Come to think of it, I've had a variety of pets...I feel like I've been living in a rustic farm in the middle of a cosmopolitan setting while I was in Cebu City.
One time I had a flock of white ducks. I started with a male and female, then I had a duck population explosion and my mom put her foot down - the whole duck clan had to be moved to a bigger place as we were overrun by ducks..and geese too..*shivers*. Imagine the ensuing ruckus with our waddling ducks and our neighbor's violent geese - I always had a stick with me when I went out of our gate because the geese had a sneaky way of attacking unwary pedestrians.
Speaking of the pets which have wings and can fly...I had and still do have a pet rooster back home.
It started when I offhandedly expressed a yearning for feeling like being in the province even if I was in the midst of a crowded city. I sometimes visited my maternal grandma's place about 45 minutes drive from the city and it was like I was in another kind of world. I missed those days...sometimes....
The next thing I know, I had a pet rooster and he was crowing vigilantly.
Couple of days later I had paunchy eyebags you could do your groceries with. Because obviously my idea of a rooster only crowing at dawn is absolutely preposterous! Even during my siesta (afternoon nap) he was crowing his head off. It really suspiciously looked like he was crowing every time I tried to go to sleep.
A rooster can and will crow at any time of the day. Some roosters are especially very vociferous, while others only crow a few times a day. I guess roosters have personalities too.
Once I had a rooster which made these mating advances peculiar to their species when my mom and I played with him in the vacant lot beside us. {Insert here the cue to raise the reader's eyebrows}. The term we used was "birig" - he made these sort of sideways steps towards us every single time we got into his range. I don't know if we should have been flattered.
Anyway, I've had several rooster pets. But only one a a time.
We never killed them even if my dad salivated for a good roasted native chicken stuffed with fragrant lemongrass (hens and young ones are better anyway) nor did we breed them for cockfighting. They died of old age or...got stolen (when they sometimes were let out or had their rope cut, the roosters wandered away to our compound's road and never came back ). Tsk..tsk....
Those chanticleers were handsome ones - they whose stances were mighty and strut-worthy of a king. And even if they lead a life of leisure we took good care of them, so much so that sometimes visitors who were avid fans of cockfighting offered a goodly sum to get the pet rooster off our hands, saying he would make a prize of a cock-fighter. Cock-a-doodle-doo! No-can-do.
We simply kept them because we kind of gotten used to their presence crowing several times a day. Their names always are either Suerto (male version of "Suerte" or Lucky) or Oplok ("Idiot") The former I nickname Suertz, while I call the latter Plok-Plok with affection.
The most recent one I had, who I find to be a quite peaceful specimen was this young guy.
His right eye got involved in an accident with our helper one time. But don't you agree he is still a fine upstanding example of a rooster here in the Philippines?
His JD (job description) is just to crow and perch. He gets fed and watered for that. Nothing else. Its good to be king of your own backyard. Here he is shown eating some corn (or maybe some other stuff from our table).
All pictures on this page are of the current pet rooster we have at my parents' house.
speaking of arowanas. we just watched some video clips lastnite( showing it to my first apo) na shocked kami kc carnivorous pala sya. Kumakain ng mice , bull frogs just a snapped solb na sila. I wonder kung fingers kaya ng tao???
ReplyDeletei too is a dog breeder mga shitzus lang. nagsimula ako mga 5 years ago. nagsimula sa pair then umabot na sa mahigit a dozen. ung iba pinamimigay ko nalang. tumigil na ako sa breeding at nakakulong nlng ung iba ( 5 na lang sila). Nagkamali kc ako sa paginject sa stud at ung main female ko. in just a few minutes namatay sila . na overdosed sa gamot. pang kalabaw daw kc ung dosage na ininject ko sa kanila. magmula noon nawalan na ako ng gana mag breed. sayang profitable pa naman sana.
nagbreed din ako ng fighting cocks kc my father in law ay breeder din. backyard lang
mga 30 cocks every year. nag complain na ung mga neighbors dahil maingay at minsan may foul odor na kaya tinigil ko na rin. at least pati sugal natigil na rin.
masarap talaga mag alaga ng animals kaya lang nga dapat personalized ang pag alaga mo para lahat sila healthy. . masarap kc na may hinihimas ka at mas malagkit pa ang tingin mo sa mga animals kaysa sa missis mo. hehehe!!!
