 |
Cockatoo, eating palm nuts, spying on mandarins .
|
A squadron of noisy Cockatoos has been making sneak attacks on the mandarin tree despite the fact that it is wrapped in bird netting. In its defence , I have been rushing out barking like a dog, waving a broom , clapping hands to make a pistol shot sound and throwing a thong like a frisby , which at times is hard to find when it lands in the undergrowth , at the marauders .
The lemon tree is safe because it is encased in two lots of netting as if by Christo . In the case of the mandarin, the tree put on a mass of new growth , containing fruit, which projected above the covering . It is this flaw in the defence which enabled the Cockies to launch dive bomb attacks.
Man , however , though a slow thinker , is smarter than noisy birds . Another ball of bird netting ,costing $22 , thrown over the top of the mandarin thwarted the raucous Cockies , but there are other troublemakers .
Possibly due to the poor Wet season , ants seem to be in plague numbers both inside and outside. Shrubs , vines , canes, potplants are studded with Green Ant nests . A hose left out on the lawn is soon covered from end to end by them . Pruning results in hundreds of angry Green Ants attacking, dropping out of shrubs , climbing up your legs, arms, in your ears.
 |
Angry Green Ants in blossoms of a New Guinea vine
|
Inside the house , ants of various kinds and sizes are out in force. Once more small ones are popping up on the computer screen , slightly bigger ones bite in bed and when you are sitting in a cane lounge reading . Masses of them are seen in the kitchen , especially in the sink area.
Armed with a torch , a ladder and a cloth, a trail of small ants is followed and obliterated from the shower recess , up the wall over the door, past a wall shadow box display with British souvenirs in the lounge , under framed early oiletttes of Sydney Harbour and a British Columbia print , above the back door , up high into the kitchen area, where another stream from under the wall clock joined in , then down the wall into the sink area .
In an unfortunate event , it seems a small lizard got down inside a stainless steel container placed under a drainpipe to collect rainwater/dew and unable to get out was cooked by the sun. Black ants , able to move in and out , were devouring it .
Possums have been noisy at night, running along the roof in hobnail boots and audaciously drinking the water in the front bird bath in which visiting Curlews stand , sit and imbibe. Several pesky Possums have been donged with the same straw broom used to frighten the Cockies . A mother carrying a baby on its back along the fence was allowed to go unmolested .
A short, sharp sound by one of our Curlews indicated there was something amiss .Turning on the outside light, at first , failed to see the cause of the trouble . Then a large cane toad was spotted and donged with a long handled shovel. Up the back, where the Curlews spend most their time , another cane toad was found sitting in their water . It also was firmly donged with the shovel and buried with its mate the following morning .
