Where do canaries come from?

In a recent blog, “The dogs of The of Canary Island, I informed you (If you needed informing) that the Canary Islands were not named after canaries at all, but in fact the English name came from the Latin for Dogs. Thus The Canary Islands got their name from dogs and not from the Canary bird as most people erroneously believe!
Which is all very fine and interesting, but where in fact did Canaries call home, before they took wing to all parts of the world?
Well! Rather coincidentally, they do in fact come from the same part of the world, including, but not exclusively to The Canary Islands themselves. In truth the Canary is native to three major island Chains in the Atlantic Ocean off the North African Coast.
Thus according to Wikipedia, “The Canary (Serinus canaria), also called the Island Canary, Atlantic Canary or Common Canary, is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Serinus in the finch family, Fringillidae. It is native to the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira. Wild birds are mostly yellow-green, with brownish streaking on the back. The species is common in captivity and a number of colour varieties have been bred.”
Wikipedia also adds that, “This bird is the natural symbol of the Canary Islands, together with the Canary Island Date Palm.”
So although the Islands are not named after the Birds, but after dogs instead, and although dogs and not birds are on the Country’s Heraldic Shield, Canaries are still, widely acknowledged on The Canary Islands. So now you know where canaries originally came from.
Talking about canaries, are they still popular these days? They were very popular in the middle part of the last century and it seemed everyone had or wanted a “Whistler”. (The Male.)
My Mum, and two of her sisters, used to breed and sell Canaries from their Homes (And swap breeding birds between them). My wife and I also had a canary when first married, but soon moved over to Budgerigars, as they were (Much) easier to breed and rear! What about you? Did you ever have, or breed, any birds?

The Dogs of The Canary Islands.

In a recent blog, “Hagar The Horrible’s perpetration of an incorrect Myth.” I mentioned that I was disappointed at the incorrect and misleading information implies in it. And of course that misleading information, which was implied, was what most people already mistakenly believe! And that is, that the Canary Islands were named after the Canary bird.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Normally one would say that, that information was a load of Bull! But in fact, it is a load of Dogs. Yes the Canary Islands was named not after the Bird, but called this from the Latin term for the ‘Dogs*’ found there. (And yes, Islands! There is a whole chain of them there.)
The following is from Wikipedia and explains it better than I can: “The name Islas Canarias is likely derived from the Latin term Insula Canaria, meaning "Island of the Dogs", a name applied originally only to Gran Canaria. It is speculated that the so-called dogs were actually a species of Monk Seals ("sea dog*" in Latin), critically endangered and no longer present in the Canary Islands. The dense population of seals may have been the characteristic that most struck the few ancient Romans who established contact with these islands by sea.
Alternatively, it is said that the original inhabitants of the island, Guanches, used to worship dogs, mummified them and treated dogs generally as holy animals. The ancient Greeks also knew about a people, living far to the west, who are the "dog-headed ones", who worshipped dogs on an island. Some theorize that the Canary Islands dog-worship and the ancient Egyptian cult of the dog-headed god, Anubis are closely connected, but there is no explanation given as to which one was first.
The connection to dogs is retained in their depiction on the islands' coat-of-arms.”
So! We not only see that the name of the Canary Islands has absolutely nothing to do with Canaries at all. (Although some are found there too.) But we also see that a very common and popular conception is both false and wrong, because of the confusion in sounds of words of other languages and our own. Again just warning us all to make sure that what we think we hear, is what the other person actually means.
Also and equally important, we always need to be sure of our facts before we pass them on to others don’t we?
What other incorrect perceptions have crept into English through the misunderstanding of the original language in which it was named? Such as “White Rhino” for instance, which isn’t white at all!

Coati in Melbourne again.

