A few more days and it will all be over, but don’t let this fool you. Anything is still possible! Christmas time is as unholy as ever. It seems that even football is now to be avoided at all costs. This, the latest of sexual abuse in the English speaking world;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_football_sexual_abuse_scandal
Twenty police forces are now investigating! Can you believe it? What is it? Is it something in the English fish-chips?
” By mid December, in response to allegations from 350 individuals, The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, several football clubs and over 20 UK police forces had established various inquiries and investigations; on 21 December 2016, 155 potential suspects were said to be involved in alleged abuse of 429 individuals at 148 clubs.”
Mind you, Australia is also at the forefront and riddled with sex scandals. No school, no matter how exclusive or expensive has been found lacking with ‘School Masters’ ( a silly title if ever there was) sexually abusing their students. In fact the more exclusive the worse it seems to get. Cranbrook, Kings College, Scots College. They all queue up like tin soldiers. Former students are fronting up in Royal Commissions telling of their dreadful abuse by former teachers. Headmasters were flat out confessing they should have put a stop to it. But…they did not! One teacher after years of abusing students was finally sacked but given a glowing reference and a handsome pay-out figure. Can you believe it.?
I just thought to update you of the latest, before year’s turning.
I spoke with Harley next door giving condolences for the loss of his beloved chickens. That’s the thing with foxes. They are cruel and kill for the sheer fun of it. It’s not as if they kill and eat one for hunger. Just like us humans really. Kill for fun. The Syrian massacres the latest sample of killing for the sake of killing. A horrible dance macabre. A bacchanalian killing field. And then those serious black suited men sitting around conference tables arranging buses and tut tutting about peace?
Anyway, poor Harley felt a bit rotten about it all. His faithful but dead Barnevelders laying and lying all over the place. (but not with eggs) ‘For once I did not lock them in’, he said looking me in the eyes, a trace of guilt. It reminded me of how the foxes had struck many times on our farm. Dead ducks, chickens and so often too. Foxes, at least the Australian variety, can climb fences. We ended up with the chicken pens having wire over the top as well. A fortress type enclosure was the only way to go. Yet, rarely would one see a fox. You could spend years living in the outback, never see a fox.
As a last resort we bought a strong wire cage as a fox trap. It had a trap door that would clamp shut after the fox had entered to get to his prey. We were told to put in a dead bird and to handle the cage wearing gloves. Any human scent would deter the canny fox. They are smart. Nothing happened. No fox ever trapped. One morning I checked and poor Milo our Jack Russell was inside the trap, looking sheepish. At least he hadn’t touched the duck. It was too smelly. When we sold the farm it must have found a new owner.
Milo in a fox trap. Oh dear!
Tags: Abuse, Barnevelder, Christmas, Cranbrook, Fish&Chips, Fondling, Fox, King's College, Royal Commission, Sheep, UK
Oosterman Treats Blog 
December 22, 2016 at 12:09 am |
Poor Milo. I can sense his embarrassment. My traps are squirrel size and I only set them during the day. So far I’ve avoided catching anything other than the ground squirrels who earn a one way ticket down the road and over the river to grandmother’s house, or maybe great grandmother. I’ve deported several generations. My worry about leaving my traps out overnight is that I might catch a skunk, which is always a smelly proposition. 🙂 –Curt
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December 23, 2016 at 1:50 am |
We don’t have skunks in Australia but more than make up for it with smelly politicians. Some of them are really up the nose. Fortunately every three or four years we get to chose new ones which might be alright but often turn out a bit smelly as well.
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December 23, 2016 at 2:15 am
Mmmm… welcome to America. Maybe the two legged ones should be trapped, Gerard. Not sure I would use a Have-a-Heart trap, however. 🙂 –Curt
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December 22, 2016 at 12:44 am |
Poor sheepish Milo, indeed.
Curt, I have a nostalgic feeling, thinking of that unforgettable smell of a skunk. But, the feeling soon passes.
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December 23, 2016 at 3:00 am |
It is strange but whenever driving past our Parliament house, I get this smell reminiscent of paddocks having been freshly manured.
