I’ve been told there are breeds of dog that “need” to have jobs or they get depressed, bored, etc. Domestic fluffies are just there to look cute which isn’t the worst thing, but it seems that having a sense of purpose, a role, isn’t bad either. Feral fluffies will have those within a herd, so how to get domestics something similar? Well, small jobs and chores…
@FallenAngel007 did the first version of this that I remember seeing: a farmer worked out a deal with a feral fluffy to weed his garden, but the fluffy got to keep the pulled weeds as food for its family. Its also come up as a suggestion from different people on FC and Reddit. To be honest, there’s a couple of farming/gardening ones I want to do, as I can see even a small family farm having a lot of little jobs that can be handed off to fluffies but would mean a lot to the humans.
I kind of would want a gardening fluffy like this just to help out my mom. She’s in her 70’s and still pulls weeds in her garden. It’d be a lot better if she had a little fuzzball that simply did it for her. And, well, her roses would love the poop I’m sure.
Thank you! Its been fun trying to think of stuff. Small, simple things just to help out and be part of the family
I’ve seen a lot of fiction here where fluffies, not necessarily smarties, can learn which plants are safe to eat and which aren’t. So this isn’t too far of a stretch in my opinion.
Keeping land tidy is something fluffies actually can be well suited to. Grazing I’d imagine would be easy for them. Just have to make sure they don’t get distracted and eat what they shouldn’t.
Yep. I think a big part of teaching this to a fluffy would be not only discipline but the “two marshmallows” idea. If a fluffy can pass the equivalent of that, they’d be suited for this. I kind of see the need for semi-regular breaks so they won’t become dehydrated or work themselves too hard, but the humans ought be the same too.
They can’t really help with paddies (rice, taro, etc), but a lot of other things would be fair game. And frankly, letting fluffies loose on kudzu would be an interesting situation given how fast that grows (~1ft/day). I think that’s one instance for farmers/ag industry in the US Southern states to at least look at keeping fluffies.
I’m actually writing something like that into my revised Cleveland.
Ferals survived long enough to form megaherds because of farmers. Newly sprouted fields were fenced off and patrolled, but tall, spiny, and thick plants were opened up for smaller animals AKA Fluffies who go through like a swam of ground level locusts eating weeds, grass, slugs, crickets, and other invaders/vermin. Even driving away rats who would know not to fuck with omnivorous belligerents who outnumber them. All leaving behind god tier manure.
They cross national parks and devastate them, which opens up dialogue for private selling off of acreage or at least temporary use during fallowing. Plus in some areas they benefit the parks, clearing away flammable brush like dry leaves with their manure helping spread fungus which breaks down decaying wood.
The political and ecological benefits outweigh complains from ranchers who complain of vanishing grazing land and those who grow crops like strawberries that Fluffies could devastate, leading to elevating certain crops and just raising prices on others.
At some point I need to write out my headcanon reason for all these different takes on things (sort of a multiversal type thing). Anyhow, my take for this stretch of things is less science fiction/cautionary and more warm and fuzzy.
For example, this series does not exist in the same world as the Trap Foal. It might exist in the same world as Fluffy No Go. But both worlds exist as encapsulations of my photo + art bits (Mint, Fern, and Hot Dog).
shrugs In the meantime, I’m drawing cute stuff and am happy
Maybe it’s not only in Japan. Russia for instance have things called dachas, where people in summer come to rest, collect mushrooms (which could be another nice job for a fluffy), and grow different fruit, berries and vegetables. I am sure that fluffies could be helpful here too
And guess what is the most common sort nettle in Russia
I fell full body from my bicycle into it when I was a kid. It’s true that they are versatile, but the stinging one is so common here, that when people talk about nettle they always talk about the stinging one specifically
