The Day We Were Chased By a Snake! As I look back on our childhood I have come to realise that we were incredibly lucky that we enjoyed so many farm holidays and got to see close up so much more of animal life than our city sisters and brothers. …

A City /Country Transition When I was in my late teens we moved from a very large city to a smaller country city. Never mind that this country city was the capital of Australia, Canberra. It was then still in the throes of growing up to be a city of…

And lots of mice... Only this morning I heard this hysterical, yet quite cunning story. My friend has a really great little cat called Zuki, who excels in the catching of mice. She is a fairly recent rescue cat who has taken a couple of months to settle into her…

Not really suitable for a young child to read! This tale of woe was told to me by my good friend Esther, and I am telling you as indeed she told me! It was a Saturday and Esther, her sons and her dog were at home in Canberra enjoying a…

Greed Versus Cunning Some years ago, my friend Jennifer acquired a beagle called Beanz. Beanz had belonged to an American family who were returning home and could not take her with them. She was a large, ponderous, matronly, sneaky dog who lived solely for the delectation of food. …

and Gracie, the family kelpie The 1662 wedding service had been chosen because the couple to be married were of an older vintage who appreciated the rituals and words of the ancient service; words that when read out aloud give a richer meaning to the prayers, the emphasis being on…

Social Learning in the Animal Kingdon I saw a program on television last week about the amazing skills that cockatoos show when hunting for food. It seems that while they had worked out that great spoils lay under the lids of garbage bins, to their disappointment, they found it extremely…

When Would-Be Robbers Visited! This happened on a dark and wintery night a couple of years ago. Well, it was about 4.30 am to be more precise. I had woken up with a start because I had smelled cigarette smoke and we don’t smoke! Humphrey, our gorgeous nearly 16-year-old black…

Medium Readers can share ideas and stories with ‘Lists’ — This week, the Medium brings additional renovation to the ‘Reading List’ feature. In the preceding months, this open platform brought several updates for Medium writers. This time, the Medium has focused on its readers to introduce frictionless and clutterless reading vibe. For readers of the Medium, this update would improve…