'A sucker for animals'

Press, 12 April 1978, Page 17

'A sucker for animals '

Animal characters suit Murray Ball’s satiric intentions. Like George Orwell’s classic satire “Animal Farm,” Ball sees animals as the best way to make a point while amusing people; he feels that animals do not put people’s backs up, where use of humans to make the point would. Anyway, Ball is a sucker for animals, more in the Cooch class than the hard-nosed Wal-type run of the farmer. Ball likes to take you around the farm to meet his animals, all of which have names. All meet with considerable affection — something Ball so obviously shares with his attractive, English-born wife. Nowhere more than in the character of Horse the cat. He brings in eels from the creek, says Pam, admiringly. We don’t feed him. He looks after himself. He's as muscular as a dog. “He never backs off from dogs,” says Murray. “Here, pick him up, feel the muscles. Last year he had a big abscess over one eye, but he has never stopped hunting; our indoors cat got one too, almost died. When it’s raining, Horse just lies out on the lawn in it. He’s incredible.” Indeed he is. Scratching his head feels likely to draw splinters. He is tough, like Bronson. He has a face that has seen a lot of action. The other animal of Ball farm admired for his aggro is Bertie Rooster (Pam’s pun on Bertie Wooster). Bertie

Rooster gets his own back by chasing her and the children, jumping on their backs, terrorising them. Bertie is a magnificently-mean and arrogant, black, strutting collection of superior feather boas. He is a model of the goose Wa) backs off from. He rules a roost of ducky hens. Ball found it very difficult to acquire ducky hens — he was told the duck has been bred out of them. Monstrous! Wai’s goose is in no way typical of geese, says Murray stoutly. Geese, he says lovingly, are the gentlest of creatures, with the most beautiful soft feather-bed of breast. He chases Bruce and Amanda. Punch and Judy, to prove his point, eventually cornering Bruce who accepts quietly having his breast stroked. Murray has nice words for all his animals: Rosie and Posie the cows; Polly, Flopsy and Mopsy the ewes; Toetoe the calf; Daisy Duck; the new kittens, Cherry and Apple. Poor Sheba the duck he has to apply the chop to — her damaged leg was not healing. He was putting off telling his wife. The news story that has most upset him in recent months was the slaughter of dolphins. ‘How could they? he says unhappily, looking out of the window. Lola the old white horse grazes in the next paddock. Lola, he says happily, is out to permanent pasture.