WEL!!!L Take a GUESS who just knocked (literally) on our door.....

[Malika]

Wish we were just round the corner, Star, and could take Olivia! I am no particular dog lover (would never be cruel, needless to say) but my son is PASSIONATE... hope you find a good and loving home for her.

[StepTo2]

Yeah, it MUST be that time... We had another cat show up at our door yesterday.

[Star*]

Well WHAT a coincidence - I have been outside with all the furkids and MISSED the call for the interview for Animal control officer - OM@(#@_....it was a deal where the man said on voice mail - you must call back between this hour and this hour for interviews this day and this day. (SLAPS HEAD SEVERAL TIMES) I had my phone plugged in charging because I have a really horrible phone - one my fourth or fifth battery and I'm SO done with ATT, not having my calls go immediatly to voice mail.

Anyway - Olivia got a bath - and scrubbed, spent the night again. And apparently the wormer worked because WOW is she full of life and vinegar! lol. Not the droopy, mellow, draggy girl she was. It's very nice to see her bouncing around and actually encouraging Casper the Great to play and he encourages her to be (((((((((MELLOW)))))))) he gets a kick out of her. Also training 101 went into effect as of last night - and well, we don't like being told what NOT to do. For the most part? She's really a good girl, but she's got just a bit of sneak in her that makes us laugh. Like.......GET OUT OF THE FLOWERS...(and she'll walk out of them) and when she thinks you're not looking - POUNCES back in them. I think she sees a salamander or skink. Then last night - she had a GRAND time with one of my coupon magazines. My fault. I left it on the floor and we went into the den to eat. DF came into the house, we'd left her with a pile of toys and what did SHE pick to play with? Yup - magazine! Shreded it like an Office Depot paper shreder. Then just sat there with torn bits of colorful ads stuck to her lip and tilting her head amongst the debris smiling.......so happy! Wagging. Obviously she's NO stranger to digging in trash, but this is a NO NO isn't it? Since we didn't see her do it? Can't correct her for it, but the bait magazine left out we sure did and OH BOY we do NOT like being corrected. lol - Actually - she pouts. Goes and does two spins, plops down, and then burys her nose. And will NOT look at you. She's amazingly funny.

I called and left a message for the job this morning explaining I missed the call, so fingers crossed the man calls me back. Now if I get the interview - what to wear? Pants, dress, skirt? UGH - I hate modern day interviewing and for jobs that I'm so not in my realm (office work wear a nice business suit) .

I called my trucking brother - Okay are you ready for this? He wants a Yorkie. I wished him the best of luck housebreaking on the road. Then just laughed that all-knowing laugh.....big man, big truck, tiny dog peeing everywhere, and not listening to anything he says - kinda hard to train those Yorks. Dooable - but he doesn't have that kind of time in a truck.

Marg - I want to get something straight because at one time I handled snakes quite frequently - you said the snakes liked blackberries? Or do you mean they liked the bushes because the rodents would go into them for the berries and they liked the rodents - I think I'm sure I read that wrong. lol.....Or maybe it's an Aussie snake thing. Goodness knows you have your share of poisonous ones. Between that and the crocks? I'm just not sure I'd even want to go out in the woods to get to a creek to have a swim. BTW what is your record lenght on a croc? I was water skiing in a small lake here when I was first married called Lake Palatka in Florida. I believe it's actually three lakes connected by undergrown caves. (not sure on that so no quotes) but it's outside of Gainesville. Anyway I got up on the ski and was enjoying being pulled around and saw this massive shadow and I mean so large I just couldn't imagine what it was - I looked up briefly for an airplane or jet .....nope. Over the next year or so there would be reports of people livng on the lake loosing large dogs. Then about a year and a half later my Dad sent me an article from the newspaper out of Cleveland Ohio that showed a Ranger barely able to straddle an alligators head that they had shot and taken out of Lake Palatka. He was one of the largest on record and I'm not sure how large he was (can't remember) but I believe he was close to a ton in weight which is why the paper had picked it up nationally. And there I was - skiing in the same lake with a dragon. I knew I had seen something that day! Just glad I didn't flop in the water. But I often think about Steve Irwin and all the great work he had done, and wonder who is doing his work now?

[HaoZi]

What to wear? Find the closest thing you own to what you'd wear on the job. You wouldn't wear a skirt, so pants, close in color to what the uniform is. Same with the shirt.

[Star*]

I think they wear black pants and a white shirt with a belt. OH and a gun!!!!!!!! I have a holster and 38.......woooooo hooooo (just kidding just kidding) I believe they get glocks. snort.

[Marguerite]

Star, in Australia the snakes (especially the redbellied black snakes) hang around blackberry bushes because it protects them from predators and also provides a haven for animals for them to eat. Whenever we went blackberry picking as kids we were advised to wear boots. Redbellies are fairly timid snakes that will get out of your way if they can. They are venomous, but I don't recall any snakebite deaths in recent decades, from redbellies. We generally see a couple every summer, our rainwater tank outside the back door tends to be a place where they like to sleep. I occasionally see one sliding past the back door, but it's never even hissed at us. I found a dead Eastern Brown snake near my vegetable patch - it got tangled in the bird netting and died. I was glad to not have met that one while alive! It probably came in hunting the redbelly. But the Eastern Brown is pretty much the worst snake in our area. You have to go a long way north to get the real nasties - the Taipan. We have lots of non-venomous snakes in our area which is a good sign - they keep the venomous ones in check.

