Wild Animals I Have Seen

 Upon my first return from Africa some friends asked if I had seen any wild animals. The answer to that question is yes and no. While I have not seen the wildlife those friends wanted to hear about: no zebras, giraffes, elephants, or lions, I have seen plenty of wild animals. Here in Togo (and, I hear from Karen, in other parts of the world as well), all animals are wild. The idea of pets as we Americans have astonishes the people here. Families have cats and dogs, but they are not pampered as our pets are.

So what wildlife have I seen? 

Turkeys, chickens, guinea fowl, ducks. Hammer and Dela had turkeys when I arrived in September. Having never been around (live) turkeys, I enjoyed watching them. The Tom turkey fancied himself quite the ladies man. He would approach the ladies and spread his tail so they would notice him. It made an interesting noise when he did so, but he could not maintain the pose long. I was always reminded of the stereotype of the middle age man at the beach sucking in his gut when the pretty girls walk buy. Tom also thought he was the boss of the compound. He would chase people and peck them. I was not sad when they moved him from the compound to the farm on the church property, because he liked to chase my little buddy Godwin.

The female turkeys were not all that impressed with the male's airs. They frequently ran away when he approached them. I was especially sympathetic to one of them who, after all, was getting ready to nest. I was surprised to see that she laid eggs over several days before she actually began sitting on them full time. Even when that began, she took a couple of breaks during the day to stretch her legs. She wandered around the compound for about twenty minutes before returning to the nest. On one such occasion, she decided to take a nap. Like many of the beings here in Togo, she just fell asleep where she was.

The poor lady was not a very good nester. None of her eggs--and there were fifteen or so--hatched.

Chickens are plentiful as well. None live full time in Hammer's compound at the moment, but there are some outside. One of those is pictured below. Note the cloth that has been attached to the side. I assume that serves the purpose of a brand, since they roam free in the yard out front.

The photo on the right shows the chickens wandering around the school grounds. Today, one of them came into the church for a while. That was the first time I had seen one come inside. 

Karen has ducks at her house. This week they have suffered with some illness, and one of them died. When the first fell ill (and he survived), her gardener told her he knew a man in Vogan that could give her medicine for them. She got the medicine and gave it to the ailing duck. She also put some in the water for the rest of the flock. Two days ago, a different duck got sick and died, so yesterday she spent the day catching each duck individually and administering the medicine. Karen also has guinea fowl. I took a picture of some of her ducks a few weeks ago, but it did not turn out well, so I am unable to upload it for you.

Other animals: I can, however, show you pictures of her rabbits. She has a male and two females and is hoping for beautiful babies from them. Karen loves animals and uses them as part of her ministry here. She raises them with the understanding that they belong to Hammer who can give them to members of the congregation or community who are in need. Depending on their circumstances, they can then either eat the animal or raise more to sell.

Goats. Two different types of goats live here. A local breed is short and squat, but I have seen taller, thinner versions of this animal.

Finally, there are cattle. They graze along side of the road, so I most frequently see them there. I was amused to hear the residents of one of the villages voice their concern over people selling or renting land to cow herders. Much like the plot of Oklahoma!, the farmers did not like the cattle ignoring the boundaries to their land (there are very few fences here).

After composing this post, I remembered that I had seen a monkey. But it wasn't in the wild. It was chained to a tree in someone's yard. Obviously, that is the only way one could keep a pet monkey from escaping. I was so startled that I did not get the camera out in time to take its picture!