Even in these cooler months I still get the odd snake incident to report. One guy out camping well north of Perth saw his dog digging, enjoying itself, a happy camping activity. Suddenly the dog raised its head from the excavation with a dugite snake dangling off its face, biting its nose. What followed was a frantic Google search for a vet (nearly an hour’s drive away) and a no doubt very stressful and anxious journey down to Yanchep Vets. Fortunately for Buie the dog, it turned out to be a dry bite where the snake didn’t inject any venom. But the Yanchep Vets recommended snake avoidance training with us to hopefully curb the dog’s dugite excavating hobby.

Which brings me to reminding you that yes, despite the fact it is still quite cool, snakes will be active soon as it warms up. In fact, one client from Denmark has already seen tiger snakes out and about.

Many crabs apparently die after or during the bleeding procedure, but most are then returned to the ocean. The American species, called the Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus is a large creature measuring up to 60cm long including the tail. The body is the size of a dinner plate and despite their name they are more closely related to scorpions and spiders.

Summer, Olivia and Das are three Border collies working hard to re-seed a devastated forest landscape. The whole project is conducted by local dog trainer sisters Constanza and Francisca Torres. Their simple but effective idea was to have the dogs carry backpacks that are full of holes. Simply filling the packs with native seeds and letting the dogs run free they can scatter 10kilos of seed in quite challenging landscape, running over 30 kilometres a day.

I bet they love their work; every photo is of a happy dog.

In recent years despite legal protection it is in serious decline. Various mass deaths have been reported over the years, especially after heavy rains when it is assumed toxins from mining and agricultural chemicals wash into the waters.

However, fortunately several conservation initiatives have now been launched including a local education programme to protect it. Captive breeding programmes that started at Huachipa Zoo in Lima Peru are now also around the world at Denver Zoo in the US, Prague Zoo in Czech Republic and Chester Zoo in the UK.

Let’s hope the ugly, giant baggy frog bounces back.

Reptiles are almost universally loathed, misunderstood and destroyed in equal measure. His organisations try teaching people respect for them and teach about first aid for snake bite and how to live alongside snakes safely. He has also helped to protect considerable areas of native habitat for reptiles. Chennai Snake Park in Tamil Nadu in Southern India is probably his major success both protecting and breeding vulnerable reptile species such as the fish-eating crocodile called the gharial Gavialis gangeticus.

Romulus is a filmmaker and author; amongst other achievements he has been awarded an:
Emmy in 1996 for a National Geographic documentary King Cobra
Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2008 for establishing two field research stations in southern Indian rainforests and the Andaman Islands
And in 2018 Padma Shri the fourth highest civilian award in India for services to wildlife conservation.

I hope that when our ‘viral’ world is safe and overseas travel an option to visit his snake park and maybe the Agumbe Rainforest Research Centre in the forest of the Western Ghats in southern India. I would also really love to work with and see in the wild the iconic king cobra, the world’s largest venomous snake. Occasionally Romulus’s team have king cobra workshops, so a dual dream may be meet Romulus, a king of conservation, and also a king cobra.

Long may he prosper.

and our TEAM SNAKE HANDLER KIT at a discounted price of $620 inc GST (usually $699 inc GST).

Special offer price $120 (usually $165)

(one of each hook size, regular and medium)

Only $132 (usually $165).

Also, EXTRA Lge hook – large pythons and really big snakes. $95

Once, around 10,000 years ago, they also occurred in the south west of Western Australia but climate change and hunting probably decimated these populations. Apart from the kangaroo I doubt any other Australian animal is as well-known globally as the koala bear. Not a bear at all of course, it’s closest relatives are actually the wombats.

Cute but dumb! Koala vision is poor and their brain in relation to body weight being one of the smallest of any mammal – the small brain may be an adaptation to their incredibly limited and nutritionally poor diet that yields insufficient energy to sustain a larger brain. The diet is almost exclusively eucalypt leaves, preferring about 30 of the 600 species available to them. Koalas can live in a range of habitats but prefer open woodland closer to rivers that no doubt offer cooler temperatures and access to water in times of drought.

Koalas can breed from around 3 years of age. Females mostly breed every second year, but with optimum conditions a joey every year may be produced. Only 35 days after conception the tiny bean sized joey, hairless, without ears and blind climbs towards and into the pouch. It will remain there for around 7 months growing steadily. At about the 22-week stage along with milk it is fed a specialized faecal matter called pap. Pap contains microorganisms that eventually enable the joey to feed on and digest the eucalyptus leaves on which it will then feed for the rest of its life. Lifespan varies dramatically. Males, due to fighting and wandering, have rather short lives around 2-3 years but some koalas, especially females in good habitats, can live for 10 or more years.