native wildlife and dogs in Lorne

When I was in Lorne recently, I went for a walk along the street that parallels the main beach street, and I was concerned to see an off-lead dog wandering across the road in front of me. In a strange town you're never sure whether to try to catch a loose dog, because it might be the local custom to let dogs roam more freely than they do in the big cities. However, I bent down to see if it had a collar, and did a double take...

Frantically I tried to unzip the pocket of my raincoat - yes, it was raining - to reach for my camera. And this is what I managed to get, as the 'dog' scurried away from me:



Overseas readers might think it's an everyday occurrence to see a koala in Australia, but let me assure you, it is not! Not for city dwellers like me, anyway. And most of us live in cities. Here's a quote from Encyclopedia of the Nations:

Australia's population is mostly urbanized, with about 88 percent of its people living in an urban area. Sydney alone has over 20 percent of the country's people.

Once the koala was in the tree it relaxed and I had all the time in the world to photograph it.



It eventually got a bit tired of me staring and staring at it, and turned its head away.



I wonder how well dogs and koalas co-exist in Lorne? I did notice the house beside the tree had a notice saying 'beware of the dog'. I suppose it might be like our own garden, where Penny goes out each evening to see if she can find any ring-tailed possums on the ground. They're always high in the tree, to her great frustration and my great relief.

nightime adventures and the delicious smell of rotting rabbit meat

Why wasn't I suspicious when Penny came inside before I did, tonight?

We'd gone out to enjoy the chilly night air while she 'relieved' herself and I took my camera and tripod to see if I could get a picture of the possum that was in the tree last night.

While I was fiddling around, getting a stiff neck and trying to do long exposures on the camera in the dark, she went inside. How sweet, I thought, she's turning into a softie and can't take the cold. I finally gave up on clever exposures and took a couple of flash photos, thinking of Penny snug inside the house.





And then I returned to the kitchen...

And then I smelled a smell...

And then I recalled that Penny had been sniffing around the edge of the nasturtiums while I was playing wildlife photographer...

And finally I recalled that she had buried part of her meal of raw rabbit carcass - last Saturday.

The rabbit was in her stomach by the time I came inside, but the aroma was still available for anyone with a working nose.