Domestic Animals

Added 06/03/11
We have two alpaca's at our place to keep the grass in check and we are learning about them and vice versa.

 

                They  are called the "Chocolate Boys" Tim Tam and Kit Kat.

There have been a few pets over the years. Donkeys, horses, chooks, geese, sheep, goats, cats and dogs. The dogs are our very special friends and here is a picture of the four living with us at the moment.

Minnie, Moose, Max, Holly

 

They are getting old like us, and it seems sad that one day they won't be there.

01/03/11..Today Holly died and below are some facebook comments.

Sweet Oliebol, we will miss you.

RIP Holly

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    Vanessa George Oh no, what happened? Sorry to hear that, our thoughts are with you and Frits, she was an awesome dog xxxx
    

    
    
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    Angus Maassen Oma I'm so sorry she was 1 of my favorite dogs that you had I loved her I loved when you say wheres ya ball fast and she'd go and find it and want to play Love From Angus.
    

    
    
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    Royce Maassen How old was she Mum? Did you get her put down? Hopefully it was in her sleep. R.I.P Holkus Polkus.
    

    
    
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    Elvira Donnelly Holly Bolly, we will always remember you... with a ball in your mouth and a glint in your eye...What a gentle giant she was... :(
    

    
    
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    Mia Truong ‎:O Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
    Holly boll. R.I.P
    

    
    
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    Danielle Maassen I cry to read your comments and love it that you loved her too.
    She just got old whilst we weren't looking and died today at home. We had her for13 years and she was an amazing sweet gentle companion.
    

    
    
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    Mia Truong ‎:'( Poor Holly.
    

    
    
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    Giselle Maassen OMG no! I thought she'd just keep going, I mean look at Mr Moose! I feel soooo sad but take comfort in that she died at home, where she was happiest. Are the other dogs mourning her?
    

    
    
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    Lois Aders Oh, Danielle, so sorry to hear that you lost Holly. It just hurts, doesn't it.
    

    
    
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    Danielle Maassen Giselle, I think the small dogs knew when we were fussing over Holly the last couple of days. They were really quiet on the day when Holly couldn't get up any more and they didn't even bother with the 'lets go!' barking but now they are themselves again
     Rex Maassen Sorry Oma she was my favorite dog I loved when you throw the ball and when dad told me how she died that upset me the most.
    
     Ut Van Truong oh, that`s soooooooooooo sad Danielle, ohh Holly.
    
    Another dog has died. Mr Moose had been with us since 1996. He was such a dapper little fellow and much loved by everyone. Just as well, as he often killed our chooks with his terrier enthusiasm. He came camping with us April 2011 and enjoyed his last days there. He died in his sleep which was a shock but not surprising due to his age and ailments. A good way to go, as they say. 
    
    
    

    

                                       He loved children

    
    
    

    

                       Resting place, The Pines, Mansfield

    
    

    
    We still have a couple of hens. They make really good pets and the eggs are a bonus I never buy shop eggs because they just don't come up to scratch. We have to make sure that we lock the hens up at night because otherwise the fox will have them. It is such a pleasure to see a hen enjoying her environment.
    
    

Amphibians

Frogs live at our place and I Iove hearing their chorus. It means there is moisture around and the ones living in the pot plants on the verandah benefit from a spray of the hose. I'm sure I once heard a form of communication between these verandah frogs and our rooster. Every time the rooster crowed, the frog followed suit and would reply with his croak. I've identified these frogs as Litoria ewingi. They are a small brown tree frog.

Another frog I found I think looks like the Pobblebonk or Eastern Banjo Frog and I show a picture below.

                     Eastern Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes dumerilli)


A link for both species can be found here 
Another good website to visit is here  because you can hear the various frog calls and add to a Melbourne census.

Reptiles

We have a few Blue Tongue lizards in the garden and many skinks and sometimes even a visiting snake but generally the dogs seem to keep these away. They are used to the lizards and I won't let them harass them. The lizards need the sun's warmth to get going and I manage to take their photo when the  weather is cool and they are lethargic. I put a snail near a blue tongue lizard the other day and its tongue came out to test the air, then crunch, the snail was downed with relish. Great pest control! I love seeing the lizards come out from hibernation because it means that summer is on its way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-tongued_skink

Reptiles which visit us infrequently are snakes. The dogs usually alert us and below I show a photo of a Lowland Copperhead snake.

 

For more information see below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowland_Copperhead

http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/BHAN-54E8A8?open 

Residents

There are many visiting birds to our garden and also quite a few residents. I consider them residents when they build nests here and raise their young.
Sparrows, Blackbirds, Swallows, Grey Shrike Thrushes, New Holland Honey Eaters, Magpies, Willy Wagtails, Grey Fantails, Superb Blue Wrens, Starlings, Indian Mynas, all build their nests here and many duck families bring their young to our dam.
It's a pleasure to see all this bird wildlife and one of my favourites is the Willy Wagtail whose young I show in the picture. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Wagtail

Visitors

Our apple trees are a very popular. Visitors include the Eastern Rosella, Musk Lorikeet and pictured here the Rainbow Lorrikeet. We don't have many apples left for ourselves by the time they have raided the trees. I don't mind sharing but I wish they would wait till the apples ripen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Lorikeet

 

Another visitor is the King Parrot, a beautiful specimen as pictured below. They don't seem to raid our fruit trees so much but did train us to give them seed by calling with piping loud notes and looking for us through the windows waiting for that snack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_King_Parrot

The cockatoos in the photo are yearly visitors.They like to chew the pine cones in our trees and here they are enjoying some apples.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-tailed_Black_Cockatoo

An echidna came to visit one day and dug itself in when the dogs were furiously barking at it. Poor thing! I had to rescue  it by sliding the spade underneath its belly and putting it somewhere safe.

An amazing animal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna