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Awesome and Not-So-Awesome Animals From Places You Used to Live
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I was chatting with my folks a few days ago about our old house in Brisbane, and the silly stuff I used to do there, like dress up in a Batman costume and run through the mall, ah those were the days.
Anyway, my dad reminded me about the two kookaburras that would chill on our porch every evening for a good month one christmas break. Being the impressionable young’un that I was, I called them B-1 and B-2. We’d give them raw meat and they kept comin’ back every day at the same time for more. I remember being pretty disappointed when they stopped coming, but that didn’t stop them from being awesome.
Remembering those two inspired me to make a list of a few of the animals in Oz that gave me fond (and not so fond) memories growing up.
Kookaburras:
As stated above, these dudes are totally awesome.
Koalas:
Look this little guy in the eyes and tell me that you don’t melt. Just, for the love of god, don’t call them koala bears.
Platypuses (Platypi?)
Why they exist, I have no idea. I hope it’s to make me laugh, because if it is, they’re doing their job magnificently.
Aaaaand now for those animals that scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a kid.
ANY AND ALL SPIDERS:
I’m not giving you guys a picture of one of these dudes, because I’ve made the mistake of searching for spiders in google images, and I don’t want anymore gray hairs.
Box Jellyfish:
Great White Sharks:
I can’t remember if I told this story on here or not, so I’ll tell it anyway. When I was 4 or 5, my parents and I went to Noosa and stayed at a beach house. While we were there, my folks thought it’d be a GREAT idea to watch “Jaws”. Overlooking the water. At night. NIGHTMARES FOR WEEKS.
See if you guys can think of any other neat or lame-o animals.
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August 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Neat:
Gazelles. They sort of look like deer, and are just amazing to look at. Whenever i see them, i remember Futaisi island, a small, quiet, private island 10 mins by boat from abu dhabi. They roamed freely there, in herds, just staring at you and all.
Pink dolphins that i saw in singapore. Freakin adorable. Need i say more?
Camels. Used to watch em run around the desert from my family’s living room balcony. (our flat had a view of the desert, which was less than 1 km from our building).
Not sure what kind, but those monkeys in batu caves in KL, malaysia were absolutely entertaining. They just ran around the cave, even with the many many people walking about. Would take anything you throw at em like hungry little fellas. Loved em.
Lame:
That snake that came out of the broken fridge during my visit to my grandma’s house when i was 5. Actually, pretty much every kind of snake scares the eff out of me.. But that one really gave me the scare. Oh and the rattlesnake the grade 5s found near the outdoor basketball court in abu dhabi. That snake was freaky too.
Yes, i dislike spiders too.. Just ew.. Ick.
Scorpions. I really hate those things. Living in the desert with those around is not cool. I get paranoid whenever i see one.
Camels (again) cause they stink. Bad. They’re still amusing to watch though.
Ooh yeah, i agree about the jellyfish.. Was on this beach in al ain once and it was FULL of those things. Eurgh!
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August 21st, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I loved reading your descriptions of all the critters you’ve been around. So exotic and diverse! Very cool. Would love to see the desert animals…some day…and, in the meantime, I really liked hearing about your experiences, Kristine….
Mine from Florida: marshmallow eating alligators and brilliant red cardinals. Manta rays, which are actually really friendly and love to swim around you, along with the dolphins…
Germany: the only thing that strongly stands out is being chased by a wild boar when I was about seven…dang those things are fast! I had to leap up onto a fence and stay up high as it was leaping at me from below….
Southwest U.S.: scorpions and cute little lizards; Central - - tarantulas and June bugs, which always remind me of flying dates…yech…but the neatest of all: fireflies!
West: Wolves, black bears, cougars, coyotes; little critters - - opossums, the one we named Biff, the raccoons (they are so cunning!) and skunks and the cute little voles. Hawks and eagles…mainly bald, but the huge golden, too.
Along the ocean, where I live now – the sea creatures: sea stars, for instance, the leather star, which smells like garlic!, and the sunflower sea star, and pink and purple; the big moon jellies, the crabs…tiny shore crabs the size of a thumbnail and the big Dungeness…beautifully fragile sea cucumbers….
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August 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Okay, for cool animals:
Geckos. So cute, big innocent eyes, can climb up walls like superheroes. We tried to catch them in styrofoam cups, don’t remember that we ever managed - they’re fast little critters.
Sandhill cranes. There’s something patently odd about driving in the woods and suddenly seeing this tall-as-a-man bird walk silently, ballet-like, out from between the trees. They’re such ethereal birds, otherwordly. They fascinate me.
