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CIDERMONSTER
Continuing this site’s monitoring of strange beast invasions, cider magnate Rich Stadnik emails:
These are of a porcupine that’s been roaming my orchard these last few days. Photos were taken by me on Oct. 10, 2007. The face:
A body shot:
They’re vulnerable only at their face and underbelly. They rest by lying upright, with their head against a tree:
The more I learn about these guys, the more I enjoy them. This particular fellow has become a regular diner of the apple pomace produced by the cider operation.
Our spiny friend needs a name.
UPDATE. In other critter news, behold the seven unannounced roosters.
Withy teeth like that Id call him Chad.
For those not used to the genius that is Chad heres a sample.
Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2007 10 13 at 09:59 AM • permalinkOn Thursday night, walking home from The Junction past the local primary school (where we nearly drowned in the June 8 flood) we met a possum.
This is the first possum we’ve ever seen in our suburb in 35 years. We have birds and bats and such, but this was the first possum we’ve met face to face on the local footpath.
It followed us home, and we fed it some of the cats’ food (we have 2 of those). The poss seems now to have taken up residence in part of the garden, so I suppose we have a new pet.
All animals are nice.
I vote for Tim Dunlop, a smiling big toothed prick.
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 10:43 AM • permalinkWe have Kitty with three legs and another cat with no name. I think the possum will be named “poss” because it has settled in at a corner of the garden. He has very sharp nails and the vet 2 doors down won’t do his genitals or clip his claws because indigenous critters are protected.
Thus, we can’t let him into the house even though he’s a beautiful animal. The cats have a nice indoor spot for sleeping, but poor poss must stay outside.
Mind you, we’ve shot 14 myna birds since sunday. These are the good things about wildlife.
My seven unannounced roosters on the lawn from late September are still seven, disproving the cat menace hypothesis. Even hawks seem to be leaving them alone.
My theory is protective feathers.
My poultry dog is protecting them from wolves.
#19 Our two, a Jack Russel and a Silky Terrier, had a 4’ Goanna bailed up against the fence recently. I had to drag them away before one of them becam a casualty.
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 10:47 AM • permalinkAsh, I had a peek into his site today ref the Gore thing. It was a bit like reading an English newspaper after last Saturday night (oh the pain!). I knew that it was a travesty and the right and natural order of things had been overturned,but at the same time there was a complete sense of helplesness at knowing there was SFA to be done now that the whistle had blown and a result declared.
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 10:56 AM • permalink#16 Pogria, a little bit of trivia…
Way back in about 1979, a little known band called The Farriss Brothers had a residency gig in shop-front sized restaurant called the Newport Wine Bar, at Newport on Sydney’s Barrenjoey peninsular.
The place was so tiny you had to shove your way past Michael Hutchence and the rest of the band - whether they were playing or not - just to get to the bar! To comply with the licensing requirements there were no spirits or draught beer, so the alternative was wine by the bottle or glass - and cider on tap!
Real Strongbow cider, the kind you’re talking about!
MareeS, I’m not sure if you caught my response n the other thread. The gist of what I was saying is that I’m all for a revisit of the awards given for Long tan and indeed for OP Bribie (I spent some time in an infantry battalion co-located with 6 RAR, so I’m fairly familiar with them). The thrust of my argument was that the ALP were pushing for the South Vietnamese Citation, a very difficult thing to have approved 32 years after the fall of Saigon. In no way was I attempting to imply that anyone wasn’t entitled to additional recognition for service in Vietnam, in fact, it’s quite the contrary. I’d love to see one or maybe more VCs issued for that campaign, outside the training team.
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 11:32 AM • permalinkThose little Porkies can do a number on apple trees. If we get them in our orchard they eat all of the bark off the trunk until the tree dies. Not to mention what they do to unsuspecting dogs. Pulling barbs out of a dogs face at 2 in the morning is not fun. We have a name for all of them…..Buckshot!
Posted by Old Tanker on 2007 10 13 at 11:33 AM • permalinkOld Tanker, how hard can you hit in Hockey?
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 11:54 AM • permalinkRichard, if they hit that hard in hockey, the NHL would need to permanently station a meat wagon at the ice rink!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 10 13 at 12:01 PM • permalink#28 richard,
Bribie needs to be the next after Long Tan where medals must be awarded.
It won’t happen though. If they do it with Long Tan there are many more situations in Vietnam through 1RAR, 5RAR, 6RAR, 2RAR, 7RAR and 9RAR where men should have been awarded medals but haven’t been.