No I didn’t say it was coat time in Melbourne again, although that said, it is very true of our weather right now. That also said, these Coati, do come complete with fur coats though! Yes, I am talking about furry animals here.
According to the Melbourne Herald Sun Newspaper on July 15th 2011, Melbourne Zoo now has some Coatis again. Although I can’t ever remember hearing of them before, the last Melbourne one died last year and now, thanks to some Danish and German imports, we now have 5 of these South American carnivore, Raccoon type critters again. And also the only Coatis in Australia too.
According to Wikipedia, “Adult coatis measure 33 to 69 cm (13 to 27 in) from head to the base of the tail, which can be as long as their bodies. Coatis are about 30 cm (12 in) tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 2 and 8 kg (4.4 and 18 lb), about the size of a large house cat. Males can become almost twice as large as females and have large, sharp canine teeth. The above measurements are for the white-nosed and South America coatis. The Cozumel Island coati is in the lower range of these measurements, and the two mountain coatis are smaller.[4]
All coatis share a slender head with an elongated, flexible, slightly upward-turned nose, small ears, dark feet, and a long, non-prehensile tail used for balance and signaling.
Ring-tailed coatis have either a light brown or black coat, with a lighter under-part and a white-ringed tail in most cases. Coatis have a long brown tail with rings on it which are anywhere from starkly defined like a raccoon's to very faint. Like raccoons and unlike ring-tailed cats and cacomistles, the rings go completely around the tail. Coatis often hold the tail erect, and it used as such to keep troops of coatis together in tall vegetation. The tip of the tail can be moved a bit on its own, as is the case with cats, but it is not prehensile as is that of the kinkajou, another procyonid.
Coatis have bear- and raccoon-like paws, and coatis, raccoons, and bears walk plantigrade (on the soles of the feet, as do humans). Coatis have nonretractable claws. Coatis also are, in common with raccoons and other procyonids (and others in the order Carnivora and rare cases amongst other mammals), double-jointed and their ankles can rotate beyond 180°; they are therefore able to descend trees head first. Other animals living in forests have acquired some or all of these properties through convergent evolution, including members of the mongoose, civet, ferret-skunk, cat, and bear families. Some of these animals walk on the toes of the front paws and soles of the back paws.
The coati snout is long and somewhat pig-like (see Suidae) and extremely flexible and can be rotated up to 60° in any direction, the former being part of the reason for its nickname the hog-nosed raccoon. The nose is used to push objects and rub parts of their body. The facial markings include white markings around the eyes and on the ears and snout.
Coatis have strong limbs to climb and dig, and have a reputation for intelligence, like their fellow procyonid, the raccoon. the rainforest canopy, in crudely-built sleeping nests. Coatis are active day and night.
They prefer to sleep or rest in elevated places and niches, like the rainforest canopy, in crudely-built sleeping nests. Coatis are active day and night.”
Well the above may not be enough to make you want to come to Melbourne immediately, but if you find yourself in the vicinity, it might be worth your trouble to check out these unusual, if not totally rare animals. I know I will next time I go to the Melbourne Zoo. What about you?

Who is the real Galah?

In my recent Blog, “Taking the bad with the Good” I mentioned that we had a problem with our plan in attracting Parrots to our Balcony and how some other birds such as the Galahs, were dominating and bossing away the birds we really wanted to keep feeding.
I also mentioned how it got so bad last year that we stopped feeding all the birds at one stage but started again recently now that the recent cooler months are here where wild food is scarce and the desired birds started revisiting again.
At first, we only started putting seed out in the late afternoon and early morning for the Parrots and Common Bronze Wing pigeons, and ignored the other birds. Well, up to the other day that is! My wife went out the back and was going down the steps to the yard, when she was given a scolding, by one of the Galahs sitting on the seed tray on the balcony, who obviously reckoned that she needed to be pulled into line if it wanted to be fed. Well my wife immediately came inside and told me. And so after laughing my head off, I told her to reward the cheeky Galah for his/her cheek; but even now still can’t work out who was the bigger galah? It or me! What say you?

Taking the Bad with the Good.

In my recent Blog, “Pardon My Parroting On,” I mentioned how we started putting some Parrot seed out to attract some local parrots into our backyard and onto our balcony. I also mentioned that it worked better than I could have dreamt it would, and soon we had not only the local parrots but other non-local parrots and rarer birds as well, including the now, not so common, Common Bronze wing Pigeon.
I did not mention the noisy miner, or the common spotted doves, but did mention the Whistling or Crested Pigeon and the pink Galahs. Well these doves, Pigeons and galahs, are now the problem with trying to attract parrots to our Place. Yes we very quickly attracted the desired parrots and a few other desired birds too, but these others soon became problems to us.
The Crested Pigeons, although not native to our area, hang out in a group of up to 20, and the spotted doves, although not normally in groups, are also numerous here and so a lot of seed goes to the wrong birds. And as well, some of the crested pigeons and especially the Galahs, are very bossy and drive away the desired birds and hog the seed for themselves.
Which then leaves us with having to decide between the expensive option of trying to keep seed up to all and sundry, just to try and attract a few desirable birds? Or to feed none and let them all go away?
Over the previous Spring and Summer, we actuality took that latter action, but now in the Winter when some of the desired birds started coming back, we started putting out parrot seed again. And again, quickly re-attracted all the birds we would rather not have! Or at least not have in such large numbers. Thus we have chosen to accept the bad to keep the Good. How would you choose to handle this or a similar situation?

A Couple of facts about Kangaroos.