Weasels. Small, fast, snake-like rodents with shiny black eyes. They’re very curious, I had one dart out and stand on the end of a log to watch me while I layed on my belly in the grass. But they’re not to be messed with - they’re probably one of the world’s most effective hunters: they’re quite small, kind of slightky oversized elongated mouse or miniature ferret, and yet they can bring down a goat, and occasionally small deer and calves. Yikes! They’re so cute though…
And the ones that scare me:
Cougars/Pumas/Mountain lions: Although they’re rather smaller than other ‘big cats’, they ripple with muscle. As said in the movie Homeward Bound, it’s like Arnold Schwarzekitty! The average 120 lb cougar is 10x as strong as a 180 lb man. And they don’t attack from the front normally, they usually jump from behind, off ledges and trees… I don’t like predators that sneak up from behind. When I lived in the mountains, a cougar walked right into our neighbors yard and killed his two guard dogs…
I think cougars are thrillingly beautiful animals, but oh, they give me the shivers…
Wood Bison: (Sub-Arctic)Huge lumbering, glowering animals up to 6 ft high at the shoulder, that weigh a ton (2000 lbs), can run 40 miles/hr (as fast as a racehorse) and have hair-trigger temperaments like male silverback gorillas. Looking them in the eye, taking pictures with a flash, making fast movements, honking your horn, etc can make them charge. They can total the front end of a semi-truck and completely flip a car. Some of the most fearful moments in my life were spent passing wild bison bulls. They’re kind of the North American version of Water Buffalo I guess.
Wild Boars (Hawaii). I’m terrified to death of them even though I’ve (gratefully) never managed to run into one. Although I have been charged by a roaring, tusk baring, black pot-bellied pig. Not an experience I want to repeat. Pigs and boars are scary creatures, and come in much larger sizes than people realize. I think I’d rather take my chances with a bison bull than a wild boar…
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August 28th, 2008 at 11:00 am
No doubt lemurs are the coolest ever…especially when they jump on you and eat your bananas
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August 28th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
From South Africa,
Animals that amuse:
Meerkats - Man, they are the most adorable things you have ever seen, and they kill the snakes in your garden.
Geckos - I was in love with these guys. We had to have a back garden burial for it with much weeping.
Duiker - Duiker are tiny little antelope, only as tall as your knee. I was in Duiker group when I was a Brownie. ;P
Animals that killed you:
Boomslang, Poffadder - Both of these are snakes. The boomslang (lit. tree snake) is green and drops on your head when you are playing. I stepped on a Pofadder (lit. Puff Adder) when I was seven. Luckily Daddy came with the spade and chopped its head off.
Black widow spiders - Every kid knew what they looked like and to kill them.
Baboons - Aw, sweet, cute monkeys, right? WRONG! These pests will come into your kitchen and steal your food, small dog or cat. They are lethal to little kids especially if you corner them by coming into your kitchen when they are eating your fruit.
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August 29th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Ooh i forgot to mention moose on the animals that scare me list. My dad had a friend going home from edmonton back to fort mc and he accidentally hit one driving at night.. The moose was unhurt but his car was completely trashed that he had to buy a new one.. He was alright but his car was like, demolished. I’m always terrified when we drive on highways at night, cause i’m scared we’d hit one..
Oh and thanks jan!
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August 30th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Denmark - I am a great fan of hedgehogs. My mother and uncles used to keep them as pets, and they are very sweet and soft to pet on their bellies and between their eyes. They are totaly harmless and eat snails and slugs in the garden. Foxes are Denmark’s racoons, gamboling in the early morning in cities as well as living in the woods.
Norway & Sweden - moose!! very dangerous.
Pakistan - humongous fruit bats hanging from trees like enormous dead flowers. Water buffalo, cobras.
California - rattlesnakes, all the hospitals maintain stores of anti-venom. We carried snake bit kits as Girl Scouts. Tarantulas - really large, and they jump up high!! Hairy and scary, but shy and some people keep them as pets. Hummingbirds, woodpeckers, great horned owls (a fierce raptor that will kill an eagle in a fight), opossums, racoons, skunks, which are gorgeous, but, well - you know!
I live close to a great white shark breeding ground (just off Point Reyes above San Francisco), and quite a few people have had close calls or been bitten, some have died recently.
There are mule deer everywhere, wild turkeys, which are really huge, about 4 feet tall, and utterly indifferent to cars and people. Mountain lions in the hills prey on the deer. Coyotes.
I have seen all but the shark (!!), rattlesnake, tarantula, mountain lion and coyote in my garden in the middle of the city.
I have seen rattlesnakes on hikes in our local hills, mountain lion scat and spore, though, thankfully, not the lion. My dad has everything I’ve got plus rattlesnakes, foxes, coyotes and tarantulas where he lives 25 minutes from here.
Our visitors love the racoons and the hummingbirds the most.
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