Banksy Art Tattoo.

Beautiful horses

Insanely beautiful horsemen who showed up for a wake, and then left:

Eating when you're hungry

These boys have just had a successful hunt for a hedgehog and a rat.

While the vast majority of food consumed in the village is millet, people supplement their diets with other things as often as possible. "Often" isn't as often as anyone would like, but they make do with what they can, when they can. Some common diversions to the regular millet routine include sweet potatoes (purchased at markets in the city) from December-March, mangoes from April-June, ansa berries (green bean-like things that grow in the bush) in June-July, locusts (caught in the fields) and wild greens from July-September, and anything else that can be caught, hunted, or picked year-round.

So what do people hunt and catch around here? I see a lot of young guys, around age 15, heading out in the evenings to hunt rabbits, rats, mice, hedgehogs, lizards, and birds. They use slingshots to hit and stun all and any of the above, and finish the job with a rock or a stick. I've seen Fachi's son, Amadou, spend hours meticulously rigging up a trap to catch birds; he used rubber bands, cardboard, and string to fashion a sort of trapdoor/headbanger thing. It took me awhile to get used to seeing boys carrying home hedgehogs and rats to cook up, but I'm used to it now. The boys are invariably cheered by their bounty, so it's hard not to share in their excitement.

Dog owners in Niger

1/8/09
There are dog owners in Niger, but this is almost always for watchdog purposes and not for companionship. It is common for people to have a few dogs for hunting, too, if they live in rural areas. "Dog ownership" here means that you feed a dog; it doesn't mean that you touch it. Puppies, as an exception, get toted around by kids, and there are exceptions to the "no touch" rule, but definitely the understanding is that dogs are not for hanging out with. They aren't leashed, and tend to spend their time wandering around town, napping in the shade, or begging in the vicinity of a butcher. For the most part, people just leave them alone, and they learn early on to do the same towards people. On the occasion that a dog gets too close to a person or to a person's food, you can expect something to be thrown at said dog (flipflop, rock, sand). Otherwise, dogs are pretty much ignored. There are stray dogs too, especially in the city, but in the villages usually any dog you see belongs to one family or another.

I haven't gotten to see any hunting dogs in action, but I hope I get to. A guy in a nearby village has three or four dogs he uses to hunt rabbits; he said I can accompany him someday, as long as I can run fast to keep up. Not sure what that suggests...do I have to catch the dog? An injured rabbit? I will let you know.

Dogs

This is the dog that likes to follow me out of town.

1/8/09
A bit about dogs. Most of the dogs here look like a distinct breed. I've only ever seen two or three exceptions to this seemingly standard dog; fortunately the canine majority is not only an attractive sort, but also is generally sweet-tempered and affectionate. Probably a dog or two has shown up in random photos that I've sent home. It most certainly looked like this: skinny and tall with the lanky, lean form of a greyhound or a saluki, a long snout, eyes lined in black, giving it a Disney character/Egyptian look, with a tan or reddish body.*

When healthy, these guys are gorgeous: shiny and strong and fast.

Mama and puppy in Hamdallaye

*[This breed may be known in Europe and the US as the Sloughi, or is at least very closely related to it. KB]

Not a rabbit

9/2/08
Five boys, about age 7, are over to look at books. (I got these in care packages...there are otherwise no picture books in the village.) The boys' names are Turjani, Malaru, Halilu, Ousman, and Alhassan. Their banter is just terrific. I gave them each a book to look at and here's what they are saying:

"THIS DOG ONLY HAS 3 LEGS!"
"That's a lion! It has 4 legs, but we can't see one of them." (Darn 2-dimension.)
"YOU SURE?"
"Pretty sure, but even if he's just got 3 legs, he looks pretty happy."

"WHAT'S THIS, SAMSIYE? WHAT'S THIS?"
"That's a rat."
"SAMSIYE, WHAT'S THIS?"
"That's a rat."
"SAMSIYE, WHAT'S THIS?'
"That's also a rat."
[Can you tell what book he was looking at? (Your Friend the Rat)]

"HEY LOOK, A BIRD!! IT'S HUGE!!"
"That's not a bird, actually. It's kind of like a fish because it lives in the ocean! But it's also like a cow because it has breasts and feeds milk to its babies." (Glad I paid attention in science class...it was a photo of a seal...)
The response: silence. Awe? Or disbelief?

"HEY SAMSIYE, SAMSIYE, WHAT IS THIS?"
"That's a rabbit!"
"NO WAY, THAT IS NOT A RABBIT!"
"Yeah, it is! Why isn't it a rabbit?"
"Because it's STANDING UP, and everybody KNOWS rabbits run on the ground!"
"Well, yeah...but it's supposed to be a rabbit."
"But it's wearing PANTS! IT'S NOT A RABBIT!"
"OK, then what is it?"
"I dunno."
(This was a Richard Scarry book.)

The 16-mile walk

9/1/08

The other day Narba and I walked a total of 16 miles to visit a woman who fell off her motorbike near our village. It was a pleasant walk; both of us were in good spirits, and the weather was nice. Narba carried a bowl with nine eggs in it to give to the lady, and I sneakily videotaped her walking through the sand. We walked the two hours there, stayed for 45 minutes, then walked back. Most of the walk home we debated the merits of getting a horse or a camel: a very fun conversation to have with Narba. The verdict was that most likely I will not be getting either, but IF I did, Narba recommends a camel, because they are easier to take care of. We'll see about that. Camels are really expensive.

Camel market, Badigishiri

Tracks

In the mornings I have noticed tracks in the dust inside my concession, not dog tracks, and not the right shape or size to be a cat, so I asked Ibrahim to come have a look. He told me what it was, and that he would bring a trap over to catch it. I didn't know the word he had used for the animal, so I looked it up in my Hausa dictionary...OK, deep breath...translation: "giant rat." Not what I wanted to hear.

Anyway, Ibrahim brought over his contraption and set it up; however the Giant Rat has yet to set foot in it. Too smart. One night in the moonlight I saw Mr. Rat: he was sitting upright at my water bucket, forefeet on the rim, drinking water. He is about the size of a raccoon, and I could hear him lapping up the water. In the morning I found his tracks under my bed.

Inside a well

The nature adventure continues. Walking back from the lake, I stopped at a few of the wells near the lake, curious to see how much further up/down the water table was there compared to the well by my house. And you know what was inside one of the wells? It was FULL of FROGS!! Big frogs! The water's surface was just about 20 feet down, and you could hardly see it because frogs frogs frogs were packed in there all shiny and floaty and froggy. They also covered the parts of the inside of the well where they wouldn't slide in: little ledges with piles of frogs on them. Can you imagine being a frog in Niger? Now that has got to be tough. I do not envy desert-dwelling amphibians.

Proof of rain

Intermediate Egret, Niger
Photo by Ulf Liedén

06/07/08
Yesterday I walked out to see the lake--from afar it even looked blueish--and there were dozens of white egrets on the far shore. Up close the water is clouded and brown, and its shores are gouged out in pockets where men have cut out clay to make bricks, but it is a lake nonetheless. Small, oddly-shaped, but proof that rain came. I approached the edge and caught a quick glimpse of a turtle(!) who plopped into the mud, safe. That was COOL. I haven't seen any turtles. Maybe he is the only one. Where has he been since last year when the rains stopped?

Birds

Geese flying over Nigeria, not far from the Konni region of Niger
Photo by P. Taylor

Other signs that the rains have come: birds! Small flocks of little red and brown finch-like songbirds flush out of my pigeons' house when I pass; they are in there drinking water and being merry. There are also flocks of geese-like birds that fly overhead: in vees! I can hear their wings, whoosh, whoosh, and I love to look up at them. The sky here is so bright and searingly light that I don't look up that often. But I do for the birds.

Bear

SPARTAAAAAAAAA ! (Or any other generic shout)

Sharing my abode

After the baby visits I returned to my hut and began moving my stuff into place. It's nice how something as simple as a familiar book set on a shelf can make a place feel more like home. I was quite surprised and ultimately pleased (although at first I was against it) to discover that for the time being, I am sharing my abode with a pigeon. He was here when I arrived and I presumed he would bobble his way away, but he seems to like me and I enjoy his company. He is a white pigeon with a brown head and some blue paint on his back (where oh where did it come from?) He is currently perched, roosting, on the wall by my bed. He spent a very long day toddling around my "shower" area and sitting in the shade. Smart fellow. I shall call him Bartholomew. Or Myrtle? Not sure yet.

Donkeys' Rights

Donkeys work hard in Niger

"My" dog, the lovely gal who has one puppy, is so skinny from nursing that it is painful to see her. Haoua gave me permission to bring the dog food/leftovers, so I've been trying to load her with calories every night. At least her puppy is fat and healthy; he's two weeks old now. His black coat has turned to beige, and he has white feet. He looks like a little blob...no personality yet. I've grown fond of the mom; she's such a good dog, all things considered. She comes close to me and eats out of my hand when no one is around, and tonight she even wagged her tail. I still haven't tried to pet her, and haven't named her. It's very different here, but so far I haven't been surprised at the perception of animals. You prepared me well. I've "taught" the little kids in my family that they aren't allowed to handle the puppy, and so far they listen to me. And Jennifer has acquired the mission of Donkey Liberation, or at least Donkeys' Rights to be Free of Corporal Punishment. We'll see how that goes...

Multiple phyla of animals

One of my discoveries from this week is that I have multiple phyla of animals living in the thatch walls of my hut. I have reptiles (lizards), mammals (hedgehogs! and maybe a mouse), and invertebrates (crickets, mostly, plus a few gross wiggly things that I pretend aren't there). Cool, huh!
Hey this reminds me: I was gone most of last week with the other NRM trainees on our tech trip. We visited and saw lots of cool projects (PC and other programs), many of which I'd enjoy copying or adapting if the opportunity is there. We saw several gum arabic and meringua plantations (cool trees, but man, the farmers use a lot of DDT). There was a community radio broadcast, anti-desertification techniques, anti-erosion stuff, and...I SAW WILD GIRAFFES!! They were so crazy looking. Really tall, and much whiter than I'd have thought. AND I RODE A CAMEL! It was actually a very jolting experience, and they're just so tall...but it was priceless nonetheless. Camels are even weirder looking than giraffes. They fold their legs so bizarrely when they sit.

Fascinating things

Chariot Spider (4-5 " long, 2-3" wide)
Photo by Josh L.

Chariot spider
Photo by Jody Kincaid

Hey, I learned about an insane and brilliant evolutionary masterpiece that allegedly lives in Niger. It is called the Chariot Spider*, although a more fitting title might be Chariot Spider and Friend. See, it's the perfect example of mutualism, the ecological term for two different species whose interactions benefit both parties: a very poisonous SCORPION rides on the back of a very fast SPIDER, and together they destroy and devour smaller creatures. I guess the spider runs after them, the scorpion leaps off and stings the creature, and the two predators share the feast. Wow, I think that I'd like to see this in action. From a safe distance, but with an excellent view.

Other fascinating things: today we had a medical session all about skin diseases and irritations in Niger. Oh. my. god. Yuck. It sounds like we're all going to rot away in the rainy season. Disgusting.

*We have a spider expert in the family: biologist MG Weber. She examined the above photos and had this to say about the Chariot "Spider":
I hate to be the one to burst everyone's bubble! Well, this particular arachnid is called a Solphugid. They are close relatives of spiders, just like scorpions and ticks are close relatives of spiders. They can grow very big, so they get a lot of attention for scaring people. But as far as I know they aren't dangerous, because they don't have venom like spiders do. That doesn't mean those mandibles couldn't give you a healthy pinch though!