A beasty reality… Your GTG’s recollection of sleeping with animals
Top the morning to you globetrotters (no leprechauns were harmed in the following post) and yet again, welcome back. Throughout your previous and/or upcoming travels you may (like me) come to the realisation that we are not alone on this planet and also not the only species that appreciates a nice warm bed at the end of a long day. The following are a small selection of my animal kingdom encounters.
The great and terrible Fangio
Around 8-10 years ago I visited some friends who were living beside the beautiful Brisbane waters on the NSW central coast (that’s Australia for all you international globetrotters, and of course Wilkommen, Bienvenue). The house was a beautiful loft-style open-plan dream with a view to match, all of which changes after dark. Following some hearty goodbyes to the other guests I proceeded to inflate a trusty double-size air bed in the space functioning as a living room. Bed now made, a goodnight wished to my gracious hosts, I was all ready for a short ride into snoozy oblivion when I could sense something watching me. I looked up to see two yellow eyes looming from the corner of the room… Before letting my imagination run wild, I came to the sensible conclusion that the eyes in fact belonged to Fangio, the resident beautiful, yet unnerving black cat. Now able to relax and begin to settle, I was once again disturbed by the prevalence of circling shadows. Yet again calming myself, I was suddenly jolted to an upright position as I felt his claws and body clinging to my leg. Following the initial pounce (and very real concern for the air bed), Fangio pounced innumerous times from many angles around the (inflatable) bed, and in between fits of laughter, I was able to eventually get some sleep.
Poster advertising : the approaching tour of the shadow puppets theatre “Le Chat Noir” (the black cat) of Rodolphe Salis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Rat Attack
The sub-tropical rainforrest of the wildly alluring North-coast New South Wales is home to some of the world’s most interesting creatures (many of them human). Now being the residence of my father and sister I find mysef there as often as possible. Growing up in a wide range of environments there are many things I can take in my stride. Rather inconveniently, rats are not one of those exceptions. Now i’m not saying the whole rainforrest is swarming with them, (the snakes take good care of that one) they are incredibly adept at finding the human dwellings or a good chicken coop. One visit in my early 20’s saw me sleeping in the guest bed (one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in btw) after the last cup of tea for the evening in my favourite green paisley print cup. As the human sounds subside into slumber, the nocturnal symphony begins, and the curious mind could spend hours contemplating the origin of each part. When it comes to rats, I find myself facing an ethical dilemma… This dillema is caused by the coincidence that the rat is my designated sign in the Chinese zodiac, meaning I am forced to respect these intelligent scavengers as my peers and (reluctanly) refrain from killing them (although if it happens accidentally …). On this particular occasion the unlucky victim crawled across my foot which sent that foot flying into the air, propelling the rat untill it reached an invisible thump and me silently screaming and hoping with all the concentration I could muster that I hadn’t sent it in the direction of my own face!
The rat statue is one of the 12 Chinese Zodiac portrayed in the Kowloon Walled City Park in Kowloon City, Hong Kong. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Of course spiders could be added to the collection but I thought I would spare the arachnophobiacs amongst you 🙂 So thanks for indulging my four-legged frenzy and until next week.