Cath puede pala syo ung kantang "Ol mcdonald have a farm hiya hiya ho'
yes they are :-) I used to feed my silver and my green arowanas either live fish, chopped up fish ...and cockroaches *grin*
ReplyDeleteprobably the ones you saw are like those in Australia which are a bit aggressive and eat bigger game.
Actually, its easy to feed them...the more hassling part was the frequent partial water change I did (once a week on the dot). To feed them, you can just buy a whole fish from the market and chop it up into bite-size pieces. (actually what happened is that my pet got the bigger cuts and we ended up eating the tira-tira..hehehe). Or my fave for them (coz it was lesser hassle) was the fresh na...dilis (bolinao sa amin). Then at least you could feed them one small fish at a time.
the cockroach naman is because its supposed to improve the fish's color - if you have a red-gold arowana for example, it will bring out the most vibrant color in his scales....it was a chore catching the darn things and keeping them a few days to make sure they were not detrimental to the health of my fish (make sure di na poison yung roach before feeding it to him).
I have not heard pa naman of aros biting their owner's fingers..and my pets certainly never minded it whenever I pat them as they pass me by when I clean their aquariums. Maybe sanay na rin :-)
I must agree that arowanas are quite intelligent fish.
I know I have a photo somewhere of my almost 27 inch silver arowana here with me in Manila. Once I find it (after I clean from top to bottom haha!), I will post it. Mabait yun si Beryong (who turned out to be a female...hay..nag-lay kc ng eggs)
ReplyDeleteoh, I am sorry to hear that. Sana sa vet na lang siguro no? para ma double check. However, its sad that it put you off. I understand though that it is a bit heartbreaking to have your stud and main bitch (hmm..is that correct) die that way. But at least lesson learned naman.
ReplyDeleteIf you enjoyed it (and not just the profitable portion part), maybe you can come back to it one day. Dogs are good for your health :-)
(unless if may asthma ka)
haha! yeah, at least you don't have to gamble na.
ReplyDeletebut yun nga ang con - its quite noisy with all these roosters crowing if you breed them. I just have one to 2 roosters max at a time...and I feel its already noisy at our place.
abah! dapat yata bigyan ko ang misis mo ng super-glue *ehehe..corny!*
ReplyDeleteits ok as long as may helper kami...coz I did try one time na we didn't have any maid at all, and I had 3 to 5 dogs to feed (and walk) and a rooster, and 2 mynah birds. My dad naman didn't help, so aside from work and those pets and other activities, parang nawala na yung ibang activities..hehehe..
Hi Cat and Joel,
ReplyDeleteTalking about roosters, me and my brothers, Manny and Sonny, raised fighting cocks when we were young. That was when we lived in Philamlife and then to Project 8. We had Talisain, Dalusapi, Abuhin, Bulik, Texas Balulang, and even a Binabae (A rooster but looks like a hen). I even had a pure Texas hen but it died of pneumonia after a storm. It was a big loss for me.
They were all courtesy of my grandparents on the father side. Every time they would come and visit us, they would bring us fighting cocks and ordinary hens and rooster, including a Labuyo. They also brought pigs. Also, whenever we went to the province in San Narciso, Quezon, we would bring home fighting cocks. My grandfather, who was a well respected Justice of the Peace there, would make an offer to the sabungeros if I wanted their rooster and I always got them. Yes, I was that spoiled.
When we moved to Project 8, we started challenging the local old timer sabungeros from San Jose Village. We became friends with them until one day after coming home from school, all of our roosters were gone. We didn't know what to do. We all concluded that the sabungeros were responsible for stealing our fighting cocks. That was the end of it.
