Tasmanian Rabbit
The
Rabbit, easily identifiable by its large horizontal brown stripes and its
piercing, inchoate cry, has proven itself a nuisance to those attempting to
convert the island’s harsh and rugged forest into productive paddocks, fields
and swards. While it does not pray on crops or livestock – its natural diet is disease-carrying
insects snatched from the air and detritus from the soil – the Rabbit annoys
Tasmanians aesthetically, cluttering the landscape with unexpected appearances
and trampling over bush flower arrangements.
Deacon
Pilt of Murrumbidgee, who recently visited what is increasingly becoming known as
the ‘beet sugar isle’