Delights and Dangers of Wildlife - Safety in Northern Australia, South Africa and Singapore's Safari, and food, fur, and fashion in the USA and worldwide

 

Back garden in Hatch End, London, England, with two foxes. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Cahill crossing in Australia is notorious for its crocodiles. Just looking at the pictures puts me off. They are building a better crossing but meanwhile people are ignoring signs.

Looking closer, I see it is not a riverbank at all. It is a low crossing, a bit like stepping stones pushed together, enough for a tough car to drive acrosss, slowly.

Apparently one can got trapped in the river and the occupants had to swim past the cross to safety on dry land. Safety  from water the minute you are out of the water. But safety from crocodiles - only if you stand well back from the river!

In the UK earlier this year we received a parking fine, a sign hidden behind wheelie bins, in a road where other people parked. My husband had said: 'Everybody else is doing it.'

That doesn't defend one person from being endangered - or all of them.

Signs are not enough. Firstly, not everybody can read English. 

Secondly, not everybody can read. 

Thirdly, people think they can jump back, or believe crocodiles stay in the water and the edge. Children and adults don't realize the reptiles jump onto land. 

Fourthly, time to put up a barrier. If it is costly, find sponsors. 

It is natural to lean over water to have a look. Build viewing platforms with binoculars back from the edge. To make signs more effective, display statistics of people killed. Make fines for standing by the edge.

The signs don't protect you, if there is nowhere to retreat or stand safely. 

I walked along a boardwalk pier in Singapore. At intervals there were places where you could stop and look out. But crocodiles or other creatures could leap up. I never did that again. 

I can entertain myself, and grand children, eating ice cream or fruit and watching films. We don't need to run around crocodiles playing dare.

Eating Funny Food

I have eaten lots of funny food. Crocodile. In the USA . Was it the USA.  Yes, now I remember - they gave me a certificate to prove it!

Wichetty Grup In Australia

I tried wichetty grub soup  in a restaurant in Perth. Its selling point was the unusual foods.

South African Safari & Lion Park

I have been on a late evening Safaris (South Africa) where you see very little in the twilight.

At a lion park we were warned not to get out of our car. Afterwards, I researched.  I learned that a Japanese family had got out of their car to pose their children next to baby lions. Resulting in a human fatality.

Singapore farmed Crocodiles

I have been to a crocodile breeding farm in Singapore.

The Night Safari in Singapore is a compromise. The animals can roam freely. The pedestrian visitors are separated by a deep gorge. The travelling vehicle visitors are kept in moving and camouflaged trains. 

Camouflage clothes

Wearing Wild Animal Clothes

Useful Websites

Australian Museum Wichetty Grubs