But, I decided to give myself another chance and my last chance was my ugly hen. One day, she laid an egg and for the first time, she decided to hatch it (she always ate her eggs every time she laid one). After 28 days, a handsome male chick was hatched. I raised him to become a fighting cock. He was a Talisain. One day, I came home and he was dead. The neighbor said, he had a bout with a snake (Dahong Palay). They said he started pecking at the snake's tail and it fought back biting my rooster. Obviously, it died. I never did it again.
Joel, tama ka. Masarap din yung may hinihimas pag uwi mo.
Cat, the Arowana fish is a sign of Good Luck here in Hawaii, specially among the Chinese. Almost every restaurant we went to, they have one by the front near the cashier. Even Myra's business partner has one. It is very expensive here.
ReplyDelete"I had a pet rooster and he was crowing vigilantly."
ReplyDeleteI was never really bothered by roosters crowing. In fact, it was music to my ears.
Myra had a real estate buyer who bought a house deep in the valley of Kalihi. When they first saw the house, it was around middle of the day. But what they didn't know was that Kalihi Valley had a lot of Sabungeros. When they moved in, there was a cacophony sounds of roosters crowing every second from 4 AM to 10 AM. They sued the owners for not disclosing it. It was settled later on and got their money back.
"Once I had a rooster which made these mating advances peculiar to their species when my mom and I played with him in the vacant lot beside us. {Insert here the cue to raise the reader's eyebrows}. The term we used was "birig" - he made these sort of sideways steps towards us every single time we got into his range. I don't know if we should have been flattered."
ReplyDeleteWe call that term "gumigiri". It is a term used in the song "Sitsiritsit Alibangbang". Here are the lyrics for you.
Sitsiritsit, alibangbang
Salaginto at salagubang
Ang babae sa lansangan
Kung gumiri'y parang tandang
Santo Niño sa Pandakan
Putoseko sa tindahan
Kung ayaw mong magpautang
Uubusin ka ng langgam
Mama, mama, namamangka
Pasakayin yaring bata.
Cat, this is a very interesting post. You mentioned all the animals in your home in Cebu. My grandparents on both sides, they had farm animals but on the mother side, I only remember the horses and the chickens. On my father side, I remember a variety of animals from ducks, goats, pigs, chickens and an alien called the Monkey Eating Eagle, now called Philippine Eagle. Here is a link for you to see:
ReplyDeletehttp://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/02/philippine-eagles/nigge-photography
One summer, that Eagle hovered above the small town of San Narciso, Queson. Then, one day, it decided to land in my grandparents' backyard. It so happened that the mother pig delivered 14 litters and the eagle ate 2 of them. My grandfather saw what happened so he picked up a piece of wood and threw it at the eagle to shoo him away. But he hit the right wing and broke it. The eagle never left the property. Now, the concern was how to protect the farm animals.
My grandfather was also a fisherman and he fished 3-4 times a week. My grandmother was the one who would clean the catch. She started giving the eagle the fish inards and from then on, the eagle never bothered the animals.
My cousins, brothers and our friends for the next 2 summers played with the eagle by teasing him using a long pole. He never attacked us. He got used to being with people and animals around him. He had shed some feathers that we took and made flights for our arrows and darts. I wish at that time that I was smart enough to have kept those feathers as they are now very precious to have since the Philippine Eagle is now a highly endangered specie. Of all the eagles in the world, that and the Bald Eagle are my 2 favorites.
"he is still a fine upstanding example of a rooster here in the Philippines?"
ReplyDeleteYes, Cat. He is a proud rooster! I like his gait!
Hopefully, someday on one of my trips there, I would like to visit the sanctuary of the Philippine Eagle in Davao. That would be a dream come true.
ReplyDeleteoh..I've been there back in the late 90's..I hope its still as ok or much better na...not that it was bad before ha...and the eagles were majestic looking even in their big big cages...
