Kill it, cook it, eat it (series 4)
How many have seen this show and what did you think of it? It was about raising, butchering and cooking meat.
http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/program/826665
I though it was well-presented and informative for people without a farming background, but over to you.
My daughter bought 2 little black and white calves to raise for future meat for the table My twin grandaughters named them T-bone and Scotch by the time they were old enough and large enough to be butchered Scotch and T-bone were like beloved family dogs and followed the girls everywhere ,lol Guess which two cows live a life of luxury on the east coast of Tassie to this day Wobbly
LOVE it Wobbly--thats how I would be--a retirment place for cattle of all sorts
Growing up on a farm you tend to be very practical about things. Whether it was the bull being introduced to the herd or slaughtering, we saw it young and it had no bad effect on any of us.
What upsets me is the misled sentimentality that results in extended, excrutiating suffering of animals, such as when a do-gooder insists on taking a roo that has been hit by a vehicle to a vet or more commonly to the RSPCA, who then find a vet. On a popular program some time ago one of the 'rescuers' of animals, who of course was completely untrained, took a severely injured animal to a animal hospital the person was associated with. All good TV entertainment and a boost for donations, but what about the cruelty to the animal and its diminished life if it survived?
While on that subject, the veterinary shows on the Box are good for the veterinarians' back pockets because they encourage pet owners to agree to heroic and highly invasive procedures and operations on their pets, but again, what about the suffering of the animal? Small animal veterinarians are putting in XRay and other facilities and they are all profit centres for them.
I do agree with you Nautilus as to putting an Animal through painful treatment for maybe our own selfish reasons--if it would be kinder to have them put down. I remember there was a poor cat that was VERY badly burnt and they kept it alive and treated it, I thought that was rather cruel.
It used to be the done thing in the country to stop wherever you could to put a car-struck animal out of its misery. No way most would do that now, it only takes one troublemaker with a with a camera mobile phone to cause no end of misery for trying to do the right thing. You wouldn't bother trying to explain to them. It is hard to drive past, but it is a sign of the times. Suck it up (hard for a farmer who cares for animals) and drive on.
Yes when I used to travel around Aussie I always carried a 22 gun for that --never had to use it--but thaks to Howard no longer can do that
Howard was all for show.
You are right about the .22 pea rifle, it certainly provided a humane method.
Is travelling the backyard out for you now?
Well I have been everywhere I wanted to see and have been to a few places over again--I did the most of my traveling in the 60s and 70s and it was great because there was not many people doing it then and you had places to yourself--last time I did it abut 6 years ago, there were so many people and crowds everywhere it really spoilt the experience also a lot of places have become so populated they have lost the natural appeal. I still go to various places to call on friends but I am over being in crowds of people when I have seen it at its best
PlanB, we still go out there, we camp out in the bush away from the crowds, it's so nice to wake up to the sound of the birds, we love to get out in the deserts well away from the maddening crowds but we are only going to be able to do that in the short term, getting too old to be putting up tents for the night, we have just about covered all the places that we can't take our caravan. Just love getting out there.
There are those who see profits in filling in all of those 'vacant' spots with people too.
Days when Surfers Paradise was for families and had beautiful Hibiscus lining its streets.
Even the once remote, idyllic locations now have endless rubbish and toilet paper. Then there are the places where we used to stop and anyone passing might wave if they saw you. Would you stop (say) along the Nullabor now? There are some cowardly types out there, but it wouldn't do to point the finger, not in politically correct Oz anyhow.
Some of us go to the desert now. The terrain limits the great unwashed.
Nautilus, we do the deserts over as well, great getting out there in the wide open spaces. We crossed the Simpson last year, West to East along the Frenchline, QAA line and over Big Red to the Birdsville races, great trip. We haven't done any outback trips so far this year. Last week we did do a Wildflower run over here for a few days, had a great time.
Bit of rain and the wildflowers are magnificent this year, flushes of yellow, pink, white, russet, purple....banks and fields of them, absolutely in awe.
They were sailing on the Birdsville track not so long ago.