In my “Living With Magpies”, Blog, I concluded with this statement: ” Well! You have heard my memories of Magpies, what are your memories of wild birds or animals that you would like to share?” To which my friend **** replied with this:
“Hi Walter, We had an experience at a caravan park in Queenscliff where we left the door of our caravan open and had Magpies come inside the van looking for a handout. They were not aggressive, but they did leave some calling cards on our carpet. They are very tame down there and will actually come and sit on your knee while you feed them. There is something very rewarding in having a wild creature show enough confidence in you to come as close as that but it can cause problems as you have said. Just last year we were away in the caravan again and we went to a place called Duross in NSW. It is a National Park and there are dozens of Kangaroos there that are also quite tame, although they gave us a couple of warnings about them when we booked in. Don't stand directly in front of them because that is confrontational to them, and don't allow them into your caravan because a Kangaroo finds it almost impossible to back up and they tend to panic and can wreck the interior of your caravan.As I said before, it is nice to be around these creatures but we must treat them as still being wild animals and enjoy them but from a distance.”
Although I grew up not far from, and went to school at a place called Kangaroo Ground, there weren’t many Kangaroos around then as the area was mostly farmland and kangaroos were actively discouraged. However as the land as slowly become Hobby farms, the kangaroos have increased and spread to the point where once there was none even seen on my parents farm in its heyday, there are often many seen there now. And no one really bothers them now. Which is not a bad idea either, for if one does attack you, you will most definitely come off worse for wear and shredded very badly with their Paws/claws.
So my friends advice about not standing in front of them makes a lot of sense, yet it would be the most natural stance for most of us to take against any animal, if you didn’t know better wouldn’t it?
So while I didn’t know it was dangerous to confront a kangaroo front on, I am grateful for that information, and truly believe it might be really handy to know for any possible future confrontations with a kangaroo. (My late mother once came suddenly upon one in her front garden, but fortunately it turned and went away.).
I also did not know that a kangaroo cannot go backwards (although thinking about it later, It does make sense, what with such a big tail to move backwards.) However there is one thing I can tell you with all surety, dumb as I may otherwise be, I would not invite a wild Kangaroo into my house let alone a caravan. (If I owned one that is!). No I know enough about kangaroos and have enough sense to know that if I found one in my house, I would open all the exit points I possibly could safely and then get as far away, and as quick as possible, and wait till it leaves on its own accord. Why? Because I do know that those things are bad news to tangle with. Many a dog has been drowned in water and humans clawed quite badly by these seemingly docile creatures.
What about you? Are there some things, if not animals, that you just might come into contact with that just won’t, or can’t back up? And you just have to treat differently to what you normally would? Or do you still try and apply the one rule fits all solution. Just something to think about before you get all clawed up over something.

Kevin Mason: 48 Years at Healesville Sanctuary.

On May 30^th, the Healesville Sanctuary, celebrated its 74^th anniversary of caring for and preserving Australian native animals. Quite a proud achievement I think, but what also impressed me, even more was that one of its employees, the above Kevin Mason, has been working there for 48 years. He started off working on a dairy farm across the road before starting at the Sanctuary (because his then Girlfriend/later wife, was working there) and started as an animal keeper. From there, he went onto be a head keeper and then on to be a Special Projects Curator, and is currently the Customer Relations Manager. Not bad for a young 68 year old is it?

Despite his humble beginnings and lack of specific qualifications, Kevin succeeded at his job and was the first Keeper to ever breed a Lyrebird in captivity. Of his humble beginnings, Kevin recently said the following “To be a keeper these days you need a degree, but it’s just paper experience. People like me have learned through fieldwork and hands-on experience. Today’s keepers learn from our experiences.”

As one who left school at the end of Year 9 (&not year 12 like most today, before even then going on to University,) I know what it is like to struggle to find work without the necessary “Piece of Paper”. Now I cannot boast quite the same successful Resume as Kevin, but I do know what it is like to learn the hard way and to succeed from the bottom up.

So if you are out there wanting to improve your position in life, but don’t have the necessary piece of Paper, that everyone seems to demand these days, don’t let that put you off if you have the desire to do something. Like Kevin, go out and start at the Bottom and work your way up to the Top, anyway you can.

Kevin got his qualifications on the job and for one employer. I worked for many employers before I found what I wanted to do and then went back to School, (even if it was a Bible College) at age 35 (With a wife and 3 Kids) and did a University Level Bachelors degree in Theology, in just three years. Admittedly the pass rate each year was not high, but it improved with every year, and I graduated from it in the minimum time, and the Degree allowed me to go and work overseas for 12 years.

So again, if you have a goal and desire, don’t let your lack of qualifications put you off, but do work on it and do what you have to do to succeed. Learn from the experiences of others who have gone before you. Start at the bottom and stick at it. If both Kevin and I can do it in different fields, just think what some one like you can do in your field, if you really put your mind to it. What say you now?

Healesville Sanctuary 74th Birthday.