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December 22, 2016 at 4:25 am |
Congratulations on your book being about to be published! I love the cover and the title, ‘Fragments Of A Restless Life.’ Great story about Milo getting caught in the fox trap! As for pedophile stories… my two youngest brothers were at Scotch in Launceston when the housemaster was found to be a pedophile. A fire uncovered photos of him with the students and my brothers were removed from the school. This hasn’t come out in the Royal Commission. I guess so many people want to forget and don’t want those memories raked up.
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December 23, 2016 at 3:13 am |
Yes, the abusers are lurking in some strange places. One ‘Housemaster’ was found with a batman mask covering his face crouching underneath boys beds.
Of course, boarding schools are perpetuating a culture of exploitation of the vulnerable.
In England and rugby I wasn’t surprised. After arrival in 1956 and being introduced to a rugby ball, it left me astonished. One could not kick this ball in any direction. It is not surprising the game lent itself to deviant behaviour.
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December 22, 2016 at 5:54 am |
I feel for your neighbour with the dead chickens. When we were at Barrington tops, we also had chickens that got killed. Not only were there foxes but also quolls, dingos and large goannas that did the killing. When setting up the run, I like Gerard had a wired roof but made the fatal mistake of not putting the vertical wire into the ground.
It’s was also tough growing anything there. Apart from many types of hungry insects, the birds always found a way to decimate the few veggies and fruits we tried to grow. Bower birds were the most persistent. I kid you not, they managed to squiz through the normal size chicken wire.
You expect to loose some percentage to the beautiful wildlife but on the end we gave up. We became content with just the lime, lemon, bay leaf and grapefruit trees.
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December 23, 2016 at 9:10 am |
Yes, the money we wasted on seedlings, fertilisers, sprays, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides etc., we could have retired years ago.
I buy those lovely trussed tomatoes and think about all that effort that has been put in growing them.
The chickens met a sad end. It just took one night of leaving the pen open and the fox struck.
I noticed Harley replaced them with very young little chicks, brown ones again.
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December 23, 2016 at 9:36 am
Yes much the same here Gerard but on very small scale on the balcony. The herbs are fairly easy going. The chilli plants are doing well. The ginger must be near “harvesting” ! The two tomato vines are proving to be difficult. But we won’t be beaten !
The best potting mix was used. Special tomato plant fertiliser and sulphate of potash, in measured quantities was lovingly applied. The result, tell tale holes in the bottom of most of the early crop. Cunning bas…s. More money was spent on a safe insecticide to try and stop the carnage. A caterpillar or pillars are the the main suspect/s. So far no luck.
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December 23, 2016 at 10:02 pm
Yes, herbs are the way to go. We have lots of rosemary, salvia, parsley etc. Insecticide costs more than buying the tomatoes’ from Aldi’s. We gave up on tomatoes years ago.
Speaking of Aldi’s. Yesterday was pandemonium. All caution to the wind. Shoppers were having complete breakdowns at cash register nr 4, when the check-out register was being used by an elderly woman who just could not get the right pin number. One shopper was seen to unload her trolley on the floor and walked out, screaming profanities. I noticed she was getting her two dollar trolley deposit back though.
Hospitals and police will be flat out over the next few days.
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December 23, 2016 at 11:30 pm
Gerard, I nearly had a panic attack at Dan Murphy’s. Had to leave. Found a liquor wholesaler one street down with nearby parking, and a very calm, non Christmas atmosphere. What a godsend.
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December 23, 2016 at 11:48 pm
Yes, Big M. I understand. Even so, Dan Murphy and a local Estate agent were the only ones we received a Christmas Card from.
We have proudly poked them through the Venetian showing to neighbours we are still popular.
We stocked up on Billy’s Shadow. A nice little drop and some Belgian Chocolates.
You and your best mate, have a good one, Big M.
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December 22, 2016 at 11:13 am |
We can empathise. We have foxes here, in suburban Newcastle. Hen house surrounded by chicken wire, top, sides and bottom. Still see the buggers around. They usually mount a predawn raid. They are the only reason I can see for gun ownership in Australia. Anyhoo, glad your old mate is ok. No guilt, those bloody foxes are everywhere.