I am getting the fidgets and irrits. Problem is, can't decide on a smaller camper and short trips or go a new shower/toilet job and restrict myself to gazetted roads - corrugated at the max for 3-4 mth runs. LC will drag most. Also I have to pick the season, the real heat is foolishness now. The rough swag and fly (the new swags are luxury!) might have had enough wear.
We take a tent out through the back blocks but have the van for the hard top. We were rained in at the races last year, we wanted to go back down the Birdsville track but the road was closed, the only way out of Birdsville was up through Boudourie to Mt Isa, across to Kununurra and down the West Coast, definitely the long way home, however later on we went back over the Nullabor and up the Birdsville track to the ferry and went across that, the Ferry was on our list of 'must do's'.
Having done the out back etc and all the coast I like the coast not into the flat dusty fly ridden outback at all and also never liked the likes of the gulf either, I am glad I did see it all but once was enough.
So true re the likes of the Gold coast, it used to be lovely now it is very sleasy and way over done. I remember when Cairns used to close between 12pm and 2pm and you used to see dugongs swimming at the water front (when the tide was in) now they have changed all that and that too has become crowded and just another busy city.
There were developers wanting to make money. The problem now for Gold Coast residents is that the strip has become a haven for dole bludgers and drug criminals.
Talk with the young people - I am a member of a SLSC - and they will tell you how the gangs identify themselves. It is all down to the millions from the drug trade and that is down to people buying the stuff.
A senior cop went whiting fishing with me up the main river past the GCCC building and as we went he pointed to numberous of the big waterfront mansions saying as we passed who were the drug names behind them. Problem is though, every time the police get a professional strike force set up with other states, the government of the day removes its funding. That comment applies to all states and territories.
To put an injured marsupial in your car in order to take it to a vet or to someone to care for it depends on the animal.
Most times, especially if the macropod is an adult, this will stress the animal and do more harm than good, and if it has injuries such as a broken leg it is more humane to euthanise it on the spot.
I have been called out to check on injured wildlife many times and have had to euthanise animals and not once has there been anyone with a camera, not that I would care if there were.
But a joey in the pouch can often be saved, reared and later released.
There are a lot of native fauna rescue organisations now that have a hotline and the public is advised to call this number if they find injured fauna so an experienced person can check on the animal.
It must be so frustrating for the police to know what they know and can't do anything about it at all. I never call into to the Gold coast these days as for many years it has not been my seen at all. I We used to go out on the Sysny harbour when we had the boat and a friend of ours that was well up in the police force used to point out much the same in homes and boats--I am glad I live under a rock
Deanna,
You two are adventurous. Those are impressive trips. Tell me, do you tend to go with a club or club members or solo?
When I think back on the travelling I did, sometimes solo, there is no way I would advise anyone to do that now. The vehicles and gear were so basic, primitive even (there is durability in that though). Amazing where low pressure and picking a path can take you. Days when the first reaction when something broke or you were hopelessly bogged was to make a cup of tea and contemplate it at length first. No winch - axe and shovel. There was a couple with a Kombi I met in the most unusual places and I had a Toyota 4X4 you couldn't kill with a big stick.
It was the same on the property doing fencing or checking water and stock.
I have owned various vans, but enjoyed basic camping with a fly. Go light, take plenty of water and go most places. It is unfortunate that the last decade or so of largely sedentary work and long hours took some toll on flexibility.
So it will be a van or camper and do walks. I assume both of you are free to travel too?
To answer you question on being 'free' Nautilus, we are retired but that doesn't necessarily equate to 'being free', we have a good size family who are very close.
We don't travel with clubs, that can be too much of a tie, All the van trips we do are solo, but the desert ones we do with friends, we feel now that we are experienced enough to go solo out there if we want to, We don't carry a winch but we do carry good communications, ie Sat phone etc. When I was a kid we use to travel the Nullabor regularly as my parents family were all over SA so grew up with your kind of travel. Can't beat it really. We've also done the Canning Stock Route, that we did with a tag along, it was our first venture out in the outback.
Know what you mean about doing the same on the property, we didn't need any winches to get us out of bogs or difficult spots LOL.
We always went alone and enjoyed the solitude.
I haven't seen it. I know that if I raised an animal I would be unable to kill it--I would become to attached, but thats just me. However I am sure that animals killed in that way are treated in a much more human way than in abattoirs and such