Well it’s been a bit over a year since I did a Househusbandblog post and with good reason, I got forcibly retired from my position.
Yes with both the children now school age and a second income being desirable, I once again full-time entered the workforce. No more watching 500 funeral insurance ad’s a day for me!
But with the lockdown that accompanied the pandemic, like many others I started working from home. This meant I was once again thrust into the position of Househusband, albeit one that still had to get on the computer from time to time to fulfil his work obligations. Now that the lockdown restrictions are easing and I have had to physically return to work 5 days a week, I’m going to voice an opinion that hasn’t been heard much over the last several months.
I liked the lockdown. I enjoyed it!
Yep! I was happy to be back at home – I really was! Despite being the social butterfly in my late teens and 20’s & 30’s, in my 40’s as a Dad, husband and hobby farmer I’m quite fond of the hermit lifestyle where I only see my personal family unit and rarely venture out. I still had to physically go into work one or two days a week during the pandemic but the rest I never left the farm. No rushing around in the mornings trying to get myself ready. No packing my lunch. No drive to my job. I could simply get my work done at home at my own pace, grow my isolation beard and occasionally change out of my pyjamas if I had a Zoom meeting (and even then I considered pants optional).
And the beauty was that my wife was working from home most days too! No long commute for her in the mornings. No getting home really late because of the long post-work drive. Our children’s school was quite clear that for continuity they wanted our kids to either attend school every day or none at all. Since there were days both my wife and I still had to go into work this meant the kids attended school. And since they were at school full time, it meant that my wife and I got some ‘us’ time on our lunch breaks the days we were both home. We could sit together and have a meal and a cuppa without kids screaming that they were hungry or thirsty or tired or bored or annoyed or that their sibling hit them. It was the most one-on-one time we’ve had in our marriage since we became parents! It was beautiful and it was something neither of us took for granted. And when our kids came home on the bus, because I had gotten so many househusband jobs done during the day it meant I had more time to spend with them every afternoon. It really was a win-win situation, especially since we weren’t short on toilet paper.
Isolation is natural in the bush
As for being physically stuck at home…. well…. it’s not so bad when you live on 125 acres in the middle of nowhere. During the bushfires we spent so much of the summer evacuated and wondering if we would ever see our beloved property again, it was a joy to have an enforced couple of months in the autumn upon it. Caught up on all those farm jobs that had been going wanting for so long. And with no children at home for 7 hours a day it meant I didn’t have to stop mid-task to wipe a nose or bandage a boo-boo. I completely sympathize with those during this pandemic that live in big cities – living in areas where you dared not venture out of tiny apartments must have been claustophobic to say the least. But when you’ve got huge areas of bushland on your own property you can walk around without risk of meeting another soul – being stuck at home is really a non-issue.
Wasn’t hard for our kids to social distance from the rest of the world
So yeah, I liked the lockdown. Staying at home on the farm was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute of it! More time on my property, more time with my family – where so many are hating on the Chinese right now I’m inclined to send them a thank you card! My heart goes out to all those during this pandemic who have suffered stress, gotten sick, lost loved ones, lost jobs, felt depression stuck at home etc. Just because I didn’t experience it personally doesnt meet I don’t understand or indeed sympathise. But for me it was lovely to return to the hermit lifestyle a very welcome respite – I hope some of you were also able to find a ray of positive sunshine in your lives during this crisis as well.
Colorism, sometimes also referred to as shadeism, is discrimination based on a person’s skin colour. This is usually tied up with racism, as in people hating entire races and/or nationalities of people and citing their skin colour as one of the things they are prejudiced against. However the reason that colourism and racism are not the same thing is that skin colour does not always equate to a specific or entire race. Therefore, whilst racism is unanimously deplored by all right-thinking people everywhere, Colourism still manages to sneak in under the door and get a good look in.
As a Caucasian man in a predominately Caucasian country, racism is something that has affected my life very little on a personal level. I’ve occasionally been called a name by someone of a different race based on my own but its been an extremely rare occurrence. I’ve experienced Nationality-based Discrimination somewhat more, which has usually taken the form of online comments from those who wish to arbitrarily dismiss my opinions under the guise of ‘you’re just an Aussie’. Sometimes it has also taken the form of people not liking my accent and have expressed this in comments on my youtube channel. But once again this is rare and has affected my life little.
But colorism – oh my, I cop that all the time! And not because I’m white but because I’m RED.
I’m a nice guy – don’t judge me because of the colour of my skin.
Yes, I am red. I have been red nearly my entire adult life. And year in, year out people feel the need to inform me of my skin colour constantly. Whether it’s in person or commenting on an online photo of me, people can’t help but point out how red I am. Well guess what?
I FUCKING KNOW ALREADY!
Why the fuck does mocking people for having a red complexion get a pass eh? It’s not like I’ve got one on purpose! I do wear sunscreen, I’m not an alcoholic and I don’t wear blush. My skin colour is not an intentional decision I have taken alright!
The reason for my skin colour is simple: my genetic makeup and ancestral heritage combined with my lifestyle and world locality.
In other words I am someone who is bred to live in cloudy overcast countries and stay indoors a lot. Not to live on a farm on a continent that is not only the driest but also one of the hottest and lead an outdoorsy lifestyle.
So yes, my pale and freckly skin would much prefer it if I lived in England and worked all day in an accountant’s office. But unfortunately for it I live in Australia and spend as much time as possible outdoors pottering around the farm and playing with my kids. And because I’ve spent decades outdoors, I’ve been sunburnt so many times with such regularity (despite habitually wearing hats and sunscreen) that from the neck up I am now permanently red.
