permaculture

["Marsha Hanzi" <hanzibra@svn.com.br>]

I just read  the book "The man who Listens to Horses" where  the author
learned to  tame and train young horses by imitating the  body language of
horses he observed in the wild-- no whips, no trauma, complete trust between
man and animal.

Marsha




----- Original Message -----
From: Mikal Jakubal <mjakubal@asis.com>
To: permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2000 10:12 PM
Subject: "I'm the Alpha Goose now!"


> I thought you all might enjoy the following story as an example of the
> observation and mimicking of nature. This happened day before yesterday.
>
> I've always liked geese, even though they are more pets than really
> functional elements in any design. They're just fun to have around--sort
of
> like noisy yard ornaments with attitudes. They're more fun, of course, if
> they're friendly. These two were given to me last fall as rather skittish
> adults. Now that it's spring, mating season and all, they can occasionally
> get downright aggressive to anyone who ventures into the garden area where
> they live. The dominant one regularly challenges me and has come fairly
> close to me on occasion--especially when I ring the bell and open the
grain
> bucket--though he still wouldn't eat out of my hand. A few days ago, I
> watched the two of them fighting. It went on for quite a while. Previous
> geese I've had have been really mellow--this was my first time watching
> them fight up close. For those who have never seen it, they put their
heads
> over each other's "shoulders" and bite the back or the wing of the other
> while trying to climb up on the other's back. Sometimes the weaker one
will
> break loose and run. Other times, the stronger goose climbs up on the
> other's back and walks around while biting it. It looks similar to when
> they mate. There is also all sorts of other body language involved:
sounds,
> postures, feather ruffling, wing flapping.
>
> Two days ago, the dominant goose came squawking up to me, neck
outstretched
> as usual. Just for fun, I got down on my hands and knees and squawked back
> (something I do anyway to acknowledge them). I'd noticed before that he
> seemed more afraid of my hands, so I put them back and just inched toward
> him face first. He let me scoot up next to him close enough to touch, so I
> put my head over his shoulder, he did likewise, and the fight was on! I
> protected my ears with gloved hands, laid down flat on my stomach, and let
> him climb up on me. Like most animal fights, it is very ritualized combat.
> As long as I didn't try to resist, he didn't really bite hard, though he
> could have easily. After a while, I rolled him off, re-wrapped my neck
> around his, and gradually pressed his back down to the ground with my
chin,
> talking to him the whole time. Once I had him pinned for a while, he
calmed
> down. I told him that I was alpha goose around here now and don't he ever
> forget it!
>
> We're now buddies. He'll sit on my lap and let me pet him and scratch his
> neck. I haven't decided whether he actually likes this, the way a cat
> would, or merely tolerates it. Now and again he'll start the challenge
> again, but a firm hand on the back puts an end to it and he mellows out.
My
> next project is to get the other one tame.
>
> Squawk! Squawk!
> Mikal
>
>
>
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