Planting season

Planting season is now upon us! The rains are starting up and we need to get our fields tilled. So I got out our old faithful tractor dusted it off and went away at it. Our two fields are small, so it would only take a few hours. But ohhh, those few hours were tough. My arms, hands and body still are shaking today! HA!                                                                       The tractor I have is called a walking tractor as you can and often walk along behind it and control it by adjusting different levers.But I prefer a small seat that connects to the tiller. It saves me stepping around in the soil and makes the work more enjoyable. 

  There are some hazards to this though, one is that the revolving belts can brake at any time and whip you in the face, and two, when the tiller is connected, your foot can slip down to the exposed teeth where, well I don't have to be too graphic but you get the picture.

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In the end, the best feeling a farmer has is to look at his freshly tilled fields and look on it with pride and satisfaction. To me this was a great ending to the day.
  I do have more soy beans seeds, so I will be looking for another plot where I can sow another hector.


  Oh, I forgot, The first field I planted sweet corn as this is nearly impossible to get here in Zambia.
  I will be planting it in a two week pattern, that way I will have fresh corn  on the cob every two weeks. mmmmmmmm!

Strangers in the night!

Around 6pm 3 villagers rang the door bell of the orphanage, I thought, at this time of night who could this be? Then when I opened the door I saw a bucket next to the 3 natives and knew it was some sort of animal. And sure enough it was a 2 foot crocodile.  This is the second crock I have rescued here in Zambia.

   I asked the usual questions of where was it found, did you beat it, how did you handle the animal, etc. They said they were fishing with their nets and this crock got all tangled up in their nets, the only way to get it out was to cut a section of the net away. This was a problem as now they would need to re-sew the damaged net when they returned to the land. So to get money to mend their net, they decided to sell the animal in the village. Of course, they went to me first because they know I am an animal lover..HA..So I sided with them and gave them enough money to mend their nets. And off they went.

The first thing I do when I get an animal from the wild is to do a thorough health check of the animal. No I am not a vet, but I try my best with the common sense I have, plus I use the internet for further information.

  The eyes, tail, feet and body all looked in good condition. No cuts or broken bones.

    The crock was alert and looked hungry! 

  

   One experiment I tried was to see if what I heard when I was a boy, that if you turn over any reptile and stroke its stomach on a downward stroke, then the reptile would relax so much that it would fall asleep. As a boy I would do this to lizards whenever I would find them, So I finally had a chance to try it out, and guess what..IT WORKED! Ha! I dont think I would try this on a large crock, but you never know.............................................

Save the Ducks!

The other day a group of guys came to the gate selling 5 ducklings from the lagoon. I got them for a few dollars a piece and put them directly into quarantine after inspecting them.

  There was no marks of abuse, and they all looked in good condition.  

  I am not sure the species of duck they are, but I am sure when they get older I will be able to identify them.

  24th---So today I found 2 of them dead from an unknown reason. It is common for some of the ducks in a group to pass away because of weakness or trauma. 

   The 3 that are remaining are still vibrant and moving around.

The domestic ducks I have on the property right now number over 50, but those are Muscovy ducks which look very different from these, even young-lings.

  These have a dark stripe across it's eye which travels to the back and have very large web feet.

  If you can identify this bird please let me know! Hopefully, the 3 remaining will survive and fly back to the wild!  

 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 That is the sound of an African Striped Weasel.(Poecilogale albinucha) Another animal I saved from the clutches of the local witches. They say this animal is very rare, and can make very powerful JU JU's.

   This weasel is a very strong preditor, it can be identified by its long slender body with a white and black stripe down its back. The smell is similar to a skunk and when mad, it makes a GRRRRRRRRR sound.

   It has a sleek, black color with a white tail and four white stripes running down its back. It is 50 centimeters in length on average, including its tail of 20 centimeters.

   The African striped weasel lives in forests, wetlands and grasslands. It is a nocturnal hunter of small mammals, birds, and reptiles. Mainly rats! The weasel kills its prey by whipping its own body and kicking, making use of its thin, lithe, muscular body to stun and tear the prey item. I have watched it many times killing a rat and it goes straight for the back of the neck. Once the back bone is located it simply cracks it.  It sometimes stores its prey in its burrow instead of eating it immediately. Like skunks and polecats, the weasel emits a noxious fluid from its anal glands when it feels threatened. The weasel is generally solitary, but individuals have been found sharing burrows. 

    This is the 3rd weasel that has come to the orphanage, one was caught by my dog during a rain storm, another was rescued but after a short few days it died in captivity, and now this one was caught examined for problems then after a few days it was released back to the wild.  A success!

After the first day of this one being in quarantine the weasel gave off a smell that repelled all who came close to the cage. The smell last for months at a time.

  This weasel was over 2 feet long and had a beautiful coat. A full size one at that.

One thing that I am still a great fan of is the HEXGUARD gloves that I have for handling different animals with. This weasel kept on biting and trying to rip off my fingers over and over again. I could see his frustration as he tried different angles and sides, until he just gave up. It must have been his first time to be handled instead of him handling someone else.

  This animal would be virtually impossible to handle without protected gear. And the teeth on this guy is razor sharp, especially made to rip!

  Better luck next time you old weasel. He is now safe in the woods doing what he does. Eating rats!  

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