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December 23, 2016 at 9:13 am |
Fox bait does a pretty good job, but dogs also then become a casualty. We lost a lovely dog to fox bait. he was dead within minutes.
I haD a gun but never saw a fox near my chickens. I bet the fox saw me though…and smiled.
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December 23, 2016 at 11:25 pm
To purchase 1080 0ne needs a special licence, has to do a course, has to advertise for a month prior to deploying baits, has to collect uneaten baits within 72 hours, etc. One still may end up only poisoning a pet! I don’t have a gun, but have only once seen a fox stand still long enough to take a shot. They are almost as wily as foxes!
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December 23, 2016 at 11:52 pm
Yes, that’s right. We had to go for a special license to get half a dozen chook heads dipped in 1080.
You then have to identify the drop-off spots with ribbons tied to the fence. I reckon the foxes got wise to those ribbons, Big M.
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December 22, 2016 at 11:35 am |
May you and yours enjoy the very best!
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December 23, 2016 at 9:14 am |
And the same to you too. Have a good one.
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December 23, 2016 at 2:22 am |
Have you considered that Milo was the killer of your chickens?
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December 23, 2016 at 9:18 am |
No, I haven’t Berlioz. Harley actually has a Jack Russel too. Both his dogs are kept inside because of barking.
We had three dogs on the farm but the foxes still struck several times.
I suppose putting a bed in the pen, then sleeping there would work, but what a price to pay.
We had chickens in Holland but no fox ever took any chickens. What kind of revenge is the Australian fox after?
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December 23, 2016 at 8:47 pm |
You forgot Knox Grammar Gerard or more appropriately Nonce. Plenty of foxes on the rugby oval I suspect. I’m surprised Alan Jones name wasn’t mentioned at the RC. He was moved on from Kings and had similar mentions at other schools. Foxes seem to be problems everywhere a friend of mine had a similar problem as your neighbor. The were imported here as were rabbits for sport. Now they are just pests
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December 23, 2016 at 10:16 pm |
Yes, Algy. With the numbers now coming forward of having suffered abuse at those exclusive schools and clubs, all have one thing in common…”rugby.”
In England it is now an epidemic. Over six hundred are now claiming to have been abused. All either at school, or while being coached and groomed in that dreadful game with the oblong ball.
All that rolling and grappling over the grass, hands go astray grabbing at more than just the ball.
What about during scrums? Have you not ever wondered about those flushed faces afterwards? That obscene gesture of the man between the goal posts.
I reckon once the game gets banned, thing will calm down.
Can you imagine the stigma attached to have been a former rugby player or coach? It is the same with religion. To walk around in priestly garb instantly brings thoughts of abuse even though the priest might well be a really good person. Credibility has gone overboard…
The world is not such a good place anymore.
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December 23, 2016 at 10:50 pm
Oh I can’t stop laughing. Gerard is to blame…..again. No doubt we all need some of his humourist ? therapy one day prior to Xmas. I have stayed well clear of Aldi and other traps. Went in to Office works early and it was blissfully pieceful. Pity they don’t sell brocili !!!
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December 24, 2016 at 1:59 am
I think the problem in England was at football (soccer) academies rather than Rugby. At Public Schools (meaning private) there buggery seem to be just part of what happened there. Stephen Fry often spoke about it as being normal. It happened to someone we both know of when they were at Public School as well.
I think any school where the boy loving cottage aficionado would be a frightening experience.
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December 24, 2016 at 2:45 am
Yes, Algy. You are right!
I just looked it up and it is soccer. I thought that like in Australia there is a confusion between the term ‘football’ as in oblong ball running and ‘football’ as in soccer with a normal ball.
It now looks rugby is not involved. I’ll have to give this some more thought and come to terms with deviant behaviour amongst soccer coaching now.
A sad day.
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December 24, 2016 at 10:06 am |
Happy Crembo to the Oosterfolk and their fans.
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