An artists (my sons) impression of me. And yes I know you find it funny.
And what’s more I get redder. If I eat super spicy food or hot sauce I go redder. If I run until I’m exhausted I get redder. If I choke on something I go redder. And if I get angry I have a complexion which makes a beetroot look like it’s a baseball in a snowstorm.
Strangely people feel very comfortable informing me of this. You wouldn’t go up to an Albino and say ‘My god you are white!’ or go up to an Indigenous Australian and say ‘My god you are black!’ would you? So why is it ok for people to come up to me with regularity and say ‘My god you are red!’?
Guess what? It’s not. I’m fucking sick of it! I fucking know I am red! I know I should have been a Butcher or a Drill Sargent. I know that if even the slightest shaft of weak sunlight gets reflected and hits my skin I get the complexion of a strawberry. I know I look like I’ve just been caught masturbating and am blushing like a virgin bride. I know you think I must be a Jeff Foxworthy fan because I have a red neck. And I know that if I get angry you can land planes by the glow of my face. I know, I know, I fucking KNOW!
‘Go ahead – tell me again I’ve got the complexion of a used tampon. Say it one more god damn time!’
So next time you feel like informing me, or someone else that is red that we are red, just don’t. We know. We don’t need to be told and we really don’t need you making fun of it. Other red faced people like me will have heard every joke by now. We didn’t really find them funny the first time we heard them, let alone the thousandth. You think I have a face that would make bulls charge on sight? Fine. Think it. But don’t type it and definitely don’t come up to me and say it. I don’t want to hear it and frankly it makes me feel even more self-conscious about my colour than I already am. I don’t like being red, I really genuinely don’t. I’ve tried every cream and skin treatment there is for decades and they don’t work – I’m stuck this colour. But it’s my lot in life and I do my best to get through day to day just like everyone else. So can you please stop telling me how red my skin is? Even when you mean it as harmless fun it always makes me feel that little bit shit about myself – every single time.
Society condemns racism, homophobia, religious persecution, body shaming, gender inequality – most anything where you make people feel bad about or victimizes them for who they are. I think it’s high time Colorism was added to this too.
Now if you will excuse me I’m hungry, and writing this has pissed me off so much I’m gonna go fry an egg on my forehead for lunch.
As the COVID-19 crisis continues and cases within Australia and particularly NSW continue to rise, its been considered a good time to be a rural resident.
Out here where my family lives we are a solid 2 ½ hour drive from the nearest capital city where the majority of cases are taking place. So far there is only a handful cases of Coronavirus within a hundred kilometres of us all together.
As such people in situations similar to us haven’t been panic buying. We didn’t all go mad stocking up on toilet paper, we haven’t cleaned off shelves and we haven’t gotten into fistfights over a bag of rice. For the most part us rural folk have taken it pretty calm, and in small communities like the one I inhabit, you don’t take ever single item of a product off a shelf as the people you are depriving are your neighbours, your community members and your friends.
Yep, the panic buying had been contained to the big cities. But now its not. It’s hitting small country towns and its not small country town people that are doing.
It’s Raiders from the Big City!
An sight no longer contained to capital cities
It’s been amazing! Tiny towns with populations of well under a thousand are seeing more new faces than they have in years. And these are not tourists – these are food-filchers! People driving out from capital cities to hit up every butchers, every bakers and every small supermarket they can, to grab whatever they can, and then return home. One can only assume the candlestick makers will be next.
In fact it’s not just people in cars – it’s entire busloads! Buses pulling up at little supermarkets in one-horse towns and twenty people disembarking. These people head straight into the local stores and come out carrying as many bags of groceries as they can lift. These raiders leave barren shelves behind and nothing for the local people, who depend on these stores, to buy.
Is it greed that is prompting these people to come out and grab all the tucker and toilet paper they can tote? Is it desperation?
Because no matter the motivation – it is NOT ON!
Big City people don’t get it. Country people are not surrounded by stores where if one store is out of a product they can simply try a half dozen others down the road. If you raid a store, then that leaves NOTHING for the locals! These stores, due to their remote, don’t get restocked every day. And if that store is empty, the next store is usually a loooong way away. The town I live outside of has one small butchers, one small bakers and one very small supermarket/bottle-o. Besides bags of chips at the servo that’s it for places to get groceries. If those shops are empty I have to drive an extra 10 minutes to the next town which also only has a few small shops. If they too are empty, which increasingly they have been, my next option is to drive 60km to Mudgee where the major supermarkets are in the hopes that their shelves are also not bare. Should I have to do that because Big City people have depleted their own stores in panic buying and now are doing the same to us?
You know what is even better than a clean fridge? A FULL ONE!
This isn’t just in our area, this is happening all over NSW and Victoria! Small town locals going home without any food for their families because these busloads of city slickers have come out and nicked all the grub! And it has to stop! Not only because of the effect on the locals, but the potential spread of COVID-19. People are coming from places like Sydney and Melbourne where the virus is growing ever more rampant, and driving through town after town where the entire populaces are so far uninfected. I wonder if these raiders realize, or care, that if country people get sick the food shortages will only get worse since we are the ones that grow all the food!
So, I say this to you raiders. DO. NOT. COME. HERE! You are not welcome! You take all our food and risk infecting us all! And why? Because you all couldn’t stop yourselves going nuts and panic-buying out your thousands of stores until there was nothing left. Stay in your damn capital cities and wait for the stores to restock. Because when you come here and take all our food, we have nowhere else to go. We didn’t panic buy, we were sensible. And now we are paying for it because our cupboards are not overflowing since we didn’t want to deprive our neighbours of their tucker – because, you know, that’s what good people do.
