Funnel-webs The Australian Reptile Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is located at Somersby on Sydney’s Central Coast. Last July the park’s main building caught fire, and more than 500 reptiles and amphibians perished. About 400 funnel-web spiders were also...
Guide Dog Association Guide Dog Associations are probably best known for providing Guide Dogs to people who are blind or visually impaired. What many people do not know is that in addition to breeding and training Guide Dogs, Guide Dog Associations offer a range of...
Heartworm Heartworm disease occurs when infected mosquitoes inject larvae into a dog’s bloodstream. After four to six months the larvae develop into adult worms which grow up to 26cm (10″) long, and live inside the dog’s heart and pulmonary arteries....
Within Australia there are complicated rules and regulations governing the keeping of native wildlife as pets. These vary from state to state. Recent proposals to allow the keeping of native animals as pets have sparked a fierce debate between those who support the...
Oldest Budgie in Australia A few weeks ago on Burke’s Backyard we featured celebrity gardener, Rob Guest. Don was interested in Rob’s 11 year old budgie, because he thought that maybe it was the oldest budgie in Australia. Since then we’ve...
Pat Parelli – Calming A Horse That Bucks Pat Parelli’s theory of horsemanship is based on the prey-predator concept, that is, horses evolved as prey animals and their best defence against predators trying to catch and eat them was to run. Pat explained...
Pelicans The Spectacled or Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) is a large black and white bird with a pink-yellow pouch. Courting birds develop bright red bill colourings which fade after they have paired and eggs are laid. Pelicans can be found across...
Processionary Caterpillars These hairy, grey caterpillars are the larval stage of the bag shelter moth (Ochrogaster lunifer). During the day groups of 300 or more caterpillars hide together at the base of a food plant (often a wattle or gum tree) in a nest of...
Ralph Update If you thought that there was something missing from this week’s program, you were right. Ralph, the Pug, has had an accident with one of his eyes, and he is now in the care of veterinary surgeon, Dr. Rob Zammit. We crossed to Rob during the show to...
As a schoolboy John Harris was hit right between the eyes with a cricket ball. After that he gave away his cricket career! Not only was the cricket ball a potentially lethal missile, but John was also at risk of skin cancer. He has albinism, and as a consequence, he...