ReplyDeleteyung dad ko before, sabi nya during his time, before the way, may monkey-eating eagle sya na pet sa Cebu...
actually masyadong lanky..hehehe..
ReplyDeletemy other roosters before macho na macho eh...pero bata pa naman kc to..tapos binigay ng isang ex-helper namin who lives in one of the towns far away from Cebu...
thanks Joey for visiting and commenting :-)
ReplyDeleteactually, not all animals...yung mga the usual lang which I can recite from the top of my head..hehe....
I had also a pig (pero pang lechon kc yon eh), goats, a horse, turkeys, doves (galing sa wedding pumatong kc sa table ko), maya (but we let it fly away after it got better na) to name those that I can still recall...
I just didn't have any of those na snakes, turtles, chameleons etc. Really mostly dogs. No cats though..ironic eh?
I even brought my rabbit to simbang gabi...LOL
thanks Joey. Though I admit I have seen them up close and personal na :-) when I went to Davao before in my many visits to Mindanao. Plus, even before that, my dad used to tell me that he had a pet in his parents' home before, this was pre-WWII...and he even had a monkey-eating eagle, hence I am familiar with it.
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting and touching story about that eagle which landed in your grandparents backyard. Que pasa? Did it die of old age? Kayo naman oi..boys talaga will be boys..teasing the poor hungry eagle.
Ako naman, favorite ko ang Philippine eagle of all (ok, I am biased, but they are also rare). I think the breeding program in Davao has been somewhat successful naman..so sana it won't disappear forever. The Philippines is a very rich country in terms of biodiversity...que plants or animals nga...
Lucky I know the tune..though I never really understood the lyrics :-) (especially the first group)
ReplyDeleteThanks Joey...
teka, normal ba yon for the rooster na behaviour? or just that walang hens? hehehe!
haha! I bet ganon nga...even in the city it would be bothering folks I think (like in the middle of Makati, then may rooster ako dito sa unit ko) if they hear cocks crow.
ReplyDeleteI can stand roosters crowing, but not a whole bunch of them. I'm also a light sleeper kc..so unless am super tired and dead to the world...everytime the rooster crows and I was asleep...I get awakened...
the Chinese think of it as bringing good luck...(I think if you have 7 or more bands of scales yata its better..I have forgotten my arowana-pet-keeping days research na)
ReplyDeletethough there is the Australian aro din...this fish is actually fun to have..though you have to really get a big, big aquarium as especially the silver one can be really long.
here, the most expensive is the red or red-gold yata.
silver is the cheapest version (and its body is different too).
I got my 3 inch arowana before for almost Php 800..she grew to almost 30 inches...ang taba nga!
And I could say she has really some intelligence, because she recognized either my mom or me whenever we went near her aquarium and during parties at our house, she snuck up to the glass if we were seating near her as if listening to our conversation. She never did that with the others in the house :-)
The other one I had was more interested in his food.
Actually I think I did a good job with my aros as its difficult to breed them in a captive environment. Usually you can do it in the outside na pool which would be necessarily big..but my Beryong (eh, Beryang pala), suddenly laid eggs! One day we just saw a bunch of orange-colored stuff on the floor of the aquarium. Unfortunately, there was no male to fertilize them (as I found out later). Sayang. I could have sold the little ones if they had hatched for a nice price :-)
shoot! walang witness?
ReplyDeleteWe also had a Jacksons Chameleon here. I remember I had to catch grasshoppers to feed him everyday. They also feed on crickets which I bought from the pet store and also small roaches. We had the first one in an aquarium at first, then moved him to a very large cage I built with a ficus tree in the middle and a water dripping station. After it died, we got 2 more, a pair. They had 12 chameleon babies. we gave away 3 of them and the rest died because we didn't know how to raise them. When the mother died of old age, we decided to release the father back to the Koolau mountains where they come from. We could not bear to see our pets die. Too devastating to the kids.