So please. If you are from a capital city do the right thing, especially these school holidays. Wait for your stores in the big smoke to restock. Don’t come and take all our food and risk spreading COVID-19 into rural communities that have managed to remain unaffected thus far. We managed to make it through the bushfires, we as a society need to pull together to make it through this too.
We, your rural cousins, thank you for your cooperation.
Right now much of the world is in the grip of panic. Like SARS before it, a new virus – COVID-19 or the Coronavirus – is spreading across the globe, with nearly 100000 cases worldwide so far and deaths in the triple figures. Thought to originate in Wuhan China, air travel has taken it to every continent on the globe and more and more countries are dealing with outbreaks of the potentially deadly disease.
But did it really originate in Wuhan? And is it really a natural virus?
Here in Australia, much like the rest of the world, supermarkets are experiencing massive runs on toilet paper. People are buying hundreds of rolls at a time to stockpile and shelves empty as fast as they can be restocked. So with stock in toilet paper companies rising right now it’s a good time to own shares in a loo-paper company.
In fact one might say it’s a very good time to own shares. Almost a suspiciously good time.
That’s right – COVID-19 is not a natural virus! It is a synthetic virus. And who created this virus? THE TOILET PAPER INDUSTRY!
So much death just to sell some bogroll
Think about it – what’s the results of COVID-19 so far?
*Nearly a hundred thousand people worldwide are sick? What do you do when you are sick? Go to the toilet more often for a start.
*What do the authorities recommend if you think you may be infected? Quarantine yourself at home for 14 days. Being that bored you are going to eat more, therefore defecate more, therefore need more toilet paper. And being stuck at home for a fortnight, you are going to stock up on dunny paper big time before you sequester yourself away.
*What is half the populace of the planet doing right now in response to the Coronavirus. Simple – the general public are shitting themselves!
Depleted toilet paper shelves in Tumut NSW (Photo Credit; S. Addison)
Everybody has always known what a bloodthirsty realm the toilet paper industry is. Cartels fighting for power in the streets – many’s the bathroom-tissue brawler left with a sharpened dunny roll protruding from their bloody eye socket. Scientists working in the toilet paper equivalent of meth labs, each trying to come up with something more absorbent or to add yet another unrequired ply. It’s something we have all come to see as a necessary evil in order for us to not have to wipe our arses with the back of our hands. But now things have gone too far. The creation of synthetic viruses in order to sell more bogroll is an evil one could equate to the how the tobacco industry adds addictive chemicals to their cigarettes in order to get people hooked, despite the fact that due to their products their consumers eventually die. And lets face it, the Toilet Paper consortium’s have had the governments of the world in their pockets for years. Plus this virus came from China, one of the biggest toilet paper manufactures in the world. Coincidence? I think not!
No toilet paper on the shelves in Sydney – but don’t worry, there is plenty more for you to buy on the way! (Photo Credit: T. Munn)
Well I shall have none of it – do you hear me you putrid purveyors of poop-paper! I shall not be stocking up on toilet paper as this crisis continues. I shall use leaves, I shall use bark, I shall use the scarfs of co-workers while they are not paying full attention. And I shall decry you from the rooftops – you murderous bastards will not get me!
Cry havoc, and let slip the arse-wipes of war!
Note: The above it written for satirical purposes only. BigAngryTrev.com extends its sympathies to all those across the globe who are suffering from the Coronavirus, as well as to the families of those who have lost loved ones to it.
Despite, thankfully, not losing our home like so many other poor souls, our family was affected by the unprecedented bushfires this summer. We had to evacuate our home for an extended period – twice, with the flames getting to within 500m off our back fence and 200m off our side fence. These were scary times for us, like many others across the state. If it wasn’t for the RFS fighting the fires tooth and nail for months on end, I have zero doubt our property would have been consumed and they have our families eternal thanks.
Image taken from the cab of a fire truck on our road the night we had to evacuate. (Photo Credit: R. Oldfield – NSW RFS)
These fires affected our entire family unit. We had to cancel our sons birthday party and all my wifes family coming for Christmas. We had to spend Xmas itself at relatives homes instead of in our own. We had to tear our farm apart to try and make it as fireproof as possible, and we are still now trying to put it back together. We had all our most treasured personal belonging stashed in three other people’s homes and likewise for our animals three more. We stressed and fretted and on one night drove for our lives as the police came down our road on their loudspeaker ordering people to evacuate, our animals and children in tow. We sat up until 1am at my mother-in-laws house watching the reports come in about a house destroyed on our road, wondering if it was ours and if we would have a home to return to. We consider ourselves fortunate that all we lost in the end was a few fridges and a deep freezer full of food (a waste of good ducks though).
So yes, we were much luckier than many, but the NSW fire season was truly a horrible month for our family.
So the RFS saved our home, but what saved our sanity? Easy to answer – community, friends and family. Without these people my wife and I would have descended into madness long ago, and ours is a tale of how people pulling together made what was a terrible experience so much less worse than it could have been.
Here are some of the examples of how we were helped by truly wonderful people:
Community & Emergency Workers
*The Grader Drivers that came to our property on two separate occasions and put in fire break lines everywhere they could, in an effort to stop any grassfires that might make it in onto our land.
*The local branch of the RFS, who provided constant updates and were always able to answer any questions we sent to them, even at 2am while our road burned.
*The local member who posted constant updates and videos about what the fires were doing in our area for weeks on end and was an excellent source of information. I may have been a Greens voter all my life, but there is a National’s member who has earned my vote!