Yesterday (May 30^th) was the 74^th anniversary of the opening of the Healesville (Australian native animal) Sanctuary. Now, I don’t know how many people turned up there yesterday but when it opened in 1934, just six children and three adults turned up for the opening. Now of course it gets around 350,000 visitors a year from all around the world.

Now I haven’t done the exact maths, but that is over 900 a day on average, which is quite an improvement on that first day’s humble beginnings, isn’t it? Which just goes to show what can happen when you give things ago and are prepared to work on it for the long haul isn’t it.

Now the Healesville sanctuary is famous for its work with The Platypus, but it was also the first place to breed Lyrebirds in Captivity too, so it fulfills an important role in our society.

Maybe even you can too, if you are prepared to start something new, even if from humble beginnings, but also with a noble goal in mind.

So what about it? Is there something that you know you can do and maybe even should do, but are afraid to take that first step or may even have taken that first step but have been discouraged by the initial poor reception? Well stick at it.

The Healesville Sanctuary is successful now but it hasn’t always been so, and it has often had to struggle just to survive particularly in its early years. But it has and now it flourishes, all because it persevered in its aims and goal. Perhaps you too can replicate its success if you too give it ago and hang on in there during the tough “teething” days? Who knows? What say you?

Little Black Ants

Although my usual policy is live and let live, there are exceptions to that rule. One I have just had to implement. When we moved into this place a few months back, we did notice that there were a lot of little black ants outside. Now as long as they stayed outside, we didn’t bother them. Only when they tried to come inside did we try and prevent that, but otherwise basically left them alone outside, under the theory derived from my Mum during my childhood that little ants did not bite, only the big ones did!

Well that seemed to be true too of our Little Black ants here. Well at least until recently when we discovered that they do indeed bite and are quite painful too.

Well that was the end of trying to live and let live with our little black ants, and so a regime of total eradication has begun. Whether total eradication is really possible remains to be seen, but serious attempts are being made and currently being followed up, to totally eradicate them as a present and possible future threat.

Had they not started biting, then the peace would have continued, but not so now! And I couldn’t help wondering if many of our social relationships are a bit like that? You know, everything is going along fine and people getting along even if not totally connected to one another, and then suddenly one side starts intruding on the other and one side starts fighting back, only to have the bigger (and not necessarily the party in the right) starting a total eradication programme to get rid of the one who started the fight, although often not the original problem.

What is the answer to this situation? I don’t know! I was hoping you could tell me. But something will need doing unless one side is to be completely destroyed or removed! What say you? Catch you later: Walter

Bird feeders: Good or Bad or indifferent?

I have an American friend who recently bought and set up a Bird feeder on her Patio, to feed the hungry birds nearby. It was a wonderful thing to do wouldn’t you think? Yet it wasn’t too long before she removed it completely. Why?

Here is the reason in her own words: “I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the
continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table ... everywhere. Then some of the
birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it
got low on food. After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio. Soon, the back yard was like it used to be ... quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.”

Isn’t that a great illustration of how bad habits often come into our lives? We see something pretty and attractive ‘out there’ and so we set out to encourage “it/them’ into our lives, only to find that along with the ‘Pretty” comes “the pretty nasty” too, and pretty soon the nasty and noisy take over and start to dominate our lives, building their “little nests” and leaving their excrement, anywhere and every where they please, with absolutely no regard to us.

The only way to deal with this problem is like how my friend dealt with the birds. Stop feeding them and removing their “nests’ or hold on you. Stop encouraging them, and soon they will drop away and find easier pickings elsewhere.

Sure one or two will probably hang around but you have to be careful even then not to feed them either or else you will start the whole cycle all over again. Once is more than enough as my friend with the birds has discovered. So what is your “Hungry, angry Bird”, and what do you need to do to remove its attractions. Along with not continuing to feed them, what nests do you need to remove it, and how much “poop” can/will you remove?

There comes a time when you must take personally responsibility for what you have done. Like my friend who first put out the seed, it was also she who had to stop doing it and clean up the resultant mess. What about you too? It is not enough to want to change things in your life; you also need to take positive action too. Again like my friend it will often be one step at a time and in correct order too.

It would have been pointless for her to clean up the “poop” and even remove the nests, as long as she kept feeding and encouraging them to stay, wouldn’t it? So what are you going to do about the “Noisy, Messy Birds” in your life? It really is all up to you! Walter

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Camels And Horses.

Domestic animals arrived in Australia along with the First Fleet in 1772. Later horses also arrived and later when the opening of the Interior really began to take place, Camels and their Afghan handlers were brought over here. Over the years horses began to escape and go wild and their numbers built up but nowhere as big as the number of camels. Why?

