S T A T I O N BOOK 2 Meet the Animals GROW WITH JOE CHILDREN S BOOKS Written & Illustrated By JP Stratton
Copyright 2016 JP Stratton All rights reserved. ISBN-10: 1539341070 ISBN-13: 978-1539341079
For Alannah and Little Joe. My inspiration Love always and forever.
BOOK 2 Meet the Animals
Welcome to Minnamoolka Station.
Hey, my name is Joe. This is my Mum and me. My family live on a remote cattle station. We have many furry, hairy, scaly, spikey and feathered friends on Minnamoolka Station. Though, it s best to remember some of the animals are not so friendly too.
Introducing Kai, the dog. When he was born, he was the runt of his litter. So small and ugly looking that others thought he wouldn t live. But my Mum took him in and gave him love and plenty of food. He loves his food! That s how he got his name. He grew big! The biggest of his litter and now he is the leader of the pack at Minnamoolka Station. All of the homestead animals look to Kai as their leader and protector.
Kai is my protector too.
This is Soot, the dog. She is all black and is hard to see at night when the lights are out. That s when she likes to play the surprise game. She sneaks up behind Mum and rubs her wet nose on Mum s leg! Yeehar, it always makes Mum jump!
This is Tag, the dog. She is black with white patches. Tag is Soot s sister. They are both from the same litter, even though they look and act different.
This is Blue, the dog. She is what s called a stumpy tail. That s because she was born with a stumpy tail, just like all the other dogs of her breed which is a Smithfield Blue Cattle Dog. Their tails have not been cut off like other breeds, their tails are naturally bobbed.
Introducing Wattlebar Golden Folklore! He is a young gelding horse. He follows Kai around everywhere. I m sure he believes he is a dog too. We call him Billy for short!
This is Romeo, the cat. He is in love with my Mum and is jealous of the attention she gives to all of the other animals. He knows he has to share her attention but he would prefer not to. He follows Mum around the house and garden. As do most of the other animals. It s so funny to see Mum walking around with cats, dogs, chickens, goats and Billy all following along behind!
This is Tiger, the cat. She is a lovable, playful cat who is constantly with Romeo but she keeps a little distance between them. Her favourite game is when she crouches down low, waiting for someone to come passed, then she jumps out with her arms and claws stretched out.
Then there is Lucky, the cat. She is lucky to be alive, being born a wild cat. My Mum found her as a very small kitten. She took her home and cared for her. Now Lucky is part of the family!
This is some of our chickens. We have a total of 10 hens and 1 rooster. Mum rescued each of the chickens from an egg production farm. When the chickens first arrived on the station they struggled to stand on their feet. They were so used to being caged they didn t know how to use their legs and feet. Each day on the station, under Mum s care, they grew stronger. Now they run around free and happy but when Mum is outside they follow her everywhere. We have happy chickens who lay lots of eggs for us to eat.
We also have 2 ducks. Daisy and Dolores. Daisy is the white and black duck and Dolores is the grey and white one. They usually hang out together and love swimming in the pond or getting wet under the sprinkler. Their eggs are hard to find because they like to hide them. So we have to follow them around the yard to find out where they lay them.
This is William, the billy-goat.
And his mate Kate, the nanny-goat. We use the goats for milk and food. The goats eat all of the weed areas throughout the station.
These two oinkers are Pea and Ink, the pigs. They are both females. A female pig is called a sow. We breed the pigs for food. They have a good life and boy do they love to eat! Pigs aren t fussy eaters, they eat everything we give them.
This is Bangerang, the bull. Mum hand reared him from a small calf. His breed is an Ultra Red. He comes when his name is called and he will follow Mum around if she is in the paddock with him. He loves to rub his head up her back and when Mum scratches his ears he leans so far to the side he looks like he will fall over.
