Next time I am about to impulse purchase something, I hope to remember this. Seriously, it's way too easy to get into debt these days and unlike the days of yore, it seems pretty socially acceptable. I have a small business so I have to have a credit card for that. But my goal is to get out of my credit card debt (yes, I do have some personal credit card debt) and really just have it for emergencies.
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So, when I went North to get Vespy, I might have also accidentally brought home a trio of muscovies. I absolutely adore them already!
Why muscovies? So many reasons, really. The domestic muscovy duck ( Cairina moschata forma domestica) is a large duck that comes to us from Latin and South America with small wild/feral populations all over the place. They're not related to the mallard derived breeds so any cross between a mallard-esque duck and muscovy will be sterile. They're called hinnies around here though word is they're officially called Mulards. So, how large is a large duck? The males can weigh 15lbs and females max out at about half that. They can be any number of colours or colour combinations of whites, browns, greys, and blacks. Both sexes have red or pink wattles on their faces. They also have seriously epic claws on their webbed feet. In spite of the warmer origins of the muscovy, it can thrive in much colder conditions. Here, they live in temperatures as cold as -30*C. Muscovies are fascinating in the way they communicate, using a variety of hisses and bobbing head gestures to make their point to one another. They don't really quack at all, though they can make this squawky sort of sound if they need to. There are a tonne of stories about the origins of the muscovy name. The story I like best is that it relates to their fondness for eating mosquitoes. And they truly are fond of mosquitoes. I love how they keep the populations down. They lay tonnes of delicious ducky eggs that, if you have a boy and you don't collect them, after 35 days of incubation, will turn into absolutely adorable cheepers. The cheepers will stick with their mums for up to three months because they need her heat to keep them warm. Although they don't form breeding pairs, a drake will help with protecting the hen on a nest, and babies, once hatched. PS - if you've ever eaten Barbary duck, that's the culinary way to say C. moschata. Well, in spite of my best efforts, I've given in to my habit. And yes, another goat came home. He's just young but shows great promise. He comes out of spectacular dairy and temperament bloodlines, and we love him already.
I cannot wait to see his babies! Clearly winter is coming - we have the woodstove going again. But we will be ready - or so the seedlings would suggest! Green sprouting broccoli! It definitely needs to be in bigger pots. If we have this long, slow, slide into winter, I should have a healthy crop of broccoli for the winter.
So, in that way of cats who have carved out a cosy spot in your life, we were in Freyja-withdrawal big time. Of our three cats, she is by far the most connected to the family as indicated by her moniker, Freyja the Dog-Cat. She embodies all of the best of both species.
With all of this said, you can imagine my joy when, while out for a run, I heard a familiar little beeping meow at the bottom of the meadow (aka the Coyote Zone). Tired, skinny, and scratched up, she did not do her usual semi-feral run away from the human taking her from the fun. Instead, she practically leapt into my arms and let me carry her most of the way home. As we climbed the driveway, she started to writhe and try to get away but I wasn't going to let that happen. I got her in the house and here she recovers. So, it's a bit of a "you win some, you lose some" time for us. In addition to the saga of the phone (I finally have a replacement), our beloved Freyja-cat has disappeared. We're still hopeful but as she's a wily sort, realistically, something's probably gotten her. We don't often lose cats up here but, the orange ones seem to have the most trouble. Funnily enough, the morning we realized she really was gone, we found a surprise waiting for us. As you already know, I'm not a fan of interfering with nature but in this case, the babies were scooped from mum. She's a muscovy and they're chicks and we've already seen the results of mama ducks thinking their chicks should participate in swimming lessons... So, we've stepped in.
So, sad but as always, we're reminded that there truly is a cycle of life. |
AuthorI'm a 40-something writer and smallholder living in the wilds of BC with my family, our small herd of Nigerian Dwarf Goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats. Archives
August 2017
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