*My sister-in-laws friend taking in our chook and 8 of our ducks for a full month and caring for them, despite never even having met us before.
*Our neighbours across the road and next to us keeping an eye on our property in case there were spotfires while we were evacuated.
Grader driver putting in containment lines in our back paddock
Friends
*My friend Jordan driving over a hundred kilometres and spending 3 hours in 40 degree heat evacuating all goods from the Transformatorium shed into the main house (we thought that the firey’s might be able to save the house but would probably let the shed burn if they had to). Then in the hot sun helped me clean out gutters, that had never been cleaned before, of dead leaves and other flammable material.
*My boss and friend Toni from work storing my 3000+ Transformer action figure collection in her loungeroom for an entire month, despite it meaning she could hardly move in that part of the house.
*Our friends Lisa and Scott taking our pet goats for extended periods on two separate occasions and feeding and watering them every day despite the heat.
*Our new friends and neighbours down the road, Bill and Lynne, feeding the poultry we couldn’t evacuate, even though it meant a daily drive closer to the fire front.
*So many of our close friends messaging us with comforting words and emotional support, yet allowing us the space to breathe when we had to.
Family
*My brother-in-law Matt driving over a hundred kilometres with his chainsaw to cut down every tree within a 5m radius of our farmhouse, then staying the night so the next day he could seal breaks in our guttering so they could hold water in case of ember attack.
*My sister-in-law Jo storing so much of our personal belongings, taking our fish for several weeks, and making us Christmas dinner
*My mother-in-law Noelene putting us up for long periods – twice – while we were evacuated, looking after our dog and storing even more of our belongings (my wife’s family rules!).
*Our children, so young and yet so brave. Being evacuated twice, missing out on birthday parties, missing out on spending Christmas in their own home. That’s a lot for a 4 and 7 year old to cope with and they both took it in their stride.
*And more than anyone, my beautiful wife. By my side we spent so much of our summer trying to fireproof a farm that had never before been threatened by flames and was a tinderbox ready to ignite.
Ours is just one example of how families and entire communities came together to support each other during this horrible time for our state and indeed for our country. If ever there was evidence that the spirit of empathy and generosity is still well alive in this land, it’s been well and truly presented this summer.
So to all our friends, all our family, all the community and all the members of the RFS, on behalf of our family
Here in NSW we are facing an unprecedented level ofBushfire danger. ATotal Fire Banhas been instituted for the entire state, aState of Emergencyhas been declared and some parts of the state have a danger rating of‘catastrophic’– a rating that has never needed to be used before!
Living on a fairly remote farm that backs onto a huge state forest, our family has been very concerned. So much so that we have instituted our ownemergency fire planshould worst come to worst.
There are plenty of official sites that can guide you through how to come up with your own emergency plans, and I heartily encourage every reader to visit the sites relevant to their state as well as download the relevant apps. What I’m going to share here is some of theevacuationprecautions I and my family have taken, in the hopes it may provide you with someideas of your own. In particular – ouremergency bags.
We have several emergency bags packed. The whole idea of these is that they are pre-made and ready to go, saving valuable minutes if you need to get out fast. Our emergency bags are packed with such items that can stay in them forever –notitems that we will have to remove a few days later because we need them. Hopefully these bags will hang on hooks for the rest of their lives unused, but better safe than sorry.
Clothing for the day
Despite the heat,long clothingisessential. Should you end up in an area with sparks flying through the air, you don’t want those sparks touching your bare skin. So long sleeved tops and long pants are the order of the day and they should be natural fibres like cotton, not synthetics that have the potential to melt onto your skin.
Leather bootsare also the most preferable footwear to have. In our case my wife and I own heavy duty leather boots but our children don’t, so we would put them in their most suitable footwear and carry them if required.
We have a bag packed specifically with clothing to change into at a moment’s notice. Again, every minute you can save counts.
EvacClothing Bag
Chances are you might not be able to return to your home for a couple of days until the fire has passed. So you will need a few changes of clothes, but taking into account you should notover packas space in your vehicle will be at a premium.
For each member of our family we packed the following:
*2 T-shirts
*1 Jumper
*1 pair of Long Pants
*1 pair of Shorts
*2 pairs of Socks
*2 pairs of Underwear
*1 pair of Pyjamas
EquipmentBag
There will be specificequipmentthat you may need when fleeing from a bushfire. All this should be kept together and easy to access if needed.
In ours we have:
*One torch with fresh battery
*One small fire blanket
*One first aid kit
*One tube of burn cream
*One pack of face masks
*One pair of fire resistant gloves
*One battery powered radio
Pet Bag
If you have pets you naturally are going to want to take them with you. In our case because we have two pet goats this would entail hooking up the trailer. But for most people your pets may consist of a dog and cat (which we also have). So when packing make sure you have enough pet food for a couple of days and leads for every animal – you don’t want to escape the fire just for your cat to run away or your dog to go hungry. A dish to put water in is also advisable.
Food & Water
Chances are wherever you evacuate to will have food and water available. But again that motto – better safe than sorry. Have a bag packed full of food that does not need to be refrigerated and can keep you all going for a day or two. Pre-packaged food likemueslibarsand biscuitswill serve you well, as well as bags of nuts. Also tinned food such as ham, salmon, tuna and so on. Take as much water as you can reasonably fit. Because we would be taking autewe can afford to take a 25 litre container in the back.
MiscItems
These are items that you don’t need to survive but will be incredibly hard to replace should you lose your home. This includes forms such as birth certificates and passports, as well as more personal items such as jewellery and family photos. What you pack in this bag is up to you, but one of the bags you may need to give the most thought too. Also, because these are items that youcan’tstore in anevackit permanently, make sure you know the location of these items in your house so they can be collected up quickly.
