A good dog is the best friend you could ever have but a bad dog can be a real disaster. The bad dog destroys your garden, barks all night, jumps up on guests and never does what it is told. Sadly, many dog training techniques leave a lot to be desired, yet all...
Have you ever felt that shiver crawl up your back after you pull off your sock and there IT is – thick, black, shiny and fattened on your blood? The next repulsive thought is how to get it off. Leeches didn’t always suffer from such a poor image – in...
If you are still coming to terms with the concept that monkeys are our ancestors, then you will be surprised to see a lungfish in the family tree. The lungfish occupies a unique place in evolution, some experts believing it to be a link between the fishes and the land...
Newcastle disease was first reported in poultry in Java in 1926 and later spread to Newcastle in England where it was first named. Warning Vet authorities and the NSW Department of Agriculture have urged bird enthusiasts to cancel all bird and poultry shows, pigeon...
Pat Parelli is an American horseman with a philosophy of natural horsemanship which has won admiration worldwide. His theory is based on the prey-predator concept. Pat Parelli says horses evolved as prey animals, that is they were animals which were hunted then eaten...
Owning a handraised bird can be a rewarding experience. Handraising birds yourself can be easier than raising kids because the whole process usually only lasts about six to ten weeks and then the birds are reasonably independent. There is a new book available called A...
Regent Honeyeaters (Xanthomyza phrygia) were once seen as yellow and black flocks of over a hundred birds about 200 years ago from southeast Queensland to Central Victoria. However, today they are on the edge of extinction with an estimated population between 1000 and...
In case you’ve ever wondered why dogs get up in the middle of the night and bark it is because, unlike humans, dogs and other animals do not have a day-night rhythm. Humans have a prolonged sleep of about eight hours each night but dogs have a number of naps...
Compared with many animals the sex life of the humble spider can seem bizarre to say the least. Before looking for a mate the male spider needs to prepare himself for the deed. First he builds a specialised sperm web used to catch a droplet of sperm which is then...
In 1990 a striped sheep was featured on ‘Burke’s Backyard’ that was black with white stripes. She was a one-off mutant (born in 1982) in the Canberra region. Don Burke conducted genetic research into the mechanism involved and the information and...