Household creatures

There are no cats at our house.  For a start I am allergic to their fur, but even so, there are more than enough creatures in and around our home to keep us occupied, fascinated, amused and exasperated on a daily basis.

The most obvious are the birds in the garden – over 30 different species we totted up once, without any trouble at all, and I am sure there are many more. The ones we know best are the kookaburras, magpies and butcher-birds that arrive on cue each day at four hoping for some scraps of raw meat. We enjoy that time each year when they bring along their babies to be introduced to the system.  Then there is the pair of plover that consider our garden and the one next door, their personal domain.  She has a once-broken leg that set at a weird angle and left her lame, so she often chooses to fly when her mate prefers to run.  Yesterday a pair of rosellas perched on the bird bath for long enough for me to take a photo, while last night a lone owl quietly flapped onto a pole near the pool to watch me swim.

There are possums in the trees, bandicoots under the bushes and water dragons in the rock pile.  I must say that I have never observed any particular expression on the faces of any of these creatures, but I like to observe their behaviour all the same.  And I like it that none are dependent on me for their food or shelter.  Maybe one day we'll have some chooks or ducks again, but we are very conscious of the level of care they will require.

Our only livestock now are the 10,000 tiger worms that recycle our food scraps and fertilise the garden.  Other garden helpers are the goannas and lizards that live on garden bugs, and the snakes (some quite deadly) that keep down the population of mice and rats.   The butterflies, bees and dragon flies each have their part to play as well.  Inside are the small geckos and house lizards that live under the frig and the dishwasher and feast on tiny insects and stray crumbs.

Then there are those we class as PESTS – cockroaches under the sink, termites in the walls (hopefully all gone now after a VERY expensive extermination and home renovation process), weevils in the pantry, spiders on the ceiling, and ants in the pot-plants.  If we leave the screen door open for two seconds there will be flies in the kitchen and mosquitoes in the bedroom – patiently waiting to feast on a bare arm as soon as the lights go out.   

So we certainly don't have need for a dog or cat.