So these are just a few different suggestions for what to take if you need to evacuate and a possible way to have them prepared. Again, I encourage everyone to check out the official sites in order to get even more guidance and information about the best way to go about this, but hopefully this blog willgive you a good starting point on advisable things to pack.
Got any other tips on what to pack in case of Bushfire? Pop it in the comments section below.
On our farm here in NSW, like many other farms in the region, we have a problem with Blackberry Bushes.
For anyone from the city who isn’t acquainted with them, Blackberry Bushes aren’t cute little shrubs that give you some delightful fruit. No, they are a noxious weed that grows out of control. There is virtually no limit to the size they grow, and they are covered in thorns ready to ensnare human and animal alike with even the slightest contact.
And that is just ONE patch!
We’ve got some whoppers of Blackberry Bushes on our land, some almost bigger than our house! They have been very hard to get rid of for two reasons:
A: We don’t like to use poisons on our property
B: Even if we did use poisons, most of the bushes are located in the middle of our shallow creek, meaning that any use of herbicides could result in them entering the water, causing major damage to other plants and the ecosystem in general.
So what were we to do?
Well, we kinda lucked out. Mick, who I buy nearly all my second-hand pots from in order to propagate plants for our Organic Plants & Produce business, runs a family business of his own. He and his wife Billie run Dry Creek Farm, and they specialize in bringing out herds of goats in order to decimate Blackberry Patches, leaving nothing but stems and fertilizer in their wake. After being impressed with the job they did on our farm, I couldn’t help but ask them for an interview and they kindly obliged:
Sustainable – and cute!
What first gave you the idea to use goats to clear huge blackberry patches?
Huge Blackberry patches on our own place and a strong desire not to spray. We have done a permaculture course and heard of people using goats for weed control. We were getting a fair bit of pressure from the weed inspectors to do something about our Blackberry so we decided we’d have to give it a go.
What made you decide that using goats to clear blackberry was a viable business?
Mostly the fact that it worked so well on our place. We knew other people were also looking to an alternative to spraying. Also, we had the goats and were running out of feed for them!
How much blackberry can a mob of your goats clear in a day?
We usually say a single car garage per day but we’ve recently experimented with using larger mobs and knocking them over a bit faster. We have found that it depends on the goats and what they’re used to eating, we’ve recently bought some goats and found they weren’t as keen on blackberry as our initial mob. Nothing a bit of competition and on the job training won’t fix. (after the goats moved from your place to join with the others they have started churning through the patches like there’s no tomorrow)
How is using goats to clear blackberry more sustainable and ecologically friendly than using traditional methods?
Spraying is very detrimental in the long run, it kills soil life and does not allow the weed to add fertility to the soil. The production and transportation of agricultural chemicals is a huge contributer to greenhouse gases and creates a cycle of chemical dependence on farms. Goats help to increase fertility by turning weeds into manure which makes it easier to break down. Treating weeds in this way also allows the plant to continue filling it’s niche in the ecosystem. For example, blackberry helps prevent erosion and having the goats treat a patch still leaves the canes and the roots to fulfill this function.
I understand something rather odd (and amusing) happened when your goats were at our place. Can you describe what happened?
We’ve well and truly learnt that not everything goes to plan when working with animals. We decided to swing via your place for an unscheduled check on the goats because we happened to be in the area. Lucky we did. When we arrived we noticed there were nine feral and stinky billygoats showing an interest in our girls. One was in the paddock with our goats and another had his horns completely tangled in the mobile fencing and was being humped from behind by another of the billies! It was not his lucky day. Mike had to get amongst it and wrestle him free of the fence then we had to draft them out of the paddock and chase them away to discourage them returning. It was all a bit dramatic but didn’t cause too much drama in the end and gives us something to have a laugh about. We were quite surprised as we had the goats working on our place for twelve months with feral goats always around and we have also done other jobs and seen billies about but never had this situation!
I’d like to thank both Michael and Billie for both their time doing this interview and the wonderful job their goats did getting rid of our blackberries. You can find the website for Dry Creek Farm HERE.
BeforeAfter
Got any questions for Mick and Billie? Pop it in the comments section below and I’m sure they will be happy to answer it.
Despite some successes, this week has not been a good week for Vegans in Australia.
One of the more militant factions of the Vegan community, in order to celebrate the anniversary of a documentary highlighting animal cruelty issues (Dominion), took actions many would consider extreme across numerous parts of the country. They did this in the hope it would make people aware of their cause and win people over to their way of thinking.
From a PR perspective it didn’t work. It really didn’t work.
Instead of people applauding the steps they took, there has been countrywide condemnation of their actions. The anger from the community expressed both in real life and on various social media platforms has been both palpable and prolific.
So why? Do people really hate animals that much?
In short, despite some successes with their personal goals, the execution left a lot to be desired. In some cases it actually highlighted how, this group which is so concerned about animal welfare, have little knowledge about the realities of dealing with actual animals rather than the ideal of them. Let’s take a look:
*The Melbourne Blockade
The Action
Without any prior conferring with any of the relevant departments or authorities, on Monday morning a group of 60+ Vegan Activist’s blockaded the intersection of Flinders and Swantson street in the CBD, many chaining themselves to vans.
The Purpose
In the numerous soundbites provided by the Activists to the media, the most common phrase was ‘We want everyone to go vegan’. They also wanted to stop ‘so called farmers’ as they stated it, exploiting livestock and instead growing grains.
