Nutria Rats

[sgt.null]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coypu

at my prison some decades ago the agriculture people dug out an addition to a river. so we have a sort of half moat around the prison. part of this is directly behind my kitchen.

in and around the river are river turtles, soft shelled turtles, fish, frogs, sea gulls, laughing gulls, herons, ducks, sand pipers, pigeons, doves, grackles, finches, the occasional (twice in five years) young gator, racoons, skunks, possums and nutria rats.

we pronounce it as nutra.

we have a colony of them. they are herbivores. and I am the only one who feeds them.

so at one in the morning when I first go out on the back dock they are waiting. when they hear the door they line up beyond the fence, on the bank of the river.

if we have fresh veggies from agriculture I toss them that. cabbage is a favorite.

and sometimes i bring veggies and fruits from home.

last week i brought two bananas, two bunches of grapes and a handful of baby carrots. they actually fought over the fruits. grabbing it from each other and running off.

I do wonder, as with the turtles, what do they think is happening. am I the Nutria King as well as the Turtle King?

on my days off when there is no food, do they believe I am displeased? do they tell tales of the day I brought fruit? what sorts of legends and myths have been built around me? do they believe I control the weather? we had a drought a few years back. now we have so much rain, the river is swollen. do they have rituals based on my feedings?

what do you think?

[JIkj fjds j]

Of course if that were me who likes to be at the centre of attention I'd start with a little dance, tell a joke or two, and finish with a song in the style of Tony Bennett. Then, and only then, would the critters be fed.

Good story, sarge. I'd never heard of those animals before so that's a new one on me.

I lived for several years in Nottingham here in the UK, a city with more trees than people. In the garden was a tall elm tree, used by squirrels to reach the feeders in the garden next door.
One sunny afternoon I surprised a squirrel rooting around on the lawn. It sped half way up the tree then peeked out to watch me. Instead of going indoors I decided to try something out and hunched down and made coaxing gestures towards the little creature. It actually began to return to the lawn.
The more coaxing I tried the more it inched towards me.
It wasn't until the squirrel began making, in my opinion, dubious humping motions that I decided to call it a day and went indoors.

Time passed. New kids moved into the flat upstairs. Then one day I heard the sound of an air rifle and whoops and hollers of delight. The squirrels never returned to the elm tree.

Fast forward a year and I was walking through a park half a mile or so from where I lived, when quite suddenly a squirrel popped it's head from out of a bush of wall ivy, not 6'' from my shoulder. It stopped me in my tracks, glancing sideways at me as they do and then it was gone, disappearing back into the shrubbery.

I always like to think that was a fitting conclusion to very, very, brief friendship.

[ussusimiel]

A new addition to the excellent (Watchy Award nominated, I think!):

• where do the turtles think the carrots come from?

u.

[Sorus]

They're kinda cute. Animals do tend to recognize people that feed them, so they probably do include you in their rituals, or at least hope that you will grace them with your presence.

In my old neighborhood the raccoons would sometimes follow me to the bus stop in the morning, despite the fact that I never fed them. Perhaps I looked like someone who might feed them. This was usually way before sunrise, and any people who were waiting at the stop would usually back away quickly. Probably smart on their part - these were big city raccoons with no fear of humans, though I never felt threatened by them.

[Linna Heartbooger]

Sarge, my imagination for Nutria psychology is so boring. :-/

Of course if that were me who likes to be at the centre of attention I'd start with a little dance, tell a joke or two, and finish with a song in the style of Tony Bennett. Then, and only then, would the critters be fed.

lol.
Amused by your story as well.

Sorus- I love the image of just walking to the bus stop in the early morning with a couple of raccoon henchmen at your back.
Or as some sort of druid out of D&D with friendly critters trailing in your wake.
Either way I imagine it, it's funny. And it would look a bit unreal.

[Savor Dam]

A new addition to the excellent (Watchy Award nominated, I think!):

• where do the turtles think the carrots come from?

What ever became of the Watchy Awards? I can't even find the subforum anymore...

[Sorus]

A new addition to the excellent (Watchy Award nominated, I think!):

• where do the turtles think the carrots come from?

What ever became of the Watchy Awards? I can't even find the subforum anymore...

It is sorta hidden right now.

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=58

[Avatar]

It's hidden by default when there are no Watchies in progress.

--A

[sgt.null]

if i end up at the camp no one will be there to feed the rats. or the turtles. or the birds.

the rats have to eat a quarter of their body weight every day.

[JIkj fjds j]

Of course if that were me who likes to be at the centre of attention I'd start with a little dance, tell a joke or two, and finish with a song in the style of Tony Bennett. Then, and only then, would the critters be fed.

lol.
Amused by your story as well.

I'll sometimes use humour to blinker unpleasant thoughts which can often become attached to nice memories.
To explain, the tree in the garden I mentioned only looked like an elm tree. On the rare occasion the tree would change.
This would happen sometimes in that strange dusk, when the light being slowly leeched from the day drains the apricot yellows and oranges into bittersweet ambers and leprous citrines. Almost as if an extra hour is being squeezed from the twilight. The elm, stark against the broiling clouds and darkened rooftops takes shape, changing into a spider-tree. It's clumps of tangled weeds and drooping bows seemed almost to emanate sickness and depravity.
An ominous and leering evil wedged firmly into a crack in time and space.

I'm not too keen on insects. If I see one on the wall or ceiling I'll capture it and chuck it outside. But Lordy, that flat for spiders would get to the point of being too depressing.

I now live in a high rise and see very little of house insects.
Yesterday I had the balcony doors wide open for a while and in the evening I noticed a crane-fly on the wall just above the jasmine plant. I cupped it in my hands and took it to the balcony door to watch it fly off.
Then when I went to make a cup of tea I saw the very same crane-fly perched next to the steaming kettle, almost as if the tiny creature were telling me it was warmer indoors than out.

How like Gods we sometimes are!

[sgt.null]

https://www.pinterest.com/sgtnull/wildl ... f-at-work/

you can see pics of the varied animals I deal with at work. not including the inmates.