Trauma Farm by Brian Brett

Author:Brian Brett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SOC055000, NAT000000
ISBN: 9781926812380
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
Published: 2010-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

14

ONE MORE FOR THE BIRDS

(AND THEIR FRIENDS)

THE PLAINTIVE CRY of Chloe on a humid afternoon is like a gong flooding my mind year after year through our timeless story pool at Trauma Farm. And she will always be here every afternoon that I am alive on this land. She was the oldest survivor of our original flock of Toulouse geese—the most ancient domesticated variety of goose I know—descended from the wild Graylag.

There’s the usual confusion about how long ago the goose was domesticated. Even Darwin could only remark that it “is of very ancient date.” We know ducks lived with the Chinese at least four thousand years in the past, but the goose slipped more seamlessly into our culture, likely around then. Ducks and geese were the earliest poultry because they were large and gregarious and self-sufficient. The ancient Egyptians were fond of their geese, and according to Pliny, the temple geese of Rome were given the most “tender food.” This was because the sacred geese of Juno were credited with saving Rome in 390 bc when a raiding party of barbarians, sneaking in to sack the city, accidentally awoke the temple geese, which alerted the guards, and in the ensuing cacophony the whole city woke up and thrashed the unlucky pillagers. Geese are better than dogs as alarms, and they can create a spectacular racket if disturbed. This is why Dumbarton Distillery kept its beloved “Scotch Watch” of a hundred Chinese geese, enough to discourage the most ardent whisky thief.

At Trauma Farm visitors seldom catch us by surprise. Our earliest warning is the parrot, who has a view of the driveway from his window, and makes raucous, sometimes mortifying invitations. Outside, the geese start up (especially when we had the full flock), alerting Raj the peacock, and then the dogs rush down the road, barking. Although no neighbour is within sight of the farm, everyone hears that we have guests.

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