The Result
Thousands of people were inconvenienced by the blockade. 16 tram routes were all but halted. 5 major trauma centre’s in the CBD had to reroute their ambulances. A large group of the activists were arrested.
The Public Reaction
Thousands of Melbournians were pissed off about being made late. Many Australians were horrified about the effect this had on the trauma centre’s as it could have resulted in a possible fatality. There was no mass conversion to Veganism and no ‘so called farmers’ released their herds of livestock into the wild.
*Abattoir Protests
The Action
Several abattoirs were targeted by Activists where they chained themselves to killing floors and refused to leave, stopping production.
The Purpose
To stop animals being killed for human consumption.
The Result
One abattoir actually negotiated the release of 3 lambs in return for the Activists leaving. Activists at other sites were arrested and removed by police. Production at all affected sites was shut down for several hours before resuming.
The Reaction
Actually quite light. Despite extensive media coverage, people seemed to be more interested in the other stories regarding the Vegan Activists that day. Positive reactions from the wider Vegan Community for saving the lives of 3 lambs.
*Invasion of Farms
Dairy farmer who had their farm invaded
The Action
Vegan Militants targeted and invaded numerous private farms around the country. One of the most notable incidents was where activists cut the wire to a dairy farmer’s gate, went onto private property and herded a small amount of cattle onto the road. They then blockaded the gate so that the farmer could not return his cattle to their paddock.
The Purpose
The freeing of livestock so that they could not be used to produce milk.
The Result
The cattle got scared at out at being out on a narrow bitumen road with lots of people, instead of in their huge paddock with plenty of food and water. They freaked out further at not being able to re-enter their home. One cow tried to break through the boundary fence in an effort to get back into her paddock and got tangled in the wire, even ending up upside down at one point. No livestock ended up ‘frolicking free’.
The Reaction
The public once again did not like it. Empathy was felt for the livestock that had been traumatized by the Activists actions. Empathy was felt for the farmer who had to deal with the horrible situation.
*The Closing of the Gippy Goat Café
Photo shared by Vegan Militants and the subsequent reaction (reaction post shared over 30K now)
The Action
Months of harassment of a Café that specialized in goat produce and also had a goat petting zoo. Actions included trespass, theft of livestock, online and phone harassment and threats against the café owners, their staff and their families. Also many reports of customers tyres being let down.
The Purpose
To close down a café that dealt in goat milk, goat meat and keeping goats in a pen for people to interact with.
The Result
The café after months of harassment did indeed close. A very public statement was made, citing all the harassment made against them, the legal powers of the country not protecting them or prosecuting the offenders, and apologies to the 8 staff they had to let go because of the closure.
The Reaction
Videos released by the Activists showing them kidnapping a goat. Instead of being ‘wowed’ by their noble actions, the public were appalled to hear the activists saying things like “Are we taking it to a vet?” “No we might get in trouble”, especially when the farm they were stealing the goat from had a vet on staff. People were appalled to see the goat stuffed into the back of a small van, when animal safety regulations say that such animals should be transported safely in appropriate trailers. Photos taken and released by the Activists showing 4 young women laughing that they received no conviction angered people at the lack of respect for the law and the lack of empathy for those they hurt, and was subsequently shared thousands of times on social media with taglines shaming them.
There were lots of other actions taken on that day by the Vegan Activists. There was a small march in Sydney, the Melbourne Aquariums main gate was shut down and so on. So if the intention had been to simply gain media, this militant subset of the Vegan community certainly succeeded. Add that to the rescuing of 3 lambs from a slaughterhouse, halting slaughterhouse production for several hours and the closing down of a Goat-themed café and you could say they had a decent amount of success with their goals.
So why do many think it was a failure?
One of a number of articles from news outlets
It’s quite simple, the actions were perceived countrywide as illegal, extreme and subsequently got the general public offside. The public at large has condemned their actions and it seems this Militant Vegan Subgroup have actively pushed people away from supporting their cause. Instead of highlighting the cruelty to animals they made themselves look like terrorists. Their actions showed a flagrant disrespect for the law, a disrespect for private property and a high level of bullying and intimidation tactics. People felt for the café owners and their employees that suffered for months to the point of receiving violent threats against both themselves and their families. People felt for the cow that nearly killed itself trying to return to its paddock and the goat that got stuffed in the back of a van. People didn’t like the way they were told to ‘Go Vegan’ rather than being convinced to go Vegan. People didn’t like the attacks on famer’s as a whole, lumping anyone with livestock in with that very tiny subset that actually do abuse their animals. People didn’t like how the Militant Activists didn’t seem to care what effects their actions had on others, only their own agenda. And that agenda was perceived as consisting of forcing society at large to conform to the Militants personal ideological beliefs via acts of criminality. It was perceived as using stand-over and fear tactics to make people adopt your ideology.
So to sum up – no sir, people didn’t like it.
And now here we are two days later, with condemnation of the Militant Vegans actions almost universal across the country. People’s social media feeds are full of pictures and platitudes calling for support for struggling Aussie Farmers and/or ‘Vegan Bashing’ memes. There has been no ‘mass conversion to Veganism’ but rather a strengthening of Anti-Veganism sentiment.
Example of popular meme doing the social media rounds
And in fact considering the above it would be remiss to not mention one other group which have suffered because of all this action. Your average, everyday Vegan. The Vegans who had nothing to do with and did not support the Militant Activists. Just like Muslims should not be targeted for the action of a few Islamic Extremists, Vegans in general should not be shamed and harassed for the actions of a few. I’ve had a Vegan friend for near 20 years and never once has she tried to convert me to Veganism and likewise I’ve never tried to turn her into a carnivore. We’ve respected each others lifestyle choices and it may behoove society at large to do the same.
