Dogs

Dogs abound: most of them strays. Bob fell for one, then two and now three. But a couple of others turn up regularly for a feed.
Italy is renowned for its abandoned dogs and it is easy to be condescending about the people who appear to condone it. But hereabouts people do not have the money to pay a vet to register, inoculate, sterilize or even euthenise animals, particularly those not belonging to them. Most people with dogs claim that the dogs were strays who just turned up on the doorstep, so what could they do? I am told that Italian legislation forbids the killing of dogs which is why there are few if any dog pounds around. Imagine if Battersea Dogs Home was compelled to keep every dog that appeared for as long as it lived: it would soon be compelled to refuse animals, who would then be left to roam around! Some one should do something!
So, the most senior dog is Big Dog, a rather wasted black and white mongrel with we suspect a physically unpleasant past judging by the way he walks. His claim to fame is to be a flea and tick magnet: his presence alone keeps the other dogs relatively free of them.
The annual, Summer tick investation is starting and I am not sorry to be leaving. There are two waves of ticks as the little beasts start with four legs, slow done or something, and then grow another 2 later in the year when swarms can be found scurrying around. So far they have not been carrying any diseases, but with Africa so close it is only a matter of time.
Next is a shaggy, retriever like, mongrel named Hollywood, who moons around like a film star whose time has passed. Most of the time he lies around but gets up to follow when one of us goes to the far side of the plot; then exhausted by the activity, he lies down for a snooze.
Of course, Lula is my favourite. She gave birth to 6 little pups underneath the wooden floor of the bell tent when I was sleeping in it. I woke during the night hearing plaintive mewings, thinking that a cat was stuck underneath, for nobody realised she was about to whelp.
Ants also are beginning to appear. They have been farming aphids through the Winter and now expect them to start working. This means collecting as much sap as possible from the almond trees for the sweet delight of their masters. Unfortunately, the trees don't much like being bled dry - who does? - and then refuse to produce many nuts. The local remedy, as there are no commercial, insecticide rich nut farms around, is the miraculous Savon de Marseille. Its quite simple really. A strong mix of this pure soap and water is sprayed all over the tree. It drys on the bugs who can no longer move and drop off. Thats all.Read more