Weasels

Absolutely. A lot of people did. ETA: And thanks! :) :) Yes, the topic was just to broad for the time given for discussion. It would have been a real time-saver if they'd just put some plastic horns on the bad guys!

Great work Melzawelza. That doodle farmer still got off lightly tho

Sorry, I was out duck herding all afternoon! Thanks for stepping in Corvus! :) :)

Thanks but I'm good - they're all yours! :D

Yes you were correct. Lol I also credit you with my newfound knowledge of the anatomy of a spider. I went for a wander around the yard looking for burrows and lost count after finding 50 of them in four square metres. I gave up looking after that. :laugh: since I taught my husband the difference between Mygalomorphs and Araneomorphs he makes the shapes of the chelicerae with his forefingers every time I mention a spider of either type :p It's funny I've examined DNA from many hundreds of trapdoors but all I usually see of them is a single leg so I had lots of fun trying to id a whole one! Best left to the experts obviously though :D

Thanks for the update Dx, I was wondering how that went :) It was a Nemesiid after all!

Thanks. Very concise. Have heard so many stories over the years about this breed, some of which include the mention of both the corgi and the dalmation! Nice to know what's what as it's not a breed whose history I've really looked into (unitl todaythat is :) That's my "something new" for today then. ACDs are well documented as having dingo, there's even a scientific paper in a vet journal about it :) It's the kelpies that people argue over. The 'kelpie people' swear there wasn't any in the foundation of the breed but I'm convinced it's been bred in by individual farmers here and there ;) Edit - Robert Kaleski (mentioned in the link) wrote a nice little book called 'Australian Barkers & Biters' which is available as an e-book and covers the early days of Australia and its dogs :)

Me too, Chess is quite a good little mouser. But she knows that mice are for killing, sheep and ducks are for herding, and other birds/lizards/insects/horses are to be left alone. The only one she hasn't figured out what to do with yet is cats, so she stays on-lead around them (although if they don't run she won't react to them).

A conditioned "leave it" ('stop engaging with that thing immediately and walk away') really is a great thing to teach. Whether the dog is about to roll, chase, eat or even wants to say hello to a person/ other dog that you don't want them to, it is a great tool to have in your toolbox and will stop a lot of problems before they start :) I've used it on lizards more than once. I was particularly grateful for a good 'leave it' last week when both dogs were about to roll in a tonne of blood & bone at the park

And if someone comes onto a forum of people who love animals proudly stating they are going to put their next pet at high risk of illness and death, they will have accept that the majority are going to be very upset about it.

Maybe but it's still a gross part of the plan :p

Sorry Pers - I think I've just spent too much time watching documentaries on parasites lately

Exactly, I even see this mentality in ecology professionals - the assumption that nature is fundamentally in balance and everything would work out ok if humans just did nothing. I call it the "Bambi" view of ecology. I'm not saying our progress has been universally positive, but most of it was done for a reason, and it's easy to forget how good we've really got it. Seriously, nature is horrible. Just horrible.

'Funnel-webs' are a whole sub-family of spiders so actually covers quite a few species. Sydney funnel webs = bad, Vic funnel webs = much less bad :)

you got 'em, that's definitely a mygal, so that rules out any of the wolf spiders :) Perhaps Hadronyche alpina? scratch that, the distribution is all wrong, but a closely related critter i'd wager :)

:laugh: you're a trooper Dx! Still doesn't show the chelicerae but it looks like a Mygalomorph - I've decided to go with Jerojath: Hadronyche modesta http://biodiversitysnapshots.net.au/BDRS/public/speciesInfo.htm?spid=559&mode=fieldguide (click on the photo underneath the main pic)

I don't suppose you want to look at it's fangs and tell us whether they're pointing downwards or towards each other do you? :laugh:

And that looks like an endagered species too! Oh the humanity.

But these are not well dogs, and certainly don't have the life expectancy you'd want or expect from a domestic pet Many of the ones I've seen were riddled with ticks and fleas, so not dogs you'd want in your house or near your other animals either. Edit - incidently, those dogs were on an all natural diet too (from living in the wild), and between them had every parasite going

Do you have a "go sniff"- type cue? That can be an awesome reward too! Especially if he gets the cheese AND the sniffs :D

Including no anaethesia for the desexing? And all organic meat and vegetables for the dogs? And no airborne pesticides in the area?

:laugh: I wish! Sorry I was cheering for HorseGal - we'll need photos from them!

My kelpies get Eagle Pack holistic select for breakfast and are shiny and happy. That's in addition to table scraps, raw meat and bones, sardines, yoghurt and Nature's Gift tinned food for the busy days :) Also - yay new puppy! :D

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The vaccination thing is very relevant to finding a pup for tho, for the reasons above. Pretty much the only breeders that don't vaccinate do so because they don't want to spend any extra money that will cut into their profits But those breeders also won't spend any time matching the parents, doing genetic testing, socialising their pup, feeding a good diet etc. These things are far more damaging than some attenuated virus to stimulate a natural immune response. Edit - snap Sheridan