This bird cracks me up! LOL! (Credits to JD for finding him on YouTube). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bt9xBuGWgw
Kicking myself for not having a camera on hand to photograph what I saw today. Was working with a relative, we stopped for a cuppa and watched from the verandah of the house. He lives at the end of a cul-de-sac. Mother Duck led her brood of 5 from the grassed footpath onto the road. From the moment the ducklings walked on the bitumen, Mother Duck lowered her head to the ground and QUACKED really loudly at the little ones. They ran as fast as those little webbed feet could go. When they reached the grass on the opposite footpath, She took the lead again and took them towards a gully. It looked to me as if the Mother Duck was teaching the brood road safety, as if to say "You're on bitumen now, and this is a dangerous spot, so when you're walking on this, you've got to shake a tail feather and cross as fast as you can." Maybe she had lost some on the road before perhaps. Was interesting to watch. Wallflower
Paddy the ex-police horse http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news...-1225775919540 Came across this story in the August edition of the Reader's Digest at the library. Tried to search for it on the Reader's Digest website but it wouldn't come up. So I ended up googling it instead. Paddy was a large horse (Clydesdale breed) who was on the police force. The story is about how he calmly protected a group of small farm animals during a bushfire by keeping them herded together. Got a big lump in my throat while reading this in the book. I thought "How brave is this horse!" (I must be turning into a softy or something - I'll have to woman up and start putting a teaspoon of concrete on my cereal each morning). Wallflower
Dogs comforting people http://womansday.ninemsn.com.au/lifestyle/pets/8482425/dogs-react-to-sadness-try-to-comfort-humans Copycats http://womansday.ninemsn.com.au/life...onized-kittens
I'm changing subject here and relating an experience about how my cat tried to ambush me today. I was working in the garden and puss was stretched out on a tree branch a few inches above my head. It watched me for some time. Then the cat held its head totally still and straight (as if looking directly ahead) but when I looked more closely at the cat's face, I could see that the cat's eye had turned and was focused on me (like watching me out of the corner of its eye). For the next couple of minutes, I cut some shrub branches into smaller pieces, occasionally looking out of the corner of my eye, to check if puss was still watching me. It didn't move its head but the eye stayed focused. Then I saw the muscles of the cat's body tense up, relax and then tense up again ("psyching" itself up for the pounce). I took a step backwards just as puss leaped off the branch. The cat missed me and gave me this "filthy" look when it landed. It is a continual "battle of the wills" between human and animal in this household. Wallflower
Spent this afternoon at a relative's place picking fruit on her property. Was bailed up in a tree by a snake that I spotted on the ground at the base of the tree! It felt like forever but I think I was in the tree for about a minute, maybe two. I stayed ABSOLUTELY STILL. Did not move a muscle.....not one iota! And I was scared stiff that I was going to drop some fruit and frighten the snake and afraid then, that it might climb up the tree. Prayed silently to Jehovah to help me stay calm. Looked like a young snake - about 2 feet long - which worried me because then I wondered where the "Mama" snake was. It has been a while since I have felt "chicken." Wallflower
I think that life as a girl bear would have its advantages - just think - you get to gorge yourself to prepare for "hibernation", then snooze during the "hibernation" and give birth to a cub during that time. Too easy! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear#Diet_and_interspecific_interactions "Winter Dormancy" http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pag...bernation.html Wallflower
A cat that I used to have years ago, was sleeping on a bookcase. Puss was sleeping with its head right off the edge of the bookcase - no head support whatsoever. When I got home, I walked up to Puss, called out, checked for signs of breathing and then tapped Puss on the shoulder a couple of times. No response - I thought perhaps Puss might have gone "to The Big Cat Basket" (died) so was about to check the pupils of the eyes to make sure. Then Puss struggled to lift up the head, managed to get eyes open half-way and gave this drawn-out tired mmmmmmeeeeeeoooooooooowwwwwwww! I translated that as "What d'ya want?" So I said: "It's OK, just checking, thought you might have "kicked the bucket" (died)." Then Puss dropped the head and dozed off again. I don't know - maybe Puss might have gone to a party while I was out! Wallflower
Bizarre best friends http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2010/03/25/bizarre-bffs-unlikely-but-awwwsome-animal-friends-pics/
Two things I would like to know about the cat: 1) Why are they happy to sit in front of an electrical fan running at full speed and blowing gusts of air directly in their face, but don't like me blowing a puff of air in their face? (Guess the puff of air must feel sharper). 2) If I stroke their fur why do they immediately start grooming the area where I patted them, yet they are happy to go outside and roll from side to side on their back, having a great "dust bath" in the yard, and get their coat totally filthy? (Maybe that's a scent thing). Wallflower
Young boy brings Eastern Brown snake eggs into house http://www.optuszoo.com.au/tvandvideo/videos?start=255767&category=video-news&movideo_m=255767 Wow! When I was a "slip of a girl", I used to drive my parents crazy by constantly bringing home birds with broken wings and then splint up their wings with tape and ice-cream/ice-block sticks, so they would heal. I definitely can't top this kid's story. Wallflower
A group of wrens were "swooping" at my lawn mower - right in front of it and as I was using it. Have been mowing my lawn for years and never seen this kind of behaviour before. I wondered what on earth was happening!!!!! It took me a moment to realise that the wrens were not "attacking" the mower - they were catching worms that came to the surface of the lawn. The Australian weather has been harsh - these little "blighters" (the birds) must be desperate if they have to cheat death to get food - maybe there isn't enough seed to go around. They didn't seem to show fear - I was the one who was scared stiff I was going to hit one I was nervous the whole time! Wallflower
I love that I get a lot of birds in my yard after a mow or cut ..I've quit putting out the feeders for a few years because of the clean up ..but apparently we've both watched too many Hitchcock movies like "The Birds" ..suspect I might've had the same reaction ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6CsNyx5yK4 Einstein, the talking parrot. If you listen closely, Einstein misses her "cue" a couple of times which makes me think that this is a genuine recording. (From what I have seen posted on YouTube, I believe Einstein is female).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG6iF7fPzkU Stalking Cat. This made me jump at the end. (Know that the cat is coming but still wasn't ready for it).