And now, an interesting travelogue, if you don’t mind.
Yesterday, Andie took Chicken Chicken, the artist formerly known as both Cat the Chicken and Other Chicken, on a pest control field trip. In other words, Andie took Chicken Chicken out to lunch and said, “No thanks. I’m good.”
Years ago, I read that the ancient Chinese battled swarms of locusts armies of hungry ducks and chickens and I told this story to Andie.
Turns out, this practice has carried on into the present day.
Andie watched Chicken Chicken chase bugs around a garden for a couple of hours and brought her home, stuffed and happy.
Go ahead: google “locusts chicken army” or “locusts duck army.” Nobody can resist an awful pun. Pesticides are nasty shit. If you have bugs, what you need are chickens or ducks.
I’m thinking of going into business in my retirement as the lady who brings goats to your overgrown yard for a constructive nibble, but now I visualize a side gig where I bring chickens to gobble Japanese beetles. I’ll be rich!
Okay, maybe not rich, but not at all bored. Some vineyards deploy ducks to tackle pest problems. I can see myself rolling up to a winery with my team of hungry chickens help them solve their unpleasant problem. In fact, I’m picturing a bottle of gratitude now.
I liked reading in The Omnivore’s Dilemma about the farmer who rotated his chicken coop on wheels over his cow pastures after the cows had been rotated out to a new pasture. The chickens would eat all the insect larvae out of the cow pats and thus serve as a preventative health measure. Chickens will eat anything and insect-fed chickens are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.