[Sca-cooks] It's DUCKS ;-)

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Here are some photos of Balinese ducks - although these can't convey 
their particular walk that reminds me to a great extent of one of the 
basic movements of female Balinese dancers. And don't misunderstand 
me, Balinese dance is difficult, strenuous, and very beautiful, not 
laughable.

OK... Balinese duck photos:

A duck "shepherd" taking the ducks for a walk to eat in the sawahs
(Sawah is a wet rice field. It's not a "paddy" - that's raw rice 
growing or before being husked)
http://www.edwebproject.org/bali/gallery/pics/ubudpaddy.duckman.jpg

Ducks on the way to the next sawah
http://www.edwebproject.org/bali/gallery/pics/ubudpaddy.ducks.jpg

Ducks about to enter a sawah
http://www.edwebproject.org/bali/gallery/pics/ubud.paddyducks.jpg

The duck "herder" carries a flag. The ducks follow him from one sawah 
to another. When he plants the flag, the ducks know this is where 
they get to stay for awhile, swimming and eating critters in the 
water. In this case it's a man, but this was a task that children 
did, before compulsory schooling.

There is a wonderful and complex relationship between wet rice 
agriculture, animal husbandry, and protein sources for the human 
diet. See, there isn't just rice in the sawahs - there are fresh 
water shrimp, fish, and frogs. The ducks eat some of these but they 
especially eat things that might harm the rice. And their "poop" 
helps fertilize the rice.

The introduction of chemical pesticides destroy this... killing 
pretty much everything in the water except for the rice. While this 
may "improve" rice production, it removes important foods for humans 
and for domesticated animals like the ducks. For the most part the 
Balinese continue to use their wise old tradition, which in this case 
really works better than modern technology.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita