RMweb Premium John Isherwood Posted January 17, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2023 1 hour ago, DavidB-AU said: That's nothing on some limited editions from overseas! My daughter gave me a bag of Christmas Pudding flavoured crisps as a silly Christmas present! Despite my reputation for eating anything - I felt that it was a step too far! CJI. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Hroth Posted January 17, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2023 There used to be Hedgehog flavoured crisps too... https://www.hypnogoria.com/orrible_hedgehogcrisps.html Crunchy! 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted January 17, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2023 A chap I know once went into a bar and asked for some helicopter-flavoured crisps. The barman replied "Sorry, we've only got plain". I thank you. 2 1 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted January 17, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2023 41 minutes ago, Hroth said: There used to be Hedgehog flavoured crisps too... https://www.hypnogoria.com/orrible_hedgehogcrisps.html Crunchy! And you could pick your teeth with the spines. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Hroth Posted January 17, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2023 32 minutes ago, PhilJ W said: And you could pick your teeth with the spines. Arghhhhhhhh!!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 13 hours ago, DavidB-AU said: That's nothing on some limited editions from overseas! "Cajun squirrel" I wonder how they figured out what that is 'supposed' to taste like. Stereotypes aside, the set of people who might actually have tasted something like that is likely to be a very small number. 13 hours ago, kevinlms said: Why not skunk flavour for the US market? I understand that this is intended humourously, but honestly I don't get the joke. Weird flavoured soft drinks/sodas were all the thing here about a decade ago. One manufacturer (Jones of Seattle) made a Thanksgiving dinner set - turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, etc. It was a fad that didn't last. Apparently they tried to resurrect it a couple of years ago, but I didn't notice. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted January 17, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2023 12 hours ago, Hroth said: There used to be Hedgehog flavoured crisps too... https://www.hypnogoria.com/orrible_hedgehogcrisps.html Crunchy! And a certain footballer was celebrated for a time with "Salt & Lineker" crisps. I never sampled them. The prospect of tasting stale sweat, grass and mud, or even highly aromatic shower gel and designer deodorant, from a footballer wasn't terribly attractive. 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Hroth Posted January 19, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 19, 2023 (edited) Actually, I've found a substitute for going to Australia, my Amazon Echo now has Australian voices. I'm just trialling my new Aussie "secretary", the local weather takes on an exotic new aspect... Edited January 19, 2023 by Hroth 2 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 (edited) Just when you think the fauna couldn't get any worse... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-20/giant-cane-toad-found-in-north-queensland-conway-national-park/101873072 EDIT: The news even made Auntie B. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-64341453 Edited January 20, 2023 by DavidB-AU 1 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Hroth Posted January 20, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2023 6 hours ago, DavidB-AU said: Just when you think the fauna couldn't get any worse... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-20/giant-cane-toad-found-in-north-queensland-conway-national-park/101873072 EDIT: The news even made Auntie B. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-64341453 It doesn't look particularly pleased at being caught either! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishoutofwater Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 3 hours ago, Hroth said: It doesn't look particularly pleased at being caught either! It was probably quite miffed at being euthanaised 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmrspaul Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) On 13/12/2022 at 11:39, kevinlms said: The bird afraid to fly and needing rescuing. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-13/bruce-maldon-macaw-stuck-tree-firefighters-rescue/101767494 I adore parrots and have just seen so many beautiful Galah and Cockatoo over Xmas and New Year. But, I can never understand your government. Totally protective about imports of so many biological substances of so many different types but yet the keeping of foreign parrots seems to be relatively common. Parrots of various types have established as invasives in many parts of the world. They don't even need a male and female of the same species as plenty are able to successfully cross breed - Macaws in particular are well able to ignore species and produce off spring which can, in turn, reproduce. As an example and admittedly from native Macaws there is a large population of hybrid macaws in Campo Grande, Brazil. Paul Edited January 21, 2023 by hmrspaul 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, hmrspaul said: I adore parrots and have just seen so many beautiful Galah and Cockatoo over Xmas and New Year. But, I can