Much of Australia is arid or semi arid (read desert) country. So if you take a larger desert area, you have a larger need for camels initially. I don’t know how many Camels were let into the wild in America but I feel pretty safe in saying it was nothing near the 20,000 or so released here in the 1930’s. Camels thrived in the more extreme desert areas where horses couldn’t. Horses competed more with the settlers in the better grazing areas, thus were hunted more. Horses had more value as riding stock or later for pet food. Hence more valuable and were hunted more.

Also with the lack of people encroaching on their new domain the Camels had very little competition from humans and with no meat eating predators larger than our Dingo (Wild dog) they had few problems or competition, hence unrestricted multiplication took place, till there is now over half a million running around the Top End of Australia. (Apparently, although I got this figure from this month’s Newspaper that info is 8 years old. According to June 2007 Reader’s Digest, the number is now one million and the camel population is doubling every 8 years!)

Wild horses on the other hand, Brumbies as they are called here, never really liked the desert, nor were their numbers ever as high as camels when in the wild, as the better ones when recaptured had some value as riding stock etc.

So Camel numbers were allowed to build up unnoticed while horse numbers, whenever they threatened local farmers gracing rights etc, were simple caught or shot. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” syndrome so to speak! So horses always in sight were largely kept under control, while Camels largely kept out of sight, ballooned until now they are a large problem to Flora, Fauna and even the geography itself with overpopulation leading to erosion etc.

So are there some things in your life that you are largely ignoring on the basis of out of sight out of Mind? Are you taking care of the squeaky wheels but not checking the rest? Beware it doesn’t turn around and bite you like the camel Problem has. Walter

Rabbits& How Some Tried to Get Rid Of Them.

In earlier blogs I have mentioned how rabbits were originally introduced into Australia and quickly spread and became pests, like many other introduced plants and animals. Unlike most of the others, which I can only talk about third or forth-hand, rabbits are one pest that I have had first hand experience in dealing with.

On the small farm on the outskirts of Melbourne where I grew up, rabbits have always been a problem. Over the years many methods have been tried to control them. These have varied between Traps, dogs, ferrets, shooting and poison. Others have even tried fumigating the burrows. However here I will reminisce on the time, 3 or 4 of our neighbours and dad used
1080 Poison.

Back in the late 1950’s the rabbits were so bad in our area that some of the neighbours banded together to put out poison baits. This was a time and energy-consuming task, as a furrow was ploughed around the properties where the baits were going to be laid. Then the livestock was removed from those paddocks and some carrots purchased and chopped up by hand. These were then scattered along the ploughed furrows to encourage the rabbits to come along and get the taste for them. Then a few days later when they were eaten, the poison laced carrots were spread out. Us kids were involved with the chopping and spreading of the first lot of carrots, but were not allowed near the next lot!

A few days later after the laced carrots had been distributed and eaten, the furrow was ploughed back in. Just in case there were some poisoned carrots not eaten and also to fill in the furrow. Then came the job of going around with the tractor and trailer and picking up the dead bodies.

At this distance I can’t remember the exact amount. Somewhere between 130 and 150 I think, plus a fox and a Sparrow hawk. At the time it was considered a good result although no one was happy about the Sparrow Hawk! The fox? Well he was an added bonus.

Looking back one has to say that although it reduced the numbers, it still didn’t stop the problem and Ferreting and later shooting became favourite pastimes as well as necessary to simply control the numbers. No real effect was made on rabbit numbers until Myxomatosis took hold in the late 60’s and 70’s. But eventually even Myxo lost its toxicity and the rabbit population at home has gone back to what it used to be, especially as ferreting and shooting have long gone by the board.

Thinking about the rabbit situation at home and some of the problems in our lives I see some similar situations. If we don’t eradicate our problems early enough, eventually we will have to take severe measures like 1080 poison. This poison will do some noticeable damage to the problem area but it can also destroy some desirable things too, like the Sparrow Hawk. Also this drastic solution will not stop the problem completely and you will always have to work at the problem, like we did with ferrets, dogs & shooting. However even these methods will have to be maintained, for once they stop, the problem re-emerges once again.

So in closing I ask, “What are the “Rabbits” in your life and what steps do you need to take, to control them?” Walter

Rabbits& other Pests Indiscriminately Introduced.

Many animals and plants were indiscriminately introduced into Australia from many countries in Australia’s early history. These were introduced for many reasons. Some for economic reasons, some for agricultural reasons, some to eradicate other pests, and some for their Garden beauty. Many of these later became pests themselves and since then millions have been spent trying either to totally eradicate them or to control them.

Having learnt from our early mistakes, Australia now has some of, if not, the toughest import regulations of plants and animals into this country, in the World.

