I'll try to get just a bit sensible here now. Hoss was right about our blind kangaroos. The virus afflicting the poor beggars seems to have stopped now, but 2-3 years ago it was common to see dozens of blind roos stumbling around in the bush. It was a very sad thing to see them get startled and take off, then smash head on into a tree, or down a mineshaft. The worst I saw was a poor roo dead in the middle of a salt lake. You could see his tracks going round and round for days totally unable to get off the lake.

Our rabbit population was hit hard a couple of years back when the Govt released the insect borne RCV - Rabbit Calici Virus. In some areas the RCV wiped out over 90% of the bunnies, but other places were hardly affected. The RCV had a devastating affect on our wedge tail eagle numbers because rabbits were their main food supply.

The animal we have of most interest to prospectors is the emu. I have detected a small nugget in an emu dropping and some local prospectors will always stop at a dead emu carcass to detect its inards. It can be a trap for young players to find a nugget in virgin country and start celebrating about their new patch, only to discover that the nugget was deposited there in an emu dropping !.

Terrible how truth comes along and spoils a good laugh aint it !.

Keep smiling,

Chris Hake.