Chooks (hens and roosters) provide eggs and little chooks in order to always ensure a fresh chicken dinner. I have been told that you need to unmercifully pin the bird down and whack the neck cleanly or you will lose the battle. Feeding the chooks inevitably attracts rats. The rodents must be exterminated in order to ensure the health and safety of the flock. Some poison, some trap and some just shoot ‘em dead with a gun.
We don’t have chooks, but we do have rats. We are told that they are common in Puhoi because of the river that runs behind our property. We have heard them climbing in between the walls and up near the flue of the fireplace, but most disturbing for us is to be woken up at 4:30 in the morning to the sound of rats chewing the wood under the floorboards. It sounds as if they are already in the house. Someone reported to Beth that they actually had rats chew holes right through the floor! Our preferred method of raticide is a combination of poison and Victor traps from Pennsylvania. We took pictures of our first few dead rats, but the charm has worn off. We have caught about a dozen and God only knows how many we may have poisoned.
Along with the rats, we have also had some of their smaller cousins, the mice. We had tolerated a lone mouse or two, but Beth reached her limit one night when a mouse ran around the tops of her woolen clogs at least three times in circles. Beth screamed and then we were on the hunt for the mouse who somehow disappeared under our bed. It took two hours, but Gerard finally pinned the poor chap with an old mop. We have since bought traps and subsequently, many of our mice have met their maker.
Many households have paddocks with sheep, cows or horses that need regular maintenance. Sheep need to be shorn twice a year or they risk dying a horrible death by the carnivorous blowfly. Horses need covers here to keep them warm since they aren’t kept in stables. All farm animals need various medications that are routinely advertised on national television. While watching “American Idol”, we are often interrupted with a commercial break toting the benefits of a given de-worming medication for livestock.
Sheep and cows are sometimes kept for wool and milk, but not exclusively. You buy a young animal and let it graze. After it has grown up enough, you call someone who does “homekills”. Essentially, a traveling butcher shows up, kills your animal and chops it up for you. You can freeze the meat and feed many people for many months or better yet, you have a homekill barbie (barbecue) and invite your friends to eat the cow or bull formally known as Elsie or Bob. Thank goodness we have avoided this aspect of rural life.
One day last week, a friend at the bus stop complained about how long she had procrastinated about getting the butcher over to kill the cow. She finally arranged it, but the night before, they couldn’t find the cow. Early the next morning before the sun rose, she and her husband climbed up the steep hill of their paddock with torches in hand looking for the darn cow while kicking cow pies in the cold and dark. They had no luck. The butcher arrived and surprisingly, the cow willingly reappeared along with a couple friends. One look at the butcher, however, and the cow jumped the fence. She will live another two weeks, I am told. This is not a conversation I would be having at the bus stop in Bala Cynwyd.
As far as we can tell, horses are the only animals in New Zealand that don’t serve a practical purpose. In a country of very little frivolity, it seems that most people who own horses simply enjoy their beauty and companionship. Our next door neighbor is a lovely mare named Rose. When she sees us, she whinnies, runs to the fence and relishes a nice pat on the nose. She is a sweetheart, but you wonder if she knows that she holds a privileged spot as far as animals are concerned in New Zealand.