Many brave soldiers have been dudded.
#33 Go to the 1 min 45 mark in that clip and you’ll see what is referred to in rugby circles as “aggressive use of the shoe”.
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 12:10 PM • permalink#35 I’d include 8 RAR in that list. They were awarded the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm for Operation Hammersley. Only they and the training team have that citation.
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 12:13 PM • permalink#29 A few old bones might keep them away from your trees—porkies need to chew and calcium is how they renew their spines. This is why you don’t see any skeletons of wild animals lying about the forest—the porcupines have gnawed them all to nothing.
#26 the proper way to deal with a possum who wants removal is with broom and shovel. Whack it with the broom until it rolls up in a ball, then pick it up with the shovel to carry it elsewhere. You haven’t hurt it, but it won’t stir for quite a while.
Posted by Harry Bergeron on 2007 10 13 at 12:24 PM • permalinkRichard, were you in Hammersley? Mike was in Bribie in 6. Why aren’t you guys from 8 going gangbusters for the gongs you deserve?
The war got worse in 1969-70. At least when Mike was there a reasonable number of Australians thought it was OK. Later when you seem to have been there Australians were behaving like pigs to anyone in a uniform.
Just my few thoughts.
Anyway, I married a vet and I’ve stuck with him since 1972. Many battles have been fought and won.
MareeS, No I was not in the battalion then. I was in 8/9 RAR some 23 years later, but we were very proud of the citation the unit had and were expected to know something about it. As a nation we seem to be returning to the mindset later in the war. If you were unfortunate enough to read the comments posted on the news.com.au forum following the death of TPR Pearce, you’d have seen that same misguided hate toward servicemen that haunted so many Vietnam Veterans. The wheel turns and we find ourselves back in that same environment where it is dangerous to wear a slouch hat on the street in our own country. It’s very sad that people want to make political mileage out of diggers for all the wrong reasons. That’s why I thought it was such a good idea that the Government revisit the awards for the battles in Vietnam, and why I thought the response from the ALP was so stereotypically shallow. The lads from D Coy 6 RAR do deserve better recognition, as do other soldiers who fought in other battles. It just highlights the token effort the ALP make in that regard that they would blithely suggest that D Coy should be awarded a citation that is in no possible way achievable. It really highlights how thoughtless most of their policy decisions are. They pander to a popular sound byte solution when closer examination reveals the inherent falsehoods behind the assumptions made on the fly. That’s no way to run a country, or a defence force, or a vet affairs program.
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 01:17 PM • permalinkMy wife was a medic and is now mother to our seven week old son. She’s out now, but it’s handy having someone who knows what it’s all about and is willing to put up with all of the demands that come as part of the package. It must have been a challenge over the years being the support for someone who saw the sort of things that Mike did. I admire you for it. I hope that the current generation of Australian soldiers who have served Queen and Country aren’t subjected to the same sorts of hardships that our predecessors did.
Posted by Richard Sharpe on 2007 10 13 at 01:48 PM • permalinkAs was noted by my friends The_Real_JeffS, KK, Pogria and ErnieG, that’s a “Norman” if there ever was one.
=^D
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 10 13 at 02:37 PM • permalinkOr, in the words of a Green ABC presenter:
“Awww, what a cuddly-wuddly widdle—OW! SHIT! OWWWWW!”
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 10 13 at 02:49 PM • permalinkThey rest by lying upright, with their head against a tree:
Weird. So do I.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2007 10 13 at 05:45 PM • permalinkHere’s another strange beast invasion for you.
Now that the humidity has gone up our several green tree-abandoning frogs have returned to their Wet season window residences.
This is one of the wardrobe window frogs. There are dunny window frogs and bathroom window frogs as well. But since they all look the same I thought I’d show you just one.
Richard Sharpe—my dinner companion and fellow veteran Deborah asked me to drop in and thank you and your family for your service.
ditto Real JeffS, Habib and Major John.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 10 13 at 08:36 PM • permalinkHow about P.A.C.O?
Porcupine’s Awesomely Cute Overbite? I tried to use ‘omnivorous’ but they’re not. After reading #50, I came up with
PLEASE! AAAHH! CEASE! OWWW!!!
That’s not any better. Where’s Lyle when I need him…
Sorry, it’s been a long day, after a long week & ‘Spiny’ was my first choice, too…
Also, as a good USNavy Wife (retired), I thank all of you who served (or are serving) to protect my sorry butt & The Free World. You are gifts beyond measure.
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