Scenes from my backyard

Readers you know how people can develop bad habits? The same can be said of animals.

Pam is the family pothound. She is the offspring of Blue who was the offspring of Bear who was the offspring of a dog which came from my uncle. My household has always had dogs — mainly mongrels. When my cousins were around there were turtles, frogs and lizards as pets.

My mother (for some reason she can’t recall) started a new morning ritual of giving Pam and Rafaela Crix — four each). She started at four and increased to six — God alone knows why. She said those dogs seem to know how to count because they know when they get less.

So there was Pam barking and jigging reminding me that it was Crix time.

It has become a habit for the dogs to try and remind us of their morning snack when we forget — which is intentional, especially when they do naughty things like dig holes in the yard or drop their stool in locations for someone to step in.

With the high cost of groceries these days you can bet that Pam and Rafaela could do as much jigging and barking in vain because that habit is too expensive to sustain. Rafaela is a greedy dog.

If we lapse and do not chain Rafaela she would run quickly to eat Pam’s food. Pam is not backward either and eats Rafaela’s. Pam would leave her meal to bark at strangers passing outside the gate and Rafaela would take the opportunity to eat Pam’s food.

Would you believe they are audacious enough to approach us begging for Crix with their noses and paws all muddy?

The dogs can be miserable and test the patience but they also bring smiles and laughter.

It’s a pleasant sight after a long day at work when they give me a warm greeting like they are glad to see me.

Our yard has become the playground for a range of birds—black birds, brown doves, the kiskadee, hummingbirds, blue birds and green birds. They come foraging for meals every day. The noisy blackbirds are regularly seen with dog chow in their beaks. It is not uncommon for them to dirty the water in the dog bowl constantly dipping the chow trying to soften it.

I have no idea where these birds go to at night to sleep and have often wanted to “maco” them sleeping but I have not been successful. There are also some pesky pigeons that roost in the gaps in the roof. The sound of their cooing annoys my mother and she rushes outside to chase them off.

More annoying are bird-droppings everywhere — on just washed clothes hanging on the line or even in the bowl of water for the dogs! Occasionally a frog tries to get a free meal from the dog bowl. Who’d ever think frogs fancy rice?

There are some visitors who come unexpectedly which we are wary of, namely the mole crickets and cockroaches. The crickets have a knack of ending up indoors crawling across the living room floor. I try and pick them up and throw them back into the yard. Cockroaches on the other hand prompt a quick race for the Baygon.

One night some friends got startled when something flew over their heads.

“That’s just the bat that flies through,” I said casually while hoping it did not make a low swoop.

The bats come out around evening and are seen flying around my street. They apparently like to hang around in the neighbour’s avocado tree. (The one I wrote about months ago that a bold-faced man likes to raid) The bats are harmless and have generally avoided getting too close to humans.

Various species of butterflies have passed through my backyard but I am yet to catch one. Iguanas are sighted now and then but I am not going to try and catch or eat a big lizard. One morning, mom and I were surprised to see a manicou in a tree. The dogs had it cornered and it was very defensive and showed its teeth. I tried to image people eating that creature. Yuck! It got away and I hoped did not end up in someone’s pot.

From the dogs to the birds to the insects remind that I share my space with other creatures and they all are trying to survive just like us. They also provide many smiles and make us stop and realise it’s a beautiful world.