Ronan and Tayla update

Well, little Ronan and Tayla have grown heaps. From a starting weight of 250g when I first took them in, Ronan is now a whopping 1.65kg. Tayla has always been slightly bigger and she is now 1.75kg, They should grow to be about 9kg and 7kg respectively.

Bottle feeding hasn't been necessary for the past few weeks, they eat mostly meat and lap up their milk supplement from a bowl. Caring for them has become a lot more fun and a lot less work since stopping the bottle feeds. They have all of their teeth now and their jaws are strong enough now to crunch bones, which means that they are pretty much ready to live outside full time and be treated almost like adult devils. So, on Thursday, if everything goes according to plan, they will be moving out to Cressy full time. They will still get special treatment, of course, with bowls of milk every day, the best bits of meat, and lots of enrichments. Their enclosure is nearly set up ready for them and I built them a special nest box last week. They love being outside at Cressy in their day pen while I'm at work so I'm pretty sure they will love their new place. Its about 4 times bigger than their day pen so it'll be the biggest space they have ever seen. I'm glad I'll get to visit them all the time at work, though, because I am so going to miss having them at home.

Anyway, this video was taken a week ago at Mum and Dad's, When I'm visiting my parents, the kids hang out in our old rabbit cage outside. Eggs are both one of their favourite toys and one of their favourite foods, so even though they were both very sleepy, they came out and played with the egg for the camera.

A tale of two stories

Reader's Digest is having a competition for writers to enter stories of exactly 100 words (no more, no less). Tiani introduced me to the idea and has entered a story of her own, and I decided that it might be a fun challenge. And a challenge it was, but I've ended up with two potential entries. The first is an abridged version of a story I wrote a few mon ths back, the second one is an original story written specifically for the competition. I can't choose between the two. So, which do you think I should enter?

Story 1:

She lay flat on the ground deep in the Tasmanian bush. A mosquito landed on her, but she didn’t dare swat it. This mission was more important than a few mosquito bites. She heard a noise close by, but it was merely a wallaby. She watched as it turned and fled as somewhere overhead the alarm call of a honeyeater rang out. Then she saw it. She made an effort to calm herself; she couldn’t afford to miss. She carefully took aim, and breathed out…“Click!” …The thylacine ran, but she had the shot. She had photographic proof; the thylacine lives.

Story 2:

She strode purposefully into the store, preceded only by her ample bosom. Not again. Paul attempted to hide behind the counter, but it was too late. Why did she always come into the store when the shop girls were on lunch break?

“That bracelet broke the first time I wore it.” She waved the string of beads in front of him accusingly as she spoke. His mind flashed back to the way it had been stretched to fit around her thick wrist, but he knew better than to point it out.

“Yes, Mother, I’ll get you another one.” He said.

Also, I challenge you to come up with one of your own (especially Rob).