What they SHOULD have done
If there is any advice to give the Militant Vegans that took the actions they did on Monday it would be this. CHANGE YOUR TACTICS! People don’t react well to bullying. People don’t react well to being shamed. People don’t react well to being told you ‘must’ do this instead of you ‘should’ do this. People don’t like the innocents being lumped in with the guilty (in this case farmers).
Next time, actually target specifically those few farms and companies that do have atrocious animal treatment records and work on bringing their actions to light. Don’t force closures of cafes and release animals into danger at places where the animals are treated properly. Farmers everywhere are struggling with drought and small business owners are struggling to stay afloat – by attacking these groups you come across as indiscriminate bullies and terrorists. Following on from this, it would be extremely foolish to follow through with the most current threat, which is to publish the personal names and addresses of every farmer in Australia. Would you enjoy 80 meat eaters invading your residence where you and your children live, demanding you conform to their way of thinking?
Next time, instead of holding up traffic for hours in the middle of a city, hold a BBQ in the middle of the city. Cook up some Vegan food and offer samples to everyone passing by to show them how good it is. And while there instead of telling them they ‘have’ to go Vegan, maybe try to persuade them to try having one Vegan day a week to test the lifestyle out.
Next time, leave animals the hell alone! On all the footage shown it was mainly young women from major cities who obviously didn’t know how to handle animals properly. You are doing more harm than good to these creatures. In fact it may do a lot of these young urban people good to go spend a month on a farm to actually see firsthand how the vast majority of farmer’s treat their livestock, rather than sitting in a café a hundred miles away from the nearest farm talking about how terrible the livestock have it with no personal experience. As Henry Rollins, a near-vegetarian, once said ‘Knowledge without Mileage equals Bullshit”.
Look at this weeks reactions to your actions with some genuine introspection. Don’t fall into the trap of saying ‘Well anyone that condemns us is a animal hater and an idiot”. If the vast majority of the public is condemning your actions, and even many moderate Vegans are not in support, really try to look at why. Can it truly be that everyone in society except those that agree with you are completely wrong?
Next time try conversation instead of confrontation. On a personal note, I’m a hobby farmer and confirmed meat eater, however years ago I was convinced of the merits of vegetarianism by a vegetarian friend who simply had me over for dinner, then afterwards had a discussion with me about how much more food can be produced per acre by using the land for crops rather than grazing livestock. While it didn’t convince me to become a vegetarian, it gave me a newfound respect for the lifestyle choice and made me much more open and un-judgmental of people having different dietary lifestyles to my own. So if any ‘militant vegan’ reads this blog, I heartily encourage you to pop links in the comments section below talking about the merits of the Vegan lifestyle. I’ll happily read them and read them with an open mind, whereas if all you do is post pictures of dead animals or tell me how horrible a person I am for eating meat and having a different point of view to yours, I’ll probably dismiss anything you say out of hand. Convince me rather than condemn me.
But in the end, to any Militant Vegan reading this, please realize that this weeks actions this week did not work to win the public to your side. A hefty proportion of country is demonstrably pissed off with you. It is doubtful you made a single convert but not doubtful that did create a lot of Vegan-Haters. And a friendly reminder that the ends do not justify the means. Simply because you think your cause is just, it doesn’t give you the right to do whatever the hell you like with no regard for the consequences of your actions. Learn this, take it on board, and maybe next time you have your country wide protests, you may find them far more well received and who knows, actually maybe make a difference to the national psyche regarding animal product usage and consumption.
Got anything (respectful) to add? Pop it in the comments section below!
Here in Australia they are classed as an Invasive Animal Species and official pest. Responsible for financial losses totaling $225 million per year, they cause land degradation and compete with native species for both food and rock shelter.
We’ve had a big pack of feral goats that turn up periodically on our farm from the forest it backs onto. Except for the odd bit of damage to a boundary fence, it hasn’t been not too much of a nuisance in the past as we currently have no herds of grazing animals.
But now they have discovered our two pet does – twin-sisters Milly and Molly.
Because the Billy’s in particular have such an interest in our two nannies, and indeed twice we have had to go find our goats (who are free range) because they have taken off with the pack, we decided to do something about it.
Not owning a gun, capture was the next best option. And, especially during a drought, it’s surprisingly easy! Here is how:
Billy Goats are like 18 year old boys
Caught via his own passions
*Its truer than you think. They smell bad, they’re constantly hungry and they are constantly horny (pun partially intended). So if you think like a teenage boy then you can lure them in.
*My does are both on heat and have been putting their scent out on the wind. So we have had all the local feral Billy’s showing up, making it easy to capture one. First I left the back gate to the does pen open (which I do most days as they free range and come back themselves of an evening).
*Then I made sure there was a salt-lick in their yard and their water trough was full. During drought goats, like most creatures, are in constant search of water sources.
*I made sure there was some fresh Lucerne in their yard.
*Now think like a teenage boy and think what the scents on the wind are telling the Billy Goat. They are saying ‘Hey! You know what? I know this place we can go! There is tons to eat! There is tons to drink! And there are twin-sisters that are hot to trot big time!’
Look, they even do tabletop dancing!
*So with the promise of free food, free drink and a couple of hotties who are gagging for it, like the 18 year old human male, the Billy Goat cannot resist. They turn up and quite quickly make their way into the pen. I’ve caught two 100+kg Billy Goats with this technique this month alone!
Capture is easy – containment is hard.
