[Mirkwood]

Nice bird.....how much did this one cost?

Bargain this one. They normally sell for over 3000 baht but we buy a lot of birds from this dealer so did a deal.
We have a large big money owl on order with her so she let us have the Brown owl for 1500 baht.
The avary was coming on well but the Thai bloke hasn't turned up for a week. Should be finished soon.

Mirky
What's the mortality rate been over the last 2 weeks or so?

Anything that comes from Chatuchak is on the danger list as soon as you see it. Most of the birds are wild. Take my Brown owl for example. One minute he's sitting in a tree in Malaysia with his mates. Next thing they are all in a net then on their way to Chauchak. I've heard for every bird makes it there 5 die.

Punter sees a nice bird and buys it,gets it home and the thing doesn't eat or drink because it's in shock. Same as when you take a bird indoors that your cat half killed.

We are good with birds now. We take them straight to my mate at the Hawk school where he checks them out. When they come home we put them in an owl box with the right food. With the other owls about they seem to feel at home straight away. It's nice to see. Already the Barn owl wants to sit beside the new one. We have old trees etc they sit on.

Dogs.

The dog thing is horrific. If you live in a posh falang area with no soi dogs then your puppy may live. Well, that's if it didn't have Parvo or Distemper when you bought it from Chatuchak. I reckon 90% of the puppies there have one of those diseases when you get them. They are so contagious. Say a puppy has Parvo. Every other dog in the box will get it 100%. Next somebody comes along and strokes the puppy and lets it lick their hand. Then he goes next door and lets the next puppy do the same. You get the picture.

All the stray soi dogs have wonderful immune systems. They must have or they would die. You bring your puppy home and the strays pee and come up to your gate. The first time your little dog runs outside (and it's nearly impossible keeping a puppy inside) it will get some virus. 100% sure.

If a non Thai dog makes it past 6 months I'd say it's just super good luck. If a stray walks up your road you can get Parvo on your shoes or car tires.

The two Thai dogs we have can shrug these diseases off. The Bangkeaw is about the best dog you can get in LOS. Being part Jackal makes them strong against illness.

I worry for Ninja my Akita to be honest. He keeps getting sick. Pedigree falang dogs just can't hack it here. They get bred in unatural conditions. As soon as they go out or sniff another dog they get sick. Ninja was sniffing some dog shit in the road last week. Result? Vets.

I had to laugh yesterday. Pitbulls are the new thing at Chatuchak.
Trust me. The Thai version is a fucking nightmare. Look like they have been bred to star in the Omen.
They look really junk yard dog style and have the tiger stripes. Evil looking bastards.

I can't face getting one of them before you ask.