A garden visitor

[Bina]

My cat is a mouse hunter.....but it's hysterical to watch her staking out a big brown garden toad.
Once she gets up close she has no idea what to do. "Hey, this mouse is cold and has no fur!"

 

[Lisa in Katy]

Aussiegirl - I never knew there were 3 verses to that song! Karlynn, we sang it almost the same way except said "Leave some there for me." Shows how things get butchered when sung by crazy Americans who don't know what they're talking about!

 

[Ross]

The full version of the song is.....


Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
Merry merry king of the bush is he
Laugh kookaburra laugh kookaburra
Gay your life must be


Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop kookaburra stop
Save some there for me


Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Laugh kookaburra laugh kookaburra
That's not a monkey, that's me

The first chorus is all I can remember, but now that you posted the whole thing, DING DING go the bells. Used to think it was the dumbest song we ever sang, but it's stuck in my head since kindergarten, so what's that tell ya?

 

[Bina]

Ross, that tells me that you got kicked out after kindergarten.....ha ha

 

[aussigal]

Thanks Mary for digging up all the words for the Kookaburra song, I only ever remember the 1st verse. It's cute that all you Americans were singing an Aussie song in Kindy...

I love the Kookaburras laugh...it's such an identifiable Aussie bush sound.

 

[abbanabba]

Aussiegirl - I never knew there were 3 verses to that song! Karlynn, we sang it almost the same way except said "Leave some there for me." Shows how things get butchered when sung by crazy Americans who don't know what they're talking about!

Of course, there was always the butchered Aussie version:

Kookaburra sits on the electric wire
Jumping up and down with his a** on fire..


...not sure if there was more to that verse or not


A : )

 

[Susan BAV]

I remember the kookaburra song from elementary school music class in the midwest also, even the monkey verse... Sol,sol,sol,sol, la,la,sol,mi,sol,mi...Mi,mi,mi,mi, fa,fa,mi,do,mi,do... etc.

There are some kookaburras at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and I've heard them do that fun laugh. If you do the laugh back to them, they'll sometimes do it more.

Speaking of lizards, several weeks ago one of our cats was stalking something in our grove. At first I was afraid it was a rattle snake but as I got closer, the thing flipped and flew at our cat -- who flew up and back in the air like only a cat can do. I ran up and the THING, as best as I could tell after research, is a two-foot long monitor lizard! Inch for inch they are more vicious than an alligator and not indigenous in our area and it's loose somewhere in our yard or the neighbor's yard! The strange neighbors next door have had a variety of strange critters, including two young ostriches, both of which are now missing... I figured those neighbors were the original owners of the lizard.

 

[Freddie]

Nothing worse than having strange neighbors. I feel for you Susan.

 

[Bina]

Susan, a Monitor or Tegu lizard can be really dangerous, especially if hungry.
They prefer to eat rodents, but if none are available, who knows what they will try for.
Can you call your local animal control officer?

 

[Susan BAV]

Susan, a Monitor or Tegu lizard can be really dangerous, especially if hungry.
They prefer to eat rodents, but if none are available, who knows what they will try for.
Can you call your local animal control officer?

Yeah, that thing was all long claws and lots of teeth, Bina! It looked dangerous! It kind of walked up on its claws like tip-toes, as it retreated. We briefly considered calling animal control. But some of our other nice neighbors have harmless loose dogs that could get caught in the cross-fire.

Those strange and lousy neighbors are apparently living illegally in a foreclosed house -- just them and their hostile pitbulls and a few other yapping mutts, and they still have that renegade Houdini pig you may recall I wrote about a few months ago -- and according to the bank, our only current option is to file a complaint with the Sheriff's Department. Meanwhile, they shoot over their fence and smoke strange things and spray-paint the house. Their septic system is shot and their stinky septic tank is open out in the lot where the pig is and the ostriches were. Maybe they fell in, if the lizard didn't get them. Hopefully the bank lien or title transfer thing will take place within a few more weeks and those guys will finally get booted. I'm just afraid that scary loose lizard will be left behind...

Sorry, that got way off-topic...

 

[Bina]

Susan I would report them....that is just way over the top of my tolerance level.
Maybe the nicer neighbours could be warned to keep their own dogs under control for a while until the officers are done.

 

[Dina]

Yeah, that thing was all long claws and lots of teeth, Bina! It looked dangerous! It kind of walked up on its claws like tip-toes, as it retreated.

Are you sure it's not a Chupacabra?

Those strange and lousy neighbors are apparently living illegally in a foreclosed house -- just them and their hostile pitbulls and a few other yapping mutts,

Now this scares me more than the monster in your yard!! seriously.

 

[Dina]

Ah, great -- thanks a lot, Dina ! I checked Wikipedia to find out what that thing was you wrote about .

There are a few B movies about the Chupacabra,if you were to watch the movie you
would think it more funny than anything. But I guess no one wants it in the backyard.
In an apt on the east village of manhattan, I had RATS burrow under
my hardwood floors. Someone had taken a drain cover off and they got
in thru there. Even in the bathroom I could hear them bumping underneath
the bathtub I would not go in there unless my cat,Gatsby was with
me. He stood guard over many showers. You wouldn't think of a cat as
being protective,but they can be when they are truly needed.
They finally came to get rid of them,but I never forgot how that little guy
came to my rescue.
I can't imagine a life without pets.
Dina