While going through the motions ....... of my daily browse ...... through the daily newspapers ..... I couldn't help but notice the ad below (in de Guardian) ...... it reads .....

___________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE HELP ME!!!
I AM ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT

My children are killed and not given the grace to become adults
We cannot defend ourselves
Hunters with Guns and Dogs are killing us
Our Food Supply is dwindling because of Land Development
Professionals and people in high office relish wild meat
Some people who are suppose (yeah it says "suppose") to protect us are not doing so and are part of the problem

ON BEHALF OF MY FRIENDS IN THE WILD THIS IS WHAT WE RECOMMEND:

1.      Hunting season to be banned for twenty (20) years
2.      A Law should be passed that anyone caught infringing the Ban should be 
           fined $50000.00 or
3.      Anyone caught selling wild meat should be fined $50000.00 or jailed for 10 years.

SAVE OUR WILDLIFE.

COURTESY: SUPERB CATERERS LIMITED, MARABELLA.





Now what really struck me ....... is the fact that ...... MANICOU ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT!!!!! ...... not the fact that:

• somebody thought it necessary to put out such an ad, or
• that the 'somebody' is a 'Caterer', or
• that the ad was actually written by a Manicou himself (maybe Mr. Manicou in de ad), or 
• that Mr. Manicou is eating from a bowl .... not from his natural habitat ..... i.e. somewhere in de bush in de forest, or
• that Mr. Manicou seemed quite comfortable ...... in his now natural habitat ...... tiled floors and all ..... clearly inside ah house or sumtin!, or
• that somebody probably 'hunted' Mr. Manicou in order to do that photo shoot, or
• that Mr. Manicou was not the least bit phased by the flash of de camera .... but den again .... he muzbe jus freeze when it went off, or
• that Manicous seem to be going through the same torment ...... us TnT humans go through daily (with their children being killed before adulthood ..... and not being able to defend ourselves ...... and people who supposed tuh protect us not doin so ...... etc. etc. etc.), or
• that they want hunting season banned for 20 years (not months eh ..... years!!!), or
• that they want anyone caught infringin de ban and sellin de wild meat to be fined $50000. (like as though anybody doin wrong in dis country does actually get "caught"!!! .... and worse again ..... fined!!!!)

So while ....... anti-whaling activists all over the world ...... are slammin Japanese whalers for their annual whale hunt ....... and some trinis who find dat dolphins too "cute" tuh kill ...... slamming trinis fuh killin dem ...... and eatin dem ....... and some other trinis tryin tuh introduce rabbit into our diets ...... here is someone trying to save de Manicou!!!!

Now I have to admit ..... ah never eat manicou ..... and I always thought of them as overgrown rats ..... but my research on them this morning proved me wrong ...... cuz the manicou or OPOSSUM as it is officially known ..... isn't part of the rodent family ...... it's an omnivorous marsupial (go look dat up) ...... so ah guess dey eh stink like rat ..... dat does rummage tru yuh garbage ..... but hear dis one ...... further research revealed that these little ugly things have 'bifurcated' sex organs ...... yep ...... split penis ...... and split vagina ....... as in .... dey branch off into two parts ...... uhhhhhhhh????????? ..... although ah could see some guys salivating at the prospect(s) ..... I doh even want tuh go any further on dis ...... you could go look dis up yuhself ..... if only tuh verify my understanding ..... but anyway ...... another interesting fact is that ...... out of 4 - 24 young that may be born ..... only about 8 - 9 survive ...... and the gestation period is about 13 days ....... also ...... when they're born they are very underdeveloped and spend about two months in their mother's pouch before they can move about ........

...... now with all that said ...... I still cannot figure out how ...... Manicou about to become extinct ..... am I living in a chicken bubble ...... do we trinis really eat that much Manicou ???? ....... and wha bout dey odda wild meat breddren ..... man like lappe ..... an' man like tattoo ...... man like 'guana ...... and big up tuh turtle ...... wuz dey stats ..... how come it eh have no ads bout dem ........ do we really relish wild meat that much ..... and manicou in particular ...... to cause it to become extinct?!?!

I've certainly been enlightened ..... and grossed out at the same time ....... and I ain't no animal rights activist ..... just an observer of the things that make us undoubtely 'trini' .......

Long live de Manicou!