COWS! We have lots and lots of cows, calves, steers and bulls. We have breeding stock that are sometimes given names, like Bangerang. But the rest of the cattle are bred for food so when they grow, big, strong and healthy they are sold for meat. Their meat is made into steak, roasts, hamburgers and sausages that can be purchased at your local butcher or supermarket.
This stock breed is Brahman. All Brahman have droopy ears, a hump above the shoulders and the loose folds of skin hanging down from their neck is called a dewlap. Brahman cattle like tropical humid and subtropical dry areas so they do well in the hotter areas of Queensland.
These are pademelons. They are a native animal to Australia and are much smaller than a wallaby. Pademelons are marsupials and just like wallabies and kangaroos, they have a small pouch in the lower part of their belly where they keep their babies. The pademelons live very close to the homestead. Some of them have made their home under the homestead. Pademelons are supposed to be shy but we see these guys out and about on dusk, eating the grass and trying to get into Mum s garden. We also hear them at night, running around and playing on the roof of the cottage.
When danger is near, like a snake, fox or bird of prey, pademelons use their back legs to thump the ground so they can warn others in the group to stay alert. There are also kangaroos and wallabies that live on the station but not close to the homestead.
There are all sorts of reptiles on the station. Snakes and lizards, big and small. Dangerous and not so dangerous. Mum has placed solar snake repellant vibrators around the yard. The vibrators send pulses through the ground which seem to keep all of the dangerous snakes away from the homestead and cottage. The vibrators don t work on the pythons because they climb through the trees and structures above the ground. Mum finds the baby pythons everywhere and she occasionally finds the real big ones too. She catches them and relocates them far away from the homestead.
This is a carpet python. They can grow very long here. The biggest Mum has caught was almost 4 metres. She says their favorite food is the pademelons.
This is a blue tongue lizard. And, yes, they have a blue tongue.
This is a goanna. They grow to about 2 metres in length. Their tail is longer than their body, and is usually about 1.4 metres long. We often see one hanging around the chook shed. Goannas love to eat eggs. So it s important that we collect the eggs each morning before the goanna comes looking.
In north Queensland we don t have four seasons. If we are lucky, we have a wet season over the summer and the rest of the year is dry and warm. During a good wet season the Minnamoolka lake becomes full. It has had very little water in it over the last couple of years because there has been a drought. The lake attracts all manner of water birds and insects too. The birds line the shore and the trees to hunt for food and nest to have their young. The lake and its visitors also attract the fresh water Crocodiles.
Have a look at the Australian wood cockroach Mum caught the other day! They sure are big!
This is a blue winged kookaburra. We like the kookaburras and butcher birds because they kill and eat snakes and other nasty critters around the homestead and cottage. When we have baby chickens, it s important to keep them safe because the kookaburras and butcher birds like them too.
This is a galah. They are one of the many types of cockatoo we see at the station. The galah, like many cockatoos, hang out in large groups.
This is a red tailed black cockatoo. They live up in the trees, spend most of the day feeding and can be very noisy.
This is an Australian bustard, also referred to as a plains turkey. They are a ground bird (like the emu) that grow to 1 metre tall. We see lots of them roaming the station paddocks.
We also see all manner of pests that endanger or kill our animals, eat our grass and feed. These animals also have an adverse effect on the environment. Feral pigs, wild dogs, wild brumbies, feral cats, and cane toads. We also see quite a few dingoes. This is a feral boar. See his big tusks! They use them to gore anything that threatens them and gets close. They can be very dangerous!
With all of these guys gathered around, Mum must be close by. Maybe she is looking for me? It s time to go! Goodbye, from Minnamoolka Station
ALSO BY JP STRATTON Grow with Joe Children s Books MINNAMOOLKA STATION SERIES - Say G day (Book 1) - Count with Kai (Book 3) Books for Grown Ups SERENITY A BOOK OF POETRY AND PAINTING Paintings and merchandise by JP Stratton Refer to websites; www.pixels.com/artists/joan+stratton/grow with joe children s books www.paintingsbyjoan.com www.facebook.com/growwithjoechildrensbooks