The trouble containing feral goats is that they will throw themselves at the fences, charging full pelt with horns down, trying to escape. I have enough fencing skill that I’ve put up a few around the farm, but they are certainly not of a professional standard. The one I built around my goat pen is strong enough to contain our does and proved strong enough to withstand the punishment of a Feral Billy until it gives up and accept its lot in life. However we encountered a problem…
… a competing Billy Goat.
According to my mother-in-law (I was at work at the time) a white Billy turned up and had a big fight through the fence with the one I had captured. With two 100+kg Billy’s throwing themselves full force head first at the same part of the fence, it wasn’t long until it gave and the Billy escaped.
Not the fence it once was
However that afternoon he was quickly replaced. A 3rdBilly (a black one this time) turned up and I was able to catch him using the aforementioned technique. However as I had only had time to do a slapdash repair on the fence, it was not strong enough and with enough full-force attacks he was able to batter over the damaged fence and escape.
So, hopefully I can get the fence repaired properly before my does go out of heat and try and capture some more. All I have to do…
…is think like an 18 year old boy.
Got any goat-trapping tips yourself? Pop them in the comments section below!
In today’s rant I’m going to offer an opinion that will fly in the face of what most people are saying on social media.
The Pamela Anderson/Scott Morrison thing has been blown WAY out of proportion.
For those that don’t know, Pamela Anderson has been vocal about supporting Julian Assange and saying that the Australian Government should take action to save him from political persecution by the US. So that’s fine, no problemo. Personally I don’t really give a stuff when overseas celebrities have something to say about our politics, but then I’ve commented on social media about stuff Trump does so it’s not like I’m any better.
When asked about Anderson’s comments on commercial radio, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said:
Quote:
“I’ve had plenty of mates have asked me if they can be my special envoy to sort the issue out… um, with Pamela Anderson”
Now not the most PC thing to say I admit. In fact it was dismissive and pretty stupid. But lets look at it in context shall we?
Pamela Anderson has made and sometimes still makes a living from being a sex symbol. In the past she appeared naked plenty of times in magazines. Did a video Playboy special (back in the VHS days) where she was not only naked but had a prolonged simulated sex-scene with some muscular bloke – so we are talking softcore pornography here. Did a few movies where she either wore tight black leather or nothing at all and plenty of sex scenes there too. She even did the voice of ‘Striperalla‘, a cartoon which was mainly based on huge breast jokes.
Nothing wrong with any of this. Nothing. If that’s how you make your living and you are happy doing it and it hurts no one then more power to ya. I know I had Pam’s poster up on my wall when I was 18.
These days, at age 51, she tries to portray herself as an activist and, when it suits her agenda, pretend the last 30 years didn’t exist. But she spent decades purposely portraying and marketing herself as a sex symbol, it’s how she made her fortune. And she was more than happy to do so and be known for it when it meant the millions and movie roles kept rolling in. And she is still happy to, again – when it suits her agenda, use her sex-symbol status as can be seen in the (heavily airbrushed) posters she did for PETA just last year where she is posing in a tiny bikini.
She obviously still cares deeply about her sex-symbol status as is evidenced by all the plastic surgery she has had done on her face alone in the past few years. Though to be honest whenever I see a picture of her I can’t help but think of what comedian Bill Burr had to say ‘There is nothing wrong with looking your age! Wouldn’t you rather look like a 53 year old human instead of a 35 year old leather sofa?’ And I hate to say it Pam but perhaps it would have been better just to do what most of us do and simply let nature take its course rather than try in vain to fight it with so many chemicals and surgeries. Just a thought.
So considering what Pam has done and still does for a living, is someone saying their mates asked to be a special envoy to talk to you really so bad?
Pamela went on after the PM’s comment, long and loud and on every possible media outlet imaginable, calling the comments smuttyand lewd.
Really? Really Pamela? I’ve watched you simulate ******* a guy senseless. You were happy for a sex tape of you and your hubby to be spread all over the net when it got you back in the spotlight. Some might say those things are smutty and lewd. All this guy said his mates would love to talk to you. Stupid but hardly the worst you’ve ever heard I’m sure.
Pamela has stated that yes, she used to do highly sexualized roles but doesn’t give people the right to make sexual comments. That’s fair enough and I agree with her. Fully. But really, this was a stupid but very mild thing to say. It was a comment in the context of addressing the statements of a celebrity who still actively promotes herself as a sex symbol. If it had been a male sex-symbol he may have said his female friends were lining up to be a special envoy. And if it was someone of either sex who was a librarian or a scientist or political analyst he may not have made such a flippant joke at all, or at least one that related to that persons chosen field as he did here. But then who know’s, maybe he would have said something worse. I certainly aint a fan of the man by any means.
In fact there is one main reason the Prime Minister should not have said what he said:
You are the Prime Minister of our country Mr Morrison and should hold yourself to a higher standard of discourse! You represent us on the world stage. Don’t stoop to the level of a crowd pleaser, even if it is in a less formal context like commercial radio. You should have ignored it or said she was entitled to her opinion, not make a comment that makes you look dismissive of women and like a sexist dickhead!
And Pam?
Get off your hypocritical high horse would ya! You are completely entitled to your point of view and to state it to whomever you choose. But don’t pose in bikini’s for PETA to further one agenda and then pretend that it was incredibly offensive for a man to say his mates would love to meet you in order to further another. Decide if you want the world to see you as a sex-symbol or want to leave that world behind. You can’t have it both ways. You just cant.
I think I’ll be actively turning off my TV or radio next time one of them comes on – I don’t want to hear anything either of them have to say.
Got a different opinion on all of this (I’m sure there are many that do). Feel free to write it in the comments section below.