never understand your government. Totally protective about imports of so many biological substances of so many different types but yet the keeping of foreign parrots seems to be relatively common. Parrots of various types have established as invasives in many parts of the world. They don't even need a male and female of the same species as plenty are able to successfully cross breed - Macaws in particular are well able to ignore species and produce off spring which can, in turn, reproduce. As and example and admittedly from native Macaws there is a large population of hybrid macaws in Campo Grande, Brazil. Paul I keep a few native parrots in an aviary (Princess Parrots, a few of the smaller grass-type parrots, and cockatiels which are Australian natives) plus have a South American Quaker (Garry The Parrot) as my "house" bird who is a talking, trained pet. Further to what you are saying, other than budgies, zebra finches, cockatiels and maybe one or two others I can only get the native parrots (and "softbills" like the rarer finches etc) from licensed dealers (and if I was to sell any I would need a license). This is understandably to prevent trapping of wild birds for the pet market. However exotics can be bought and sold by anyone, and other than in Western Australia, I dont believe there are any restrictions on keeping them although you do need to pay a $30 annual licence fee for exotics, though its up to you to inform the Government you have an exotic and apply to pay the fee, so you can imagine how that works. The rules also state you need to keep exotics wings clipped, though again that's up to you to do and again, you can imagine how regarded that rule is. Despite that I've never heard of any wild flocks of exotics forming, though I have seen the occasional Ringneck perching in a tree or on a pole, obviously someone's escaped pet. My opinion only but what prevents it is the relative scarcity of exotics in captivity given our huge "range" of choice of natives here - the Ecclectus which is a stunning looking Australian native is by far the most popular choice of people who "know" parrots, and the Corella is a popular choice too for its clownishness. Other than Ringnecks and the occasional Conure most "regular" petshops dont really stock exotics, Loris and Rosellas are more common and people tend to choose them because they know of them. Perhaps too our wide open spaces means its rare for escaped exotics to meet up and form a breeding colony, though I take your point about cross-breeding. So probably all up more by good luck than good management. Additionally , birdkeeping isn't a hugely popular pet-keeping activity here, other than the ubiquitous budgie and canary, and the stereotypical old cocky or galah that many rural properties seem to naturally acquire, either an injured one that cant fly, or a baby found under a tree and hand-raised. Exotics like the Macaw and African Grey are prohibitively expensive for most lay people and the "trophy" bird for experienced birdkeepers here is more likely to be Palm cockatoos or some of the Black Cockatoos. Due to our ban on exporting native wildlife most of these birds are unobtainable legally to overseas birdkeepers so we are the envy of many. All up, we are fortunate in that most of us don't need to keep them in cages to enjoy when we can just look out the window - for example I just took this photo about 5 minutes ago as I was typing this. (Many people hate them for their destructiveness but other than having to put protective wire around that post because they cling to it with their beak when navigating around it and it was starting to look a bit chewed, and a few smashed solar "fairy jar" lights that one discovered he could unhook and drop on the ground for a great smashing sound and so went around the deck doing that!) I've not had any issues, though they ARE bloody loud when they want to be! There were also two Corellas in my gum tree when I woke and going by the "I want feeding!" noise one or two just-fledged Galahs are somewhere in my Flame tree, plus a Magpie family is doing their calls that someone from overseas described as "Music made by aliens" so basically we are pretty lucky with birdlife here. Edited January 21, 2023 by monkeysarefun 11 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Heres another taken 2 minutes ago, just show-boating now! 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) Further to the above, this is a pretty good doco, originally made by the ABC here and called "Australia - Land Of Parrots" with a down to earth Aussie commentary. Unfortunately the only copy I can find online has been renamed to use the word OZ and revoiced for absolutely no apparent reason other than its for the US market using an American guy, though credit to him he does call budgies "budgies" instead of "parakeets" however the images are still stunning. Edited January 21, 2023 by monkeysarefun 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmrspaul Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Thanks for the reply. I'll admit to professional interest in that my career was as a scientist for our plant quarantine service and was involved in getting our wildlife people to think about controls on pets, not least birds. The world has a lot of "invasive" parrots and they are a nuisance in some cases. Here in the UK the main one is the African/Indian Ringneck. I listen to the radio talk shows a lot and it is very common to hear them screaming away in the background of interviews, not least