I put a snake through the header yesterday, didnt do him much good I would imagine,

this morning I came across an echidna, about three parts grown, he came out from under the semi and just looked up at me

I picked him up, he didnt even try to ball up, I poured him a cupfull of water, sat him up on the tray, gave him the water and he drank a fair bit  (little feller was parched)

I rang the office to see whether the regional sales rep was off to clare as yet and as luck would have it he had not left, I gave him the little bloke to take down to the other side of clare in amongst the brush where I have seen echidnas on many occasions, so he is off to better pastures

he/she woke up in the outback, gonna go to sleep in the cool recess of the clare valley, we dont get many of these little fellers up here, too hot for them,

I wish him/her well

good onya Dave. Johnw

"I came across an echidna, about three parts grown" Which three parts were grown DaveO ?? Lucky he didn't curl up or you would have felt a right prick eh?? Onya for looking after the little guy.

his head, a couple of legs and a dangly bit at the end which I didnt want to look too hard at, he's actually not the first, a few years ago I found a turtle in the same paddock, nearest creek would be 30 km's away, sent him down the adelaide hills to a dam

Well done Dave! It's a great feeling to care for our wildlife. Are there wildlife carers in your district around Pirie? If you don't have a chance to take the animals to a better place they will come and pick the animal up, make sure it's well and unharmed, and then they relocate it. It's a great service, all done by volunteers, once again. You done good. I guess it broke the monotony of lining up at the silos, or do they handle the grain quicker these days? Lucky you don't suffer with hay fever.

I dont haul the grain anymore, the powers that be reckon I'm a looney, or words to that effect, and took my ha licence away, I'm on the harvester full time wildlife rescuers are in the area but they just give them a drink or whatever and release them back where they come from, I like "relocation" for them which they disaprove of, it must be a better life for them surely, beats the hell out of living out here, given a choice I wouldnt live out here

I spent over 16 years supporting RSPCA.as an acting ranger volunteer..in those years I was involved with a Conservation Society....looking after sick and injured birds...theres nothing like...after caring for a Brown Falcon....with broken wing and foot........to get it ring tagged and opening a carry box in the wild.......and see it ....jump out ..stretch its wings and take off....circle me few times .screeech..and fly away.. Davo.....I know how you feel Mate Dave

in this world of ME, ME, ME! it's good to give a little back and you're right it's a great lift to anyones day, I've finished my lunch, had my yak! patted the little sleepy that's taken up residence under the shade of the chaser, gave him a little drink, we'll put him in a safe place before we shift the unit, probably under the tree over there by a mob of boulders, should be happy there my mate/boss is 60 something, 6' 4" (same as me) weighs about the same as me, (too much), brought up "old school" same as me, god help anyone who harms a feather or hair or scale on anything within his viewing range, he'd go spare if he seen the snake go into the header anyway it's back on the platform with a spring in my step, which will last about ten minutes!

Hi Dave Had to go out & install a new drum & concave plus a new set of elevator bars to a Massey Ferguson 585 header a long time ago, The driver had chased a small fox into the centre of the paddock & put him threw on the last pass. Very expensive exercise. I think he thought it was funny until the drum belt started to smoke..... Just went past the paddock you are working in at the moment & saw an echidna family putting up a small notice on the gate post, It said something about their son had been kidnapped by some guy driving a header & was then passed on to a bloke in a car who then drove off at great speed. I told them their son was now holidaying in sunny Clare & not to worry... LOL

Nice picture Biggles. I hope you're going to keep that story and build on it. It would make a great read in a children's book that adults can read. I'm not sure about relocating from their territory, but I guess it's the preferred option to passing through the header comb. Ouch! I'm sure the little guy will happily ever after in his new location. Better safe than road/header kill.

Lovely story Dave, I love those little beasties, they are so adorable, spines and all.

Shame about the Snake, but thank you for the Echidna,  Dave. Unfortunately I see far too many of them as roadkill up here in Qld.
Cheers,
xina.

-- Edited by xina on Friday 30th of October 2009 07:31:21 PM

yep I seen mum and dad echidna's this morning, they were sitting under the shade of a tree in their lielows sucking on a cascade, they just give me the "thumbs up" as I drove past, a big smile on their face, seems little "spike" was a handfull in amongst the wildlife I remember the 585, a good machine, cant compare it with the Deere though, all manual on the massey but pretty much all auto on this thing, no changing sieves or screens or straw walkers its all done by computer, dont even have to worry about the fan speed all taken care of dial in the crop and all is set, we have stone excluders on the comb which keeps out anything bigger than fist size, a pain sometimes if we go a bit quick through the thicker stuff (they can block up) but a godsend when we have to get a bit low

I see you're still a big softie Dave, dont ever change mate!! stop working so hard!! we got the kettle on when you're ready!

