h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe you are coming down with something, or just generally run down. Perhaps some vitamin supplements will give you a boost?
I'm on my 2 week holiday. Its great! No stress, i can do what i like when i like. I don't think i'll want to return to w**k after its over.

I suspect it's the generally-rundown situation. I'm trying to get more sleep, eat more leafy green vegetables, that sort of thing. I'm trying not to consider illness as a possibility, as I have no entitlement to sick leave until September. (After that, I won't mind at all. )

One of the seasonal threats to the garden appeared this morning. Kangaroos grazing on the lawn. Cute, and slightly surreal. As long as they don't eat anything I've planted, I don't mind...

Are they large kangaroos? bearing in mind i've only ever seen them on tv, they look big and jump high.
I'm going to a butterfly park today. They have animals there too. Wallaby's roam (or is that hop) freely around the place. They also have 2 young skunks. I've never seen a live skunk, so i'm looking forward to it. The grandkids have been before and are very excited about going again. It should be a good day.

The roos in question are Eastern Greys. They can be about 5 or 6 feet tall when they're standing upright. Very cute, and unnervingly quiet even when they're bounding along. Western Reds are bigger; I've seen one that was about 8 feet tall. I'm rather glad I don't have anything like that trampling the grevilleas.

I've never seen a live skunk either. (Or a badger, come to think of it.)

I can't imagine having a creature even 5 feet tall appearing in my garden
We did'nt get to see the skunks They we tucked away alseep under a basket. We did see lots of other things, including a 'Sienna' a rather odd looking bird. His name was Rodney and he does a performance each day on the grass with his keeper. It was comical to watch

I've had badgers in my garden, they did alot of damage, digging craters in the lawn and digging up plants and shrubs to eat the roots

That's a pity about the skunks. (And there's a sentence I never thought I'd have a use for. Isn't language fun?)

How does one get rid of badgers? More to the point, is it legal to get rid of badgers?

Its is illegal to kill badgers, they are protected here. I would'nt want to harm one either. They are a very impressive animal and aggressive if aproached. I used a chemical deterrent around the boundaries of my garden. A vile smelling liquid put onto rags and tied to the fence. It was quite effective, untill it rained Badgers are very stubborn, once they have formed a route for their activities, its hard to get them to change. It must have worked as my garden has been badger free for about 6 months now. I only hope they decide not to come back

A quick re-reading of 'Wind in the Willows' suggests that you could discourage badgers by encouraging stoats and weasels...

I must say, I'd rather have roos than badgers. Roos are quite finicky creatures, and agile enough to avoid landing on plants other than grass. They just nibble a bit of grass as a rule, and a few leaves, and move on. During the worst of the drought they ate some of my rosemary, which struck me as an odd choice, but I suppose they know what they're doing.

I've only ever seen 2 weasels my entire life and never a stoat. They tend to stay well away from any gardens and people.
Do the 'Roos' only come into inhabited areas when food and water are scarce?

Town attracts roos during drought, and also during cold weather. The city's in a series of valleys, and the hills are nature reserves, so the poor things come down here to keep warm at night. More than half of all single-vehicle accidents around here involve roos... They tend to leap out of nowhere into the road. My ex's 1972 VW Beetle has needed $4000 of repairs over the last couple of years because of them.

In the garden, fortunately, they're more ornamental than anything else.

Its a sad fact that, many of our wild animals also get killed by traffic. Deer can do alot of damage to a car, they spring out from nowhere and cars just can't avoid them.

There are all sorts of wildlife-deterring gadgets on sale here, from roo-bars for the front of the car, to a strange clicking thing called 'shu-roo'. This is supposed to annoy roos into staying away. Nobody's sure if it works or not. But it's better than nothing, I suppose, even if there is a strong resemblance.

Roo-bars don't necessarily work either. I've heard of cases where the bars stop an impact at the front, but bounce the roo onto the roof instead. The roo often hops away, leaving a flat car.

I noticed today that at least one of the pittosporums won't make it to the end of winter. I'll add that to the list and start thinking about spring plantings.

On the bright side, two of the grevilleas are in full flower. I think that's a hint to get mre of them.

Aaawww Sorry to hear some of your plants are failing Grevilleas might be the way to go if they thrive in your garden. You might even find something new at the beginning of spring, that you never considered before.

I'm fighting to keep one of my shrubs alive. We've had such a dry year alot of things are struggling. I planted a Viburnum Plicatum last year. Its a lovely shrub and once established, grows in horizontal tiers. In spring it has flowers on top of the stem, with the leaves hanging down very pretty. If i can get it through this winter, it might be established enough to hold its own next year, if not then i'll not doubt lose it. 'sigh'

I think the next round of planting will rely heavily on grevilleas and callistemons, and maybe a few more correas. They're all doing quite well in an unusually harsh year. The acanthus, iries and flax are hanging in there bravely. Some of the pelargoniums are looking a bit sad; once Spring starts I'll see if they do anything much. If not, I'll have to replace them too.

Our drought looks like it's ending at last, after a few years. New plantings will have a better chance.

I've often thought about getting Callistemon, but they take a bit of looking after here. The way our weather has been recently, i don't think it would be such a good idea.
I hear some parts of your country have had snow, was that in your area?

I had about ten snowflakes land on me. It would have been fun to have more here. Still, there was enough for a light dusting to be visible the next morning, and that was novel enough. There's still a fair bit of snow cover on the higher hills around here.

The cold weather has brought the roos down into town again. Very odd. A pair of them stalked me from my house to the bus stop the other day.

10 flakes is about as much as i'd like to see, can't stand the stuff myself. It always brings everything to a halt. I can never understand why the gritters are never prepared, its not as if it comes as any surprise.

Stalked by roos? Did they wear the customary trilby and dark glasses? Maybe they were catching the same bus

No hats, no dark glasses - presumably they operate on a strict budget. They stayed a constant 5 metres from me, and loped off as the bus came into view. Very very cute, and just a bit odd.

I shouldn't think we have gritters and things here. It wouldn't be worth the trouble, for something that only happens every once in a while. I think most people here would like the place to grind to a halt for a few days. We live in hope.

It must have been a strange feeling being followed by roos. The only encounter i've had recently with a wild animal, was an irrate turkey, who thought i was going to steal his harem Its not the first time i've been harrased by a turkey, i don't think they like me.