ReplyDeleteAren't they all? He he he
ReplyDeleteAno, para huwag mag multiply?Madali silang mag reproduce. Before you know it may tropa ka na ng rabbits:-)
ReplyDeleteI am glad we are on the same page. You are so lucky that you had the opportunity to see them close up. Last time I saw them up close too was back in 1981 at Fr. Aguilar's Zoo on Quezon Blvd. near UP, across from the Parks and Wildlife. There were 3 of them and I took several photos. I hope to find them again in my box files.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Eagle that landed in my grandparents' backyard, I think it died of old age. I was already in college when it died. Perhaps its broken wing shortened its life span. Sad:-(
Well, you know how it was during those days when you're young. Di nag iisip and the Eagle was not endangered then. They used to hunt them too, didn't they?
Your dad is lucky to have such a pet eagle then. Madali pa noon. Even Ateneo had the pet Eagle as their mascot and I remember, they used to bring it out and ran around with it during basketball games. If you remember, Ateneo team is aka the Blue Eagles.
It's a normal behaviour. I even did that to our fighting cocks by snapping my fingers and tap them on the side and they respond with a giri.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to walang hens, na TL lang siguro sa yo yung rooster mo...he he he. It his endearment towards you:-)
City folks are different.
ReplyDeleteWe are opposites. I am a deep sleeper and I fall asleep fast too. Specially when I use my CPAP machine every night.
AW, that is so cute about your Aros. I never thought they would be that cognizant about their masters. Thanks for the background about Aros. Maybe someday we could own one.
ReplyDeleteSayang yung mga eggs ano. Had you known that males should fertilize them you could have gotten one and made money out of them. But great job though for being able to breed them successfully.
If there was, they probably would not talk. We also could not prove it because we never saw our fighting cocks around. They probably sold them or brought them some place else.
ReplyDeleteeh? di ba pwede mag ask sa zoo or sa vet? or donate sa zoo? ang sayang naman..imagine 12 babies..
ReplyDeletewell, I don't know - what if I had a potbellied Vietnamese pig? (yung pig talaga di yung tao na may potbellly hehehe)...its said pigs are intelligent...if they could keep clean, ok sana inside the house, tapos gawing tagabitbit ng newspaper..haha, instead of a dog...
ReplyDelete*grin* no, I only asked for one rabbit, not two coz we heard nga bilis mag reproduce...e baka maubos lahat ng kangkong at carrots!
ReplyDeleteearlier, when I checked it walang lumabas eh...pero ngayon meron na...thanks Joey!indeed its a majestic bird!
ReplyDeleteaha! so babae or lalaki ganon pala ha...taksil na rooster! akala ko TL nga kami ni mommy ko ..di pala...grrr
ReplyDeleteI fall asleep quickly..even if strange places...I think its good, seeing that my work required me to travel before and stay at different hotels. Even if may ghost pa siguro sa room.bahala na sya..hehehe..
ReplyDeleteang question is, gano katagal at kahirap ka gisingin?
sure Joey, I researched a lot and joined even a group on the internet while I was keeping them as pets so I could have expert opinion..hehehe...if you have aros...keep me posted. delightful fishes!
ReplyDeleteproblem kc, is when you buy arowanas as young ones e mga 2 to 3 inches lang yan...its difficult to tell which is male or female! Kaya nga we thought the fish we had was male...e mali!
It was sort of accident I think that the fish laid eggs. I think the environment we provided - frequent water change, ok na PH sa water, plus the leaves juice (I forgot the name) we placed, and that its hot in Cebu, all ended up in a very conducive environment for her to lay the eggs. Suerte.
well at least, di ginawang roasted chicken..dahil gutom...
ReplyDeleteWe did not even think about asking a Vet. As far as donating to the zoo, well, they can always get them from the Koolau mountains. There are a million chameleons there roaming around.