So much so, that some now want to lessen some of these rules and allow more imports of certain fruits, plants and animals. It seems that our rules have gone from one extreme to the other. From full blown open slather, to next to nothing at all. But these rules are there to try and protect us from future problems, even if we do chafe a little at them.

How often do we see this in daily life? How often do we older ones look at things now either illegal on unhealthy to do, that we all used to do openly and legally, even if somewhat stupidly, in our youth. Cigarettes, alcohol, even Junk food are all increasingly coming under the spotlight as a major cause of preventable health problems.

On the other hand things that we never had, like Seat belts, riding bikes with crash helmets etc, are now being recognized as literally lifesavers. But what do we do if we don’t like seat belts and safety helmets and we do like cigarettes and alcohol and other things that are not only dangerous to our own health but to the health and safety of others. “ Will a little of these things really harm us? After all, they won’t really become a problem because we will control them!” These and similar statements are often made but are they really true?

Remember just 24 rabbits were introduced into Australia in 1859; now the number is both uncountable and unstoppable and the damage to the economy, not to mention the environment is uncountable and getting worse.

Therefore we do need to be careful of the things (whether things or habits) that we introduce to others so that they (and even us) are not destroyed, either literally or metaphorically, by them. After all who would really like their name to go down in infamy like one Mr Thomas Austin, who was the unfortunate man who just wanted to have a bit of fun hunting rabbits, like he did in the “Old country”.

So what dangers or habits (smoking, binge drinking, drugs, you name it here,) are you introducing to others initially for a bit of fun? Fun that could ultimately destroy them and your good name, if not your actual physical self? I will let you ponder that for now. Walter

Rabbits At Large.

Way back in 1859, a Mr Austin imported and released onto his property near Geelong, 24 Rabbits for hunting purposes. In less than 10 years, rabbits were in plague proportions across the Eastern States of Australia. By 1894 they had even made their way across the desert country to Western Australia.

All Mr Austin had wanted, was to recreate a little of his home Country entertainment for himself and his friends. Which initially he did, but bye and bye, this fun became a pest, and then an economic threat to the country as a whole and particularly to the farming community, as these rabbits competed with domestic animals for ever decreasing grass and fodder and devoured whole fields of crops and vegetables.

What about us? Are their some things in our lives, whether it be cigarettes, alcohol or even drugs, that started out as a bit of fun for ourselves and maybe a few friends but now this recreation, has become a pest or even a destructive influence on our lives, our families, our homes and even to others around us, both to those known by us and those unknown by us.

I will discuss this further in other articles but for now I would just like you to think on and identify those things in your life that started out as a bit of harmless fun and have now taken, or are in the process of taking over your life completely.

The first step in dealing with any problem, big or small, is properly identifying and admitting to the problem. Until this is done nothing can be done to help solve or control the problem. Do you have a problem that you have been reluctant to admit to, but know you need to? Well make a start by identifying and acknowledging that it is a problem and that it is your problem and then seek the appropriate help and assistance. Over to you: Walter

Human Camels.

My Octogenarian American friend has again given me another insight into the connection between Humans and the animal kingdom. Again I enclose it, but this time with a comment at the end: Walter.

“Well, you sure do know how to make me do research. I just went through a bunch of stuff on the web and the most interesting thing I found, I think, was that in prehistoric times, camels were on every continent in the world EXCEPT Australia. They were imported to you between 1860 and 1907. And by the 1920's motorized vehicles took their place for transportation, so they were released. That's why you have so many wild ones. Then I read on to find out more. As usual, with my interest in people, I began to liken the camel to people.

1. They work hard unless they take a notion to balk and ignore the commands

2. Their hump is a lump of fat (I have those below my waist)

3. They need people

4. After a baby is born, it likes to be with the mother for a period of time

5. They have calluses

6. They have curly eyelashes (I failed on this one, mine are straight)

7. They have trouble when the sun is too bright, they squint their eyes

8. They groan when they get up off the ground on to their feet (I understand this one)

9. They kick

10. They hear well, but pay no attention sometimes

11. They spit

12. They have a big mouth

13. When food is scarce, they eat anything

14. Strong legs

Well, that's my research. Camels are interesting. I would love to ride one sometime. My friend rode one in Egypt, but I'll never get that far I don't think. I agree about making judgments of people who have different opinions, etc. Reminds me of the story about the blind men who discussed their opinion of the elephant they touched.”

I (Walter) have briefly ridden a Camel, for about 5 minutes, doubled up with my brother, in a ride in the Outback, sometime back in the 1960’s. Not the most comfortable ride I have ever had, but fun none the less. But like a lot of things, fun when it is done for fun, but not fun when you have to do it all the time I would imagine!

Back to the description of camels above, which, if any can you relate too? I kind of relate to Numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, and have been accused every now and then of number 12.

