the door early this morning to see what damage I could do to the rodent population. I mean seriously early. It was my plan. It is important to start the howling process early (a Maine Coon can howl like no other. Keika, who's a calico, has tried to imitate my howl. It's a pathetic imitation). I don't give a hoot that it's Sunday. Every day is Sunday as far as I'm concerned. Female handler was part of my plan, and she obliged me by giving up the thought of sleep and by letting me out.
From there, it's go go go!
I hit the driveway out to the road, I check out the underbrush, I climb a few trees...and then I'm back at the house at about 8 AM, a bit tuckered out. Since I know the bed is empty for the day, that's where I go for a little peace and quiet.
The problem is that when we have a Sunday like today where I like to start the day off early, the Handlers have this overwhelming sense of wanting revenge. Tranquilo yourselves... is what I tell them. They rudely yank me out of bed and throw me outside. DUDES, mellow on the physical treatment.
Since I was outside, I made the most of the day. I found a lizard to chase. And chase I did.
Honestly I don't normally go after these guys, but I knew the sun was too high up to find some decent rodents. I chased him into a roof top drain pipe. A bit of his tail was hanging out, and I enjoyed antagonizing him for a couple of hours.
The handlers seemed too consumed with their own activities to document this event. Apparently the area where the youngest kid's umbilical cord had been attached had become swollen and now was host to 100+ maggots. They had managed to carved our a cavity nearly as wide and as deep as a bathroom sink drain. Both handlers were consumed with cleaning it out before the maggots could reach the inner recesses of this tiny female goat. Female Handler (FH) was holding her down while Male Handler (MH) cleaned the cavity out with tweezers and alcohol. This process took about two hours. In the meantime, I was monitoring my drain pipe and then I disappeared, along with my lizard. And how this story ends...is anyone's guess.
As for the female goat, she has temporarily turned into a Belted Galloway goat ....with an Ace bandage holding her insides in.
Fortunately, mini-Female Handler has been working on an herbal salve consisting of lavender, plantago, and olive oil (from our neighbor), and that's what they used on the goat. Within a few hours the opening had closed significantly and by tomorrow she'll be able to rejoin her brother out in the pen. In the meantime, she's in a cat carrier in the sun room/mudroom which is free of probing flies.
So, the day is ending, and I've found myself exhausted on the couch between the Handlers. It was quite the day with the lizard. Let's see how long it will take for the Handlers to find the skin, which I am told is coveted for wallets and shoes... but not by cats of course.
Seriously I'm unimpressed with these four legged little beasts.
They bop around as if they are drunk.
This is the runt (a little girl).
This is the boy, and if he survives the strangle-hold, he'll be a big one!
This is male handler introducing the little boy to his older siblings, who seem preoccupied at the moment.
Saturday was laundry day. They ended up in the laundry basket after the clothes were on the line.
Here's where you can see the difference in size. The (white) boy is most definitely bigger than his (dark) sister.
The handlers are using a cat carrier as a temporary home while they finish a small corral under the barn overhang. There were some benefits to having Momma Chochi take care of her own...in that she could take on the foxes that prowl the farm. The downside is that there was never any leftover milk. Now the handlers are full time kidsitters and have been bottle feeding the newborns. When the kids are not napping in the crate, they are usually chasing after at least one of the handlers. They still can't climb trees, they can't catch rodents, they can't chase foxes. Let me be the kidsitter and I'll show them a thing or two!
