"A Lynx, a Goat and a Mad Cow...

A lynx, a goat and a mad cow...(just a bit of humour)

Life with a home full of animals can sometimes lead to a loss of ones’ senses and perspective. Running with the bulls in Spain was never my idea of fun, but what now confronted me was a whole different, and gentle approach to the bovine world. So it was with this loose headed emotion and wild abandonment that I decided to give in to the nudge at the front door of yet another pet. This time, in the form of a rather young and amusing species. Thats it…’amusing’ I think is the appropriate term. After all, it was almost two decades ago and I was game for almost anything. This young creature actually had attitude and a hint of intelligence, and in my often self destructive nature I may have been drawn in some twisted challenge to take on yet another responsibility to mother nature. It also did show signs of being useful, or so I believed.

                                                                     

Here in Africa all of my pets and strays had been of indigenous breed, but this particular girl came from English origin, so all the better, why not introduce foreign genes into this menagerie of chaos! Just out of adolescence this creature was already solid in build, and despite being able to communicate in some vague way, she did show early signs of being stubborn and obnoxious. Little did I expect this black haired, brown eyed beast to one day grow into something that would anger the lynx into resorting to fits of rage and even attacking and giving full chase, while the goat would head butt it out of annoyance and frustration. The ducks would take off flapping across the garden pond, and all the cats would flee and seek refuge on the tin roof.

                                                                     

It is no co-incidence that the stress of this marriage ceremony caused the church organist to soon afterward die from a fatal heart attack. May he rest in peace. His recital of Bach's Toccata will always be remembered. Within a matter of months one neighbor sold up and moved, then another, until there was an entire exodus from the area. It is a fact that an entire neighborhood remains to this day as vacant of human life as the lunar surface.

This oversize creature had grown into an argumentative debating force to be reckoned with by day, and a rumbling snoring cacophony at night. Soon she would present symptoms of Hashimoto’s syndrome, with lethargic movement and many hours immobilized on a couch in depths of sleep, with sudden outbursts of bellowing noise when awakened. For years I suspected a hormone problem, but all attempts at persuading such a temperamental and large beast to accept treatment would be an impossible task.

                                                                            

Over the years the shiny black coat of hair became flecked with patches of grey, as this continuously growing monster now demonstrated symptoms of the dreaded Mad Cow disease. Well, at least it wasn’t Ebola, West Nile fever or Leprosy, remember that this after all is Africa.

It was indeed Mad Cow, imported years earlier upon her immigration from an island in the north called Great Britain. The only country in history to have built the largest ship that would sink on its maiden voyage, and the land of little cars with canvas roofs driven under grey skies, rain and fog.

Mad cow disease is an incurable brain disease that affects cattle and some other animals, such as goats and sheep. The medical name for mad cow disease is bovine spongiform encephalopathy. It’s called mad cow disease because it affects a cow’s nervous system, causing a cow to act strangely and lose control of its ability to do normal things, such as walk. Researchers believe that people who eat beef from cows that have this disease are at risk of developing a form of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

                                                                       

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of man as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.

Life is either a daring adventure,  or nothing”

Helen Keller