How do you rate yourself and are you happy with that realization? Or like me do you realize that there are still a few areas of your life you still need to work on? Over to you:

More On Camels.

I received a letter from America saying, “We see very few camels here. Once in a while out in the country, there will be one or two, but they belong to the people who live there and have bought them. They are not wild. We never see one just loose out in the field with no owner.” Obviously they just don’t have wild Camels over there, like we do here in Oz. A fact that I found interesting, as I know that in America’s early history, they too used Camels for transport and exploration in the desert areas and that they too were released into the wild when no longer needed. So at first you would think that they would have spread there too, but they didn’t. Why?

Different conditions that’s why! It is surprising to many, but if you overlay a scale model of the map of Australia over the map of America (without Alaska) and turn it sideways, you will be surprised to find that there is not that much difference in size really. Yet America has something near 300 million people and we have just a little over 20 million. (22 or 23, I think?)

Also although of similar size on paper, much of Australia is arid or semi arid (read desert) country. So if you take a larger desert area, you have a larger need for camels initially. I don’t know how many were let into the wild in America but I feel pretty safe in saying it was nothing near the 20,000 released here in the 1930’s. Also with the lack of people encroaching on their new domain, the Camels had very little competition from humans and with no meat eating predators larger than our Dingo (Wild dog) they had few problems or competition, hence unrestricted multiplication took place, till there is now over half a million running around the Top End of Australia. (Apparently, although I got this figure from this month’s Newspaper that info is 8 years old. According to June 20007 Reader’s Digest, the number is now one million and the camel population is doubling every 8 years!)

I don’t know how it appears to you, but the above illustration helps me to see how it seems that some people seem to handle things better than me although on the surface everything seems similar to what I am experiencing. It is not that they are per se’ better (or worse) than me! More that their circumstances are different although similar looking or sounding.

That is why we should always be careful of making judgements on how others seem to be handling things without close inspection of all the facts, from all angels. How see it you? Walter

More on Moles.

One of the reasons I write my blogs is to share what challenges or encourages me, with others. The spin off from that, is the encouragement and further challenges I get in return from the replies (when there are some). Some of these replies end up in further blogs and so on. Such is today, when I share the response to my blog on Moles and molehills. Only this time I am going to include it with no added comment or sweetener. Can any one else add to these descriptions of moles? Walter

“Walter: Yes, we do have moles. Question...are they like people?

1. Moles have no external ears.

I know people who have external ears, but don't listen.

2. Moles have a snout that is constantly rooting around.

I know people who put their snout into other's business a lot.

3. Moles tunnel around just below the soil surface.

I know people who stay in the shallow mode a lot.

 4. Moles eat half their weight in food each day.

I know people who look like they do the same.”

Moles and Molehills.

I don’t know if they have moles where you are but we don’t here in Australia. Although we have all heard of Moles and molehills, we had to go to South Africa to experience them first hand.

They are very shy critters and it is almost impossible to see them at all. The first time I saw one was in one place where we were staying and when I saw the earth move at the mouth of a molehill. So I started to dig after him. After about a yard (Metre) I came to a confluence of tunnels running off the one I was following. At this point I gave up but a local Xhosa guy who was doing some gardening work for us took up the chase. After a little pondering and listening he selected a tunnel and started digging and shortly after he caught the little fellow and we put it in a plastic washbasin to inspect. A little like a rat in appearance but shorter.

At that point not quite knowing what to do with it a neighbour’s boy came along and wanted to take it home. We were quite happy for him to do so, but I never did hear what his mum had to say about it!

The only other mole we saw was a dead one that the dogs caught. Even there they were always digging at the holes but that was the only one that we ever knew they caught.

Although we basically never saw a mole, we were always filling in and levelling off their handiwork.

One day I went out to my carrot patch and what was a healthy carrot top the day before was dried and shrivelled. When I touched it to examine it more closely it came up in my hand. The/a mole had eaten the root from below and just left the top in the hole!

We tried all the local methods of trying to chase them away. Filling the holes up with dirt, filling the holes up with water, Poking sharp steel rods in the ground, planting specific bulbs/tubers that they are not supposed to like (It was after I shoved one of these down a molehill that the dogs caught one and I always gave the tuber the credit rather than the dogs.) We also tried poison tablets down the holes too, but basically it was a losing battle. The best we could achieve was keeping them to the edges of the yard, as if no one else controlled theirs, than you always had a fresh batch ready to move it.

Again this is a bit like the problems and bad habits in our lives isn’t it. We can try all kinds of methods, but once they have a hold it is hard to get rid of them. Like a lot of our bad habits others might never actually see them but they will see and be troubled by the results, just like the problems of molehills all over the place. Likewise if you hang out with people who do not control theirs, it won’t be long before you will have them too.

