I won't lie, working for the R.S.P.C.A. is hard, not just physically but psychologically. You can't save them all and the amount of animals that come in is truly overwhelming. My little dingo/kelpies have been reduced to three and by the time I return to work there may be only one... I've fought for them, kept them alive for weeks but when I leave there is no one left to speak for them. My little girl (the light one) will be spared, the other two are deemed as aggressive (agro) and won't make it. The sad thing is they are just being puppies and sometimes puppies nip or quibble over food, these pups are NOT agro. With that being said I do understand that when so many animals come in you have to look at what is most adoptable... It's hard on me and I get a bit bummed at times, it takes alot out of me but I choose to focus on the good things about working here like the lives I save and the general enjoyment of working in the bush.
This is a White's Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea).
I cruised around and showed everyone at work my cool find and told them what it was, some of them recognized it and told me that they call those "greenies". How original haha!
I was out by the tool shed and turned around and saw this guy:
Of course I had to pick it up! I also paraded around with this guy however my co-workers weren't as pleased to see this find... Some were warning me of it's vicious bite! I didn't seem to have that problem, he just kinda hung out on me and I even had trouble getting him off!
I have found that many people don't notice the stuff in their own backyard. It is the same for anywhere you go really, it takes someone interested in animals or wildlife to notice that kinda stuff. I guess I'm just tuned into it, I always have been. I do love telling the Aussies about the cool things that live around them and the amazing species that brought me across the world to live with.
As many people know, I LOVE reptiles and a big motivator for my move to Oz are the high population of venomous snakes and the variety of monitor lizards. I have read about them and studied them but to be living amongst them is the best education a herpetologist could ask for!
This is a Keelback Snake (Tropidonophis mairii). It was killed with a weed wacker (whipper snipper) because the court ordered community service lawn kids (flouros) thought it was a taipan. Sadly, this snake is non-venomous and cane toad resistant meaning it was a VERY good snake. I can't get mad at the kids, they didn't know but I did talk to them and their supervisor to educate them and told them to come find me if they ever saw another snake. Education is key, without it conservation has no meaning.
I also got an ambo call recently to catch a duck and her ducklings in order to save them from two cats left to run amok in the neighborhood. It took quite some time but I managed to gather the ducklings but failed to catch the mother, this left me with four Pacific Black Ducks. When I returned another duck got put into my care, a juvi average white duck. This prompted me to make an impromptu wet brooder:
All in all working there isn't so bad because it's the animals that make me happy; the people however... leave much to be desired. Below is a document posted by our manager on appropriate communication at work. I thought it was a joke at first, but it's not.... [caution to impressionable children, the picture below is not suitable for you so AVERT YOUR EYES!]
Yep, it's a bowl full of cherries this lot.
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