Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Bodyguards

This is my team of bodyguards. Hans, the rooster, has been stalking me more than usual lately. He likes to sneak up behind me and attack the back of my leg with his claws (and spurs). It isn't as painful as it sounds. His claws rarely break the skin through denim. But it is somewhat unnerving; and it's his attempt to show dominance, which I don't like to encourage. I often carry a walking stick around with me to discourage him. When the guineas are around, though, he usually leaves me alone. If a guinea or two happen to be nearby when he runs up behind me, they run interference and chase him off.

This is Hans with one of his favorite ladies. He's crowing to show off. Right now he has a really pretty, long tail feather, but he doesn't always have that. When the guineas feel the need to put him in his place they chase him around the yard grabbing hold of his feathers. More than once he has lost his pretty, long tail feather as a result. This morning he hopped up on the deck where I was sitting in the sun writing in my journal. When the guineas lined up on the ramp to the duck pool, he slowly turned away from me as if he had no intentions of challenging me (no, not him) and casually hopped back down off the deck and joined this lovely hen to regain his dignity and crow. This is only one of the reasons I like having guineas.