outside our houses of Parliament. Personally I would love them to establish here in York, but I don't think many of the neighbours would agree. There are only a few species that would be successful here - Mitred conures are the one I would put highest on the list. A wonderful species, but very noisy, they come from above 1,500 metres high in central South America - so are reasonably cold hardy. Well established in Barcelona and California. We had a family of similar conures for 34 years living in our lounge (White - eyes) but they wouldn't be cold hardy. LIke Mitreds, incredibly noisy (they are very closely related). Having previously seen how Rainbow Lorikeets have invaded Perth it isn't only an intercontinental problem. I don't know if it was because we got more into rural Oz on this trip but parrots - especially Galahs, Cockies and Corellas seemed more numerous than on previous trips around Vic, SA and NSW. Someone said they had come into town during the fires/droughts and hadn't left. We stayed at caravan parks where there were hundreds of Galahs roosting - the dawn chorus at several places was simply amazing (OK annoying!). But, your parrots aren't so noisy as some South American ones. Certainly your authorities have done a wonderful job protecting them from being traded, well before CITES finally got around to putting decent controls on a lot of species, and then the EU simply banned the import of birds, both on biodiversity and health reasons. And yes having wild Cockies and Lorikeets visiting would be wonderful, damage or not! Paul 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) 25 minutes ago, hmrspaul said: There are only a few species that would be successful here - I'd possibly add the NZ Kea to that list, though they'd drive folk there mental with their destructiveness! Edited January 22, 2023 by monkeysarefun 6 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmrspaul Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) 15 hours ago, monkeysarefun said: as I was typing this. plus a Magpie family is doing their calls that someone from overseas described as "Music made by aliens" so basically we are pretty lucky with birdlife here. The song of both your Magpies and the Pied Currawong are charming*! We were at a caravan site where a very British ice cream van patrolled around several times a day, playing - as in the UK - Greensleeves. In the evening the Magpies made a reasonable fist of copying this tune. Not right, but certainly not their usual 'song'. Paul * For new readers neither are Corvids (Crows/Magpies) but are closely related in an Australian bird family Artamidae - the Butcher birds. Some Magpies having a drink in Belair National Park (SA)- note all white back, different to those Monkeysarefun will be familiar with in NSW. Edited January 22, 2023 by hmrspaul 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted January 24, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2023 https://www.theage.com.au/environment/conservation/sydney-labs-breeding-their-own-funnel-web-spiders-amid-shortage-20230124-p5cez5.html 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted January 24, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2023 On 22/01/2023 at 12:29, hmrspaul said: * For new readers neither are Corvids (Crows/Magpies) British Magpies are very smart but tuneless; Aussie ones are straggly but great singers. As for https://www.theage.com.au/environment/conservation/sydney-labs-breeding-their-own-funnel-web-spiders-amid-shortage-20230124-p5cez5.html I am reminded of the mildly derogatory expression which describes a person as “The funnel-web in the underpants of society”. Not to be used lightly 🤣 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium J. S. Bach Posted January 24, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2023 1 hour ago, Gwiwer said: As for I am reminded of the mildly derogatory expression which describes a person as “The funnel-web in the underpants of society”. Not to be used lightly 🤣 That reminded me of a phrase that a friend used a lot: "A pimple on the a.. of progress. 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 9 hours ago, kevinlms said: https://www.theage.com.au/environment/conservation/sydney-labs-breeding-their-own-funnel-web-spiders-amid-shortage-20230124-p5cez5.html Apparently the females can live for 20 years which I found surprising gotta say, making them much better value than a dog. 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted January 24, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2023 12 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said: Apparently the females can live for 20 years which I found surprising gotta say, making them much better value than a dog. But which would you rather be bitten by ??? 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 1 hour ago, Sidecar Racer said: But which would you rather be bitten by ??? They won't attack you unless they think you are a threat to their young. One of my neighbours had about 10 generations of friendly magpies simply by putting a little minced meat out each day. Some of them would eat out of his hand. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbedford Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 1 hour ago, DavidB-AU said: They won't attack you unless they think you are a threat to their young. For a minute I thought you were talking about funnel webs... 7 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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