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Glow in the dark Scorpions
August 5, 2021When the sun goes down in the Australian outback a completely new suite of animals come out of hiding. This includes Urodacus macrurus, a large (up to 10cm in length) species of scorpion that occurs throughout central Queensland. These scorpions avoid the harsh sun during the day bunkered down in their burrow. Instead, they prefer… Read more »
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Life’s Never Boring – Drought and Hopeful for Flooding Rains
September 17, 2020Well after droughts, bushfires and a bit of relief from rain in March it is time to put the fingers to the keyboard and catch up on some overdue ramblings. Around Roma, Queensland we’ve had a lucky reprieve from one of the worst droughts ever according to families that have lived in the district for… Read more »
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When in Roma – Outback Queensland
June 29, 2020If you’re heading out to Roma and wanting the real country town experience, here are a few things you won’t want to miss! Get amongst the early morning country air on a Tuesday or Thursday and head out to the Roma Saleyards for a guided tour of the largest cattle selling centre in Australia. Make… Read more »
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Christmas Surprise
September 6, 2018When I was twelve, not unlike any other Christmas morning, we jumped out of bed and raced to open presents from under the tree. Unbeknownst to us, while the door had been left open the previous day, a goanna had moseyed inside looking for a cool spot to escape the summer heat. After a few presents… Read more »
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Life is Never Boring – Red Kangaroo
August 2, 2018A couple of nights ago our dogs started to off their rocker in the middle of the night – something was amiss outside. After rolling out of bed and grabbing a torch off I toddle half awake to see what all the commotion was about. And wouldn’t you know it there was a Red Kangaroo… Read more »
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Life is Never Boring – Echidna
May 3, 2018Ever had one of those weekends when you thought you would do “this” and you ended up doing “that”. It happens plenty of times at our place. My son and I were going to do some concreting first thing – cement in some posts for an outdoor gym he was creating. Craig, my husband, was… Read more »
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Life is Never Boring – Flood Gates
April 19, 2018I ducked out to the farm recently (about 40kms north of Roma, Queensland), it was a beautiful early morning trip to check on the cattle, see how the grass was growing after the beautiful rain we had received and to see how our flood gates were holding up. Flood gates are the fences we put… Read more »
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Life is Never Boring – Mustering
April 12, 2018Recently, I spent a couple of days mustering cattle to treat them for Buffalo Fly. The buffalo fly, Haematobia irritans exigua, is a small biting fly 3.5 – 4 mm long. They feed off cattle and buffalo (hence their name), and cause irritation which can result in reduced production, if cattle are heavily infested. They… Read more »
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Life is Never Boring – Part One
March 8, 2018Hi, I’m Meryl. I live on the outskirts of a country town called Roma in Outback Queensland. Between my family, the farm, running an ecological consulting business, ecotour business, and community interests, life is never boring. This is the beginning of my Blog, as I aim to share with you weekly some of the day… Read more »