My son Rowan, at the age of three, was made a "little daddy" by his elder
semi-traditional Aboriginal brother who handed Rowan his new born son.
Rowan was expected to help raise the little boy, a task he gladly took on.
Rowan was three at the time. This is how my relatives have taught their
kids over tens of thousands of years to become competent parents and
responsible, members of society.
Such responsibility teaches kids to regulate their own behaviour. Let me
give you an example. A couple of years later he caught Jethro swearing.
Realising that the little boy had learned the word from him, Rowan modified
his language.
Rowan also learned from his relatives not to "waste" life. At eight his
best friend's father was a game fisherman with several world records. Then
one day Rowan suddenly identified with the mullet he was using as live
bait. From that moment on his friend's father looked like a pygmy in
stature.
Rowan, like all my children, has python dreaming. This means he is related
to that group of snakes. Not only must he care for them but he must look
after their habitat. Aged five he broke his heart over a python hit by a
car, and dying. He didn't see her as the anonymous victim of a speeding
car, but his sister.
He called himself a snake until he was seven, stopping only because his
classmates made fun of him.
Once a young friend of Rowan's was threatened in the street by a drunken
soldier armed with a knife. Rowan, then fifteen, stepped between them and
saved the boy. He disarmed another drunk who tried to kill his Aboriginal
brother and then went down and calmed the mob downstairs. He was 17 at the
time.
I have absolutely no doubt that Rowan would have stepped in to protect the
bird.
Oh, by the way, we have a dog.
Denise Lawungkurr Maralngnurra/Goodfellow
on 16/2/08 6:38 AM, Cliff & Dianne Dent at wrote:
> These kids probably came from dog owning families and would have similar
> values to their parents.
> They do not think the law applies to them.
>
> Cliff Dent
> Terrigal, NSW
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of inger vandyke
> Sent: Saturday, 16 February 2008 7:49 AM
> To: ; birdingaus
> Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] Bush stone curlew in Five Dock
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> Sadly dogs aren't the only worries for Bush Stone Curlews.
>
> As an occasional carer for wild birds in North Queensland it saddened me to
> see more than just the isolated case of a bush stone curlew being injured by
> humans.
>
> The worst case I heard of? A group of primary school kids took it upon
> themselves to 'stone' a nesting female curlew which left her blind, wounded
> and unable to look after her newly hatched chicks. All of them died in the
> end.
>
> Why in the world would anyone do that?
>
> People are selfish in that they complain about the noise these birds make at
> night. Their series of haunting whistles is an iconic sound of the forest
> in parts of North Queensland. Perhaps this bird woke someone up at night?
> Justification for that type of treatment? I think not. I was appalled.
>
> This incident occurred around 12 or so years ago on the Northern Beaches of
> Cairns where Bush Stone Curlews have taken to nesting in people's garden
> beds including mine which has always made me happy. To walk through a
> resort in Palm Cove and see a nesting curlew in the mulch is lovely. They
> camouflage themselves well, but obviously not well enough for some to seek
> them out and hurt them.
>
> I wonder that the increase in dog ownership on the Northern Beaches hasn't
> affected more of them as no matter how good they are able to camouflage
> themselves, dogs will find them simply out of smell.
>
> It is such a shame to see a really charismatic bird targeted on several
> fronts. Inger Vandyke Natural History Writer and Photographer Publicity
> Officer - Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association (SOSSA) Mob: 0402 286
> 437 www.ingervandyke.com > Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:56:28 +1100> Subject:
> Re: [Birding-Aus] Bush stone curlew in Five Dock> From:
> > To: > > Hello,> >
> Tragic story, hardly atypical. As anyone with half an eye can attest,> this
> happens every ten minutes and more across the continent (and much> further
> afield of course). Sadly most twitchers are not there to witness> such
> events.> > Council environment officers being in a position to actually
> police the> actions of dog owners is probably a fantasy that belongs deep in
> the past,> if there ever was a time when such an idea was a possibility.> >
> Dogs and their owners OWN the continent effectively: in the Hunter region,>
> for example, they occupy every single space, from bushland to parkland,>
> beaches to national parks and of course their own little ³private²>
> off-leash areas. Nothing is "policed" and probably never was: yet we have>
> people like Adrian Franklin and many more academics asserting that the>
> "eco-nationalists" are waging a war that might best be described as>
> "species-cleansing" based on their ecologicaly fascistic fantasies.> > Funny
> old world.> > cheers> > Craig> Hunter region> > > > Alistair et al> >> >
> Perhaps in situations like this we should be more "proactive" (I hate that>
>> word). We could have alerted Council's environment officer when the bird>
>> turned up and alerted him/her to the danger of dog attack. Then a ranger>
>> may have been posted to police dogs off leashes (against the law except
> in> > some areas). Wise in hindsight but a lesson for the future maybe.> >
> Apologies in advance to anyone who may have taken such action.> >> > Paul>
|
