Thursday 14 March 2019

Help wanted. Must have connected head and body

He's real.  He was in an arcade, in a shop in a train station near a place called Nara outside of Osaka.  There were also about 25 others, some much bigger than him and would clearly take your hand off if it got too close.  Having no ability to read the signs, the face said it all.  The shop was a type of conservation organisation for the protection of the species, or that's what we convinced ourselves on finding a women outside this shop with an enormous owl on her wrist during our recent holiday to Japan.  They had owls from every corner of the earth.  It was utterly fascinating and such a privilege to be able to be so close to these wild animals.  The not so little guy on the left and I struck up a great one way conversation.  I offered him a job, back here in Tas.  I said I've got this problem that he would be able to solve for me very quickly.  We have too many Starlings on and inside our roof.  Hundreds of them.  And slowly but surely there are helping to speed up the deterioration of a 140 year of house.  They have taken up residence inside our closed up chimneys and they nest there until their families are old enough to rent new premises. This takes some time and drives our Ragdoll to distraction as the sound of collective 'cheep, cheep, cheep' is a constant reminder of liberties taken by these chimney squatting vandals.

During our conversation I mentioned that the previous incumbent hadn't worked out so well.  His head fell off in a strong westerly.  He was recruited from a hardware shop and came by the name of 'Bobble Head'.  His purpose was set out for him but he failed on every front.  He is now in two parts, one part of him being his head now firmly lodged under the front gate and the second part being his body, regularly found rolling around the front verandah.  Some larrikin starling even crapped on his head, you could almost hear the laughter.

Now I know the travel would be significant but I would make it worthwhile, I explained.  There is a local hawk who surveys the nearby fields and I'm told is adequately rewarded particularly after hay bailing when the mice scurry is on.  But unfortunately due to the language barrier, I was unsuccessful poaching my new recruit. Oh well, better find Bobble Head and get the glue out again.

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