Have you heard that in Australia we have spiders and snakes?
Well there is another creature you should be more afraid of: The Magpie!
The reason I am sharing this critical information is because I am in the process of creating a unique candle called “9 Pine”.
The name comes from our address, 9 Pine St, where we grew up in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia.
As kids, we had to walk the gauntlet, a mile each way either to our elementary school and later to catch the bus to get to our high school.
That meant having to pass through certain areas along the route where magpies had established their territory.
Talk about Alfred Hitchcock’s worst nightmare!!! (Remember the movie, The Birds?).
However, you need to know that there is a way to stop magpies from bombing, which you must do if they set up in your back yard because then it becomes a matter of survival.
You have to feed them raw meat, every day. They are extortionists!
Once nesting season (August to October) is over, you may choose to stop feeding them, but, it’s actually a joyful experience to have them hanging around, warbling and watching them raise their babies, who they also bring to the free restaurant.
Like true extortionists, the magpies will only honor such an agreement with the species that feeds them, not with other species.
My mother would let her chickens free range in her backyard.
She would also feed the magpies ALL the time.
The “Maggies” as we called them, stopped bombing humans but delighted in bombing the chickens whenever they came out of hiding.
Life was perilous for those poor chickens. Any time they ventured out from under the shrubs all around the perimeter of the garden, they would be head down and sprinting to the next cover. It was hilarious to watch.
Across the road from our family home was an old pine forest, the trees were absolutely huge, I want to say 100 feet but maybe they were only 75 feet.
After harrowing walks home from school being bombed by magpies, we would get our library bags (cotton bags with a drawstring) and half fill them with rocks, then sling them over our shoulders and climb those trees till we were about level with their nest.
Then it was our turn. We would hurl rocks at them in pure rage and revenge.
It sounds awful in hindsight but the fear we felt through the bombing experience lasted a while.
It wasn’t just children who were bombed either. My grandfather was ‘stabbed’ by a magpie and had a scar to prove it. And he survived two theaters of war during WWII.
I hope that after reading this, if you happen to purchase our ‘9 Pine’ candle, when you light it, it will bring a chuckle or a smile to your lips. They won’t be available until mid February, but don’t worry, we will let you know.
Just a quick one today.
Hope you are all safe and warm.