ReplyDeleteBut the babies are so cute. Kasing liit ng langgam. It was hard to care for them.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting this answer. I really don't know how intelligent they are. Galing nga sana kung manageable ang cleanliness ng pig. Pwedeng matulog sa kama mo tapos turuan pa.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the movie "Babe"?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112431/
Isn't it!! And I am very proud of it!
ReplyDeleteIt all depends. If I just need to get up, mabagal. But if I have a golf tee time, mabilis akong bumangon...:-)
ReplyDeleteCge, I will let you know. You've had a first hand experience. Glad I don't have to go that far to look for help and support.
ReplyDeleteSome fighting cocks do that to con their opponents then all of a sudden, they attack from behind. So maybe, it could also be a ploy.
ReplyDeleteAh, they will probably make money out of them first. then pag natalo, ulam ang labas nila. He he he
ReplyDeleteI see...I guess I've seen a lot of deaths of dogs and other animals, that I think better not take chances if its one of my pets..only one time lang kami na di nag-vet..maski mahal..yung injection para sa mga fleas :-)
ReplyDeleteaawwww.....ant-sized huh :-)
ReplyDeletenowadays I'm sure the internet and goggling about such subjects will be big help to peeps who want to take care of "exotic" (at least to me) pets...
naku, op kors..si Babe pa? e both movies pa nga :-) though I liked the first one better...
ReplyDeleteI was wondering though how "intelligence" can match up to the ability to be easily trained...
shempre...with the name itself changed pa to one easily matched to our country...we all ought to be proud ...
ReplyDeletehaha! as expected...motivation, motivation...
ReplyDeletewaaah..tigas naman ng meat siguro...
ReplyDeleteNow, there is a once a month pill that deters fleas and heart worm at the same time for dogs and cats. I forgot the name but it is a chocolate flavored pill.
ReplyDeleteDuring that time, I had no idea about using the internet. I was told before that I should look out for this thing called Information Super Highway aka the Internet.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I like the first one.
ReplyDeleteWhen an animal is intelligent, its ability to be trained is more likely because it thinks better and they figure out a way to learn what their master is trying to teach them so they can please their master. I have seen some animals that are just plain blah but affectionate.
Exactly!!!
ReplyDeleteOh Yes. there is no doubt!! Kailangan ng pressure cooker...LOL
ReplyDeleteNot only that. If you are late, then you cannot play or you get penalized for 2 strokes:-((
ReplyDeletewhat in the world?! chocolate flavored?? for dogs and cats? ngeeh!
ReplyDeletedangerous yan ah..
1) maybe a child would eat it kc chocolate flavored..hehehe
2) the dog might like it and eat real chocolate (go looking for it) which I think is bad for them
the solution to that is simple Joey...
ReplyDeletejust have your own private golf-course dyan sa bahay mo...ehem..
Not this one, Cat. Now I remember. It is called Sentinel Flavor Tabs (Milbemycin Oxime - Lufenuron). It is a once a month pill that would prevent heart worm disease and helps control flea populations in dogs and cats.
ReplyDeleteI take it back. It is beef flavor, not chocolate. I said chocolate first because when I smelled it for the first time, I thought it was chocolate which I knew was bad for dogs so I asked the Vet about it. As always, medicines should be kept out of reach of children.
I see..for a moment kinabahan ako sa chocolate-flavored pills for dogs..nakup...ma wrong identity pa ..baka ang dad ko kunin pa yan kc mahilig sya ng chocs..hehe..
ReplyDeleteanyway, intrepid mga children ngayon..mahirap na...kung pwede lahat child-proof...
Don't you know it. Kids nowadays are fearless and adventurous and it is hard keep anything from them.
ReplyDeleteHe he he... vulnerable pala yung dad mo...LOL.
ReplyDeleteoo..parang hunting dog yan si Daddy ko...even if you hide the chocolates..ewan...nakikita palagi...
ReplyDelete*sigh*
ReplyDeletesaid rooster is now dead...
at least we have a hen left...