And Now for Something Completely Different...

(pic from here)

Just to prove this blog isn't only about animals, here is a post that isn't about animals. (Even though there is a kangaroo in that picture!)
It can be about me instead :) I am currently in Australia (Melbourne if you wana be specific). And I go grocery shopping with a kangaroo. It's great. My kangaroo doesn't even need a leash.
Melbourne is pretty great, but I'm super excited to be off on a new adventure to South East Asia in 27 days! Then my supermarket buddy can be a pangolin.

 I'm flying into Bangkok on the 5th March with one of my best friends. We are travelling around Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and hopefully Laos (if time allows) for 3 weeks, and then I'm settling in Siem Reap for 3 months volunteer English teaching. After that, who knows! I'm super excited. (and I know I said that already, but I really really am).

Anyway. Right now, living in Melbourne. Thursday night is $1 champagne night at a bar in town so that's pretty fantastic.

I work at a cafe. It's at the training ground of one of the AFL teams. I don't follow the footy, I'd never even heard of it before I moved here. But there are still perks, the main one being getting to see a whole lot of incredibly fit men run around with their shirts off...

I'm a little bit obsessed with this song at the moment.... (Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye ft Kimbra). Kimbra is a New Zealander living in Melbourne, just like me. Unfortunately that's about all the similarities between us. She is much more talented, more beautiful, and waaay cooler than me!

And just before I go do my laundry, here are a couple of fun animal facts:

- The female kangaroo will give birth to a new offspring right about the time she ejects the older joey from her pouch. During this time of transition, she will simultaneously produce two different types of milk for the different needs of her young. Each joey knows which teat is theirs and will only nurse from the appropriate one. (source)

- Pangolins are covered in scales. These scales are made of keratin, the same stuff that fingernails and hair are made from. The scales grow continuously. (source)

xx

A Business of Ferrets

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These are ferrets. As I have mentioned, a group of ferrets is called a BUSINESS.
These guys do look pretty business like, I guess.
I grew up not liking ferrets because they were always eating Mum's chickens. But these guys don't look so bad. Once I saw a girl taking a ferret for a walk on a lead in the botanic gardens. I really enjoyed the way it moved.
Here is a video, just in case you haven't seen a ferret running. I love that weird bendy bit in the middle of their back.
They kinda make me think of long, stretched-out cats.

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- A male ferret is called a hob, a female is called a jill.
- Queen Victoria was a big fan of ferrets, and gave them as gifts to loved ones.
- A newborn baby ferret is small enough to fit in a teaspoon.
- Ferrets are easy to train.
- And they can SWIM!!

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Actually, after spending the past half-hour  watching videos of ferrets and reading ferret facts I may just have a new favourite animal :)

Click here to find out all you need to know about ferrets!

I've got gnus for you!

This gnu is running.
Gnu is another name for wildebeest.
Wildebeest an Afrikaans word meaning 'wild beast'.
Baby gnus can run within 3-7 minutes of being born.
One of the world's most incredible animal spectacles is the annual Great Gnu Migration.
80% of gnu babies are born in a 2-3 week period at the start of the monsoon season.
The gnu population is 15 times larger than it was in 1950.


(info and pics come from here)