So how do you live with molehills? You do your best to clean them all up, so that you only have to deal with the new holes. Then you do what you can to either eradicate or drive away the moles. This might involve a whole series of different methods from Dogs and cats, to poisonous tubers, to filling their holes with water or whatever. Then you just need to keep an eye on the follow up and re-act to every new hole and don’t let them get a foothold again.

What I said about moles I also think is appropriate to our bad habits. We have to have a major clean up effort, so that we can concentrate on the new outbreaks and not waste our time on empty holes. This clean up may involve many methods and even some outside help and/or advice. Then when we have achieved an acceptable result, we then have to maintain adequate follow up and not allow a fresh invasion or outbreak to take hold. What say you other Mole hunters out there? Walter

Camels. Past their use by Date?

Another “Pop Quiz” for you. Which country in the world has the largest population of wild camels? I will give you a little clue. The answer starts with an “ A”.

Camels and in many cases their Afghan Handlers, were imported into Australia in the early years of “ White Settlement”. These camels were used by early explorers and settlers as “ships of the desert”, particularly in central Australia before rail and modern motor transport made them inefficient, too slow, and therefore redundant, by the early 1930’s.

That they played an important role in Australia’s early history is revealed in that when they were seen to be no longer wanted in the 1930’s, some 20,000 of them were abandoned in central Australia and allowed to run free. Quite a large number hey, for an originally imported animal?

When no longer needed, they were released into the wild. Now this may sound like a noble act of animal liberation, but in hindsight it just released another pest animal into the wild.

When controlled, these animals had a valid use and were kept under control but when they were no longer needed or valued, they were released into the wild to fend for themselves. Which they did very, very well and now some 70’s years later they are a pest and have multiplied to be over half a million strong and literally roaming anywhere they please in central Australia. Apparently ordinary fences mean nothing to them and they easily push their way through them, destroying the fences, and often in more than one place, along the way.

Now the camel has long been regarded as a pest and various methods have been used in attempts to control their numbers, including shooting them. More recently attempts to use their meat for pet food and even export to Asian and Middle Eastern countries have been contemplated. Also for some time now, some camels have been exported to the Middle East, particularly to be used for Camel racing. Of course some have been used in Circuses, Zoos, and for Camel treks, etc, but largely, they continue to be undesired and unvalued, and unwanted.

Now although some methods are being used to control their numbers and also to make it profitable at the same time, little has so far been achieved in reducing their huge numbers. Thus because of previous indifference, the number is now so large that all attempts thus far, have done little to reduce the overall number and the environmental impact that these animals, once desired but now pests, cause across most of the middle and Top End of Australia.

Enough about Camels, what about us? Are we now no longer needed for what we were originally intended for, and have largely been left to fend for ourselves? If so what have we done about it? Have we allowed ourselves to go truly wild and now are regarded as both destructive and undesirable, and now all people want, is to see the end of us?

Is that truly our end or can we find a niche place in the market, whether as Racing or Trek camels or as ordinary “ working stiffs” in a circus or such.

In other words are we earning our place in society and worthy of our places? Or are we just nuisances? Over to you: Walter

Stupid Dog.

Took the “Boys” up to my mum’s and let them go for an unrestrained walk around the edge of the 40 Acres there. As we went around the property, we passed within a hundred metres or so from neighbours barking dogs, some sheep, some goats, all outside Mum’s property, and a horse on the property. On each occasion the two dogs showed a little interest in running after them but a word or two from me and they quickly lost inters in these diversions and stayed by me, although when we went near the horse, George just about jumped into my arms out of fear of this “big white horse”. Thus while Charlie was ranging far and wide, George was hanging real close to me when a little further on, we came across a mob of about 40 kangaroos in the same paddock.

Well, half went one way and the other half, the other, which bought them close to Charlie, who immediately set off after them and chased them for over 300 metres up and over the hill, before I lost sight of him. With me running after him and calling, well trying to call him back, which he finally did so! Much to my relief!

He probably will never know this, but it was (and is) a stupid thing for him to do. Not that he would ever catch one in the open, but if he cornered one and it turned on him, like some have done with much bigger dogs, it would make Mincemeat (almost literally) of him. Kangaroos might look harmless but when cornered or stirred up, can be quite aggressive and their claws have been known to rip man and beast, and especially dogs, to pieces very quickly indeed.

What about us? Are we not at times, equally stupid? Do we not sometimes, do something similar, and let ourselves get drawn away from our points of safety and start chasing after dangerous things? Things, that if we are not careful, and if someone more responsible doesn’t stop us, will cause us great harm.

So, sometimes at least, it does pay to listen to those who do know better than us. It is far better to learn some things from the experiences of others, rather than from our own experiences, especially if we have to literally pay with our own blood. What say you? Walter