We don't have crocs anywhere near here - only in the tropics, in waters they can get to from the sea, as a rule. The saltwater crocs are the nasty ones, they can be HUGE. And much nastier than alligators, which are placid and docile by comparison. If you go north of the Tropic of Capricorn you need to begin watching out for crocs. Not sure how big the biggest ones are - reptiles keep growing, and there has long been a moratorium on killing crocs (thanks to Steve Irwin) and so they are getting bigger and meaner up north.

The Saltwater Croc is the biggest reptile in the world. Here is a useful link - http://www.buzzle.com/articles/bigge...the-world.html
They say that salties can grow to 23 feet, but the largest one in captivity was Oscar, at 20 feet. From memory this was one of Steve Irwin's, I think we 'met' Oscar. I'm not sure, I think he was the croc that got a chunk of Wes's backside and Steve rescued him. Or it was Steve's backside and Wes rescued him...

Despite the publicity, we have very few croc attacks, only one or two a year. The danger areas are well signposted and the people who get attacked tend to be those who ignore the warning notices, or who get complacent.

The freshwater crocs, aka Johnstone's Crocodile, can grow to about 4 metres long. They have a much more delicate, narrow snout (a bit like a gharial) and their eyes are higher to the top of the head and much closer together than in a saltie. The zoo near us had about half a dozen freshies, but the keepers still will not go in there without locking the crocs away.

Steve Irwin's work is continuing - the zoo is going from strength to strength, Bindi is heir apparent with Robert also growing up to help run the zoo. Steve's mate Wes is still heavily involved, as are a lot of other people who worked with Steve. His father Bob is estranged, has 'retired' to a quiet property nearby and taken a back seat from media attention. Terri Irwin is doing a lot of Steve's work. Bindi & Robert are home-schooled and do a lot of media stuff, but not too much. Generally their appearances are reserved for fairly important environmental messages, or Bindi's TV show which is like a junior version of Crocodile Hunter.

A lot of the money they make goes to buy up wilderness to lock it away from development. They are also extending the land area around Australia Zoo, partly to extend the zoo and partly to provide wildlife corridors. Steve also built an amazing vet hospital in the zoo grounds, and this functions as a wildlife hospital servicing a very large area.

If you ever get over here, do get yourself to Australia Zoo. We didn't get there on our recent trip, we'd have had to drive for six hours to do it.

Marg

[Star*]

We have a show over here called Animal Planet that featured an Australian bloke (younger fella) that was bitten twice by an Eastern Brown in the same year. Lucky bugger - got dry bitten while riding a motorbike in the woods, and then was with a bunch of his mates in a canal and as he was going down the enbankment got nailed AGAIN - three months later! He immediately started hemmoragiing. Luckily one of the men in the group knew to tie a shirt just above the wound and call EMS. ONLY because the man was young and large, he survived. They got antivenom in him and he's supposedly doing fine. Can't remember the name of the village, but I was amazed that the school actually gave lectures on what to do for snake bites to kids.

Made me call my son because living in Florida - since all the hurricanes? Cobras and other non-native species that idiots have brought here have escaped into the Glades and other places. Having handled snakes all my life and done it around Dude? He's familiar with them and while not afraid - he is familiar with what to and not to approach. I asked him if his friend were to be bitten by a cobra or a Gaboon would he know what to do for them and I was quite surprised he said everything correct. They've had such an influx of pythons there that he sees them frequently on the roads at night warming themselves. He said they are too huge to move, and could easily eat dogs. He's called 911 about them but they won't respond at night which is redundant. These are killers. I'm glad he's not trying to tackle them on his own, or even with friends. He's seen what their teeth look like, and how badly a bite can mess someone up. They see alligators all the time and we've been chased by a gator - that garbage about running zig zag? Garbage! She was 8' long - and when she came out of the water it was like lightining - I just had enough time to sprint to my car, throw Dude up on top and we were held captive there until she felt we weren't a threat. NO thanks -

But thanks for the update on Australia Zoo and the info on Salties. There is no anti-venom for the Taipan either is there? Just wondering. Or there is but it's not effective or something? Or is that your sea snake?

[Hound dog]

Star your interview outfit sounds perfect. I don't think you want to be too dressed up for this type job as they may think you too "prissy" to do the work.

I think it is that time of year again. Last night we discovered two more cats. Of course it could be because ohio's unemployment rate jumped up again. ugh I'm in contact with the rescue lady I know, so now if puppy shows up again.......and hangs around until the boys go to sleep I can plop her in the car, call rescue lady, and drive the pup over. Much too young to be out on it's own, as well as too friendly.....so must have been put out rather recently. Makes me so mad. I can't foster it because of Betsy....that would not go over so well.

[HaoZi]

I think I'd skip the gun for the interview *snort* But if you look like you already work there, it's easier for their brain to say "This person belongs here" based on the visual cue.
I don't recall there being any law against shooting pythons and non-native boas in Florida (they're more touchy about the gators, though). Forget 911, you either call animal control or a hunter.

[Mom2oddson]

How old do you think Olivia is?