Back in the good old days, when the men were men & the sheep were nervous, no such thing as an airconditioned cab back then, had the big Massey Ferguson Beach umbrella - red & grey.
The only thing to quench your thirst was when the truck eventially got back from the silo in town with a dozen long necked Melbourne Bitters. Jees that truck looked good coming in the gate.........

-- Edited by biggles on Saturday 31st of October 2009 05:19:44 PM

yep, hell, forgot about that bloody umbrella, the bosses missus nicked it and put it in the back garden so she could have her tea in the shade (i was working for a mongrel at that time) we used to carry the cold water esky thingy, the one with the cup on the top, still got one now but in those days she used to get a hiding bouncing around on the platform she got a crack in her one day and I spilt diesel on the platform and it ate the foam interior of the container, hot water was all I had for a 15 hour period in 45 degree's with a norwesterly which lifted all the cut stalks, dust and chaff up to me, not pleasant but I guess that what builds "character", these days I would much rather this thing with all the comforts of home in the cab, including cd sound surround and mobile internet, hell how things have changed 42 foot swipes instead of 14, no manual changes needed from crop to crop

back when my mums dad was alive and they lived on the old farm, they didn't even have tractors

I still have a scar [minute now,] on my right foot, where Dads' Draught Horse [used for ploughting,] very gently put her hoof on my foot. Cheers, Gayle.

my parents owned a milk round/dairy cattle/and mixed cropping land, I came in at the end of the "horse" era (thank god) I could never get the "knack" of handling horses, if ploughing was to be done then there was a certain horse that would only work in the "trench" and would not work on the "uphill" side of the cut, another was the "leader" and would not work anywhere else, get it wrong and mayhem would be sure to follow, traces and bridles would be strewn all over the joint, with hours of recovery to follow it took half an hour to get the nags ready and a further hour to feed wash and groom them every night to put them to bed, also about three hours every weekend cutting the chaff for them, a filthy job I had to ride a horse out checking stock and water, at every gate there would be a problem, the damn thing would wait until we were at the furthest gate, then a little rattling of the chain on the gate and the damn thing would bolt leaving me to walk about 10 miles back to the homestead where I would still have to see to the horse before myself I never liked horses, cantankerous, obnoxious, self effacing mongrel mobile glue pots, they bight at one end, kick at the other and buck in the middle we had one that would wait till your back was turned and then come over and bight right in the centre of your shoulders, hell it hurt, I actually punched the thing once right on the nose one day, didn't stop it but made me feel better for a little while, another used to deliberately line up your feet and stomp on them, or stand on them as you were getting them ready for the days work, I carry many scars from those days we had a couple of lovely mares that wouldn't harm a fly, they sort of made up for the rest I much prefer the "machine age", I was really glad to see the first of two Minneapolis Moline (twin city's) tractors to come on the back of the truck, the first was a steel wheel and the second a pneumatic tyre, then came the 12 row seeder and many other mechanical marvels, the "sp" header was an absolute dream, no more PTO sore neck ones horseys went the way of all of the nineteenth century ways, thank god

See, sometimes progress is a good thing. It reminds me of cooking on a wood stove vs gas or electric. Bring logs in from the scrub block, saw to lengths, chop to size and stack in the wood shed. Cut lengths of wattle wood, saw, split and stack for kindling. One of my jobs was stacking, and then each day bringing the wood in for the wood box in the corner of the kitchen. Start the fire, keep it burning, get the heat right for cooking - roasting, baking or frying. Ah, the good old days ........ like bl....dy hell! The only thing I enjoy the old fashioned way is manners and respect, with a large dose of discipline and self control.

Why can't I edit my Post? Is it because I signed Gayle instead of xina?

That shouldn't be it Gayle/Xina. I don't know if it's a matter of the time elapsed between ending the first reply and trying to edit it. It doesn't matter. Just put a correction or addition in another reply box. Not a biggy.

the good old days are good in memory and thats about all, those that went through them are more than happy to see them in the mirrors hell I remember 12 - 15 hour days and seven day weeks, lunch taken on the go and no breaks, heeeeeyyyyy!!!! wait a minute, nothing has changed, something wrong here!!!

You have to join the union Dave to get the "softer options". Or, you have to have a workplace agreement - that ought to do it. But you have to meet the essential criteria, have a certificate, and comply to the duty statement or job description. Oh, that's right. You're not a pubic serpent. Ooops! I mean public servant.

we now have a whistling kite taken up vigil on our chaser bin, we leave water out for it and it grabs the mice and lizards that run out from under the harvester, it got a little bunny this morning, when we stop for a cuppa it lands and has a drink with us not twenty feet away, it just waits until we fire up again then it circles the header until something runs out, if mother nature keeps this up we will need bigger water containers a great thing to watch!