BLUE HEELER DOG

Australian Blue Heeler Cattle DogEvery dog-loving Aussie bloke aspires to be “master” of a Blue Dog or Blue Heeler – the quintessential Australian Cattle Dog. The Blue Heeler is a serious working dog and not designed for living in small back yards or urban apartments, sleeping on beds and in front of fires.

Bred to work cattle in the harsh Australian environment, the name comes from its colouring and ability to control cattle by nipping at their heels. This is a courageous, powerful, intelligent, loyal, no compromises, get-out-of-my-face kind of dog. Continue reading

KOALA

No Tree – No Me!

Often referred to as a “Koala Bear”, this cute and loveable Aussie icon is, in fact, a marsupial and not a member of the bear family. They raise their young in a pouch, live on the leaves of eucalyptus (gum) trees and sleep an awful lot. They are the hippies of the animal world and creatures of the night.

I saw my first wild koala on Magnetic Island off the north Queensland coast nearly two decades ago and since then have had the privilege of volunteering with the Central Queensland Koala Volunteers and helping them fund-raise, record koala sightings, catch them and, on occasion, rehabilitate them back into the bush. Continue reading

BILBY

My name is Dawn and I am an endangered Australian Bilby

Whilst the rest of the world celebrates Easter by eating too many chocolate bunnies, Australians have the option of eating bunny or bilby – our indigenous, cute, furry, burrowing, nocturnal marsupial.

The bilby is a bandicoot with pale grey fur, a long black tail with a white tip, a pointed nose and huge ears. Like kangaroos and koalas, the female has a pouch and can produce several litters of up to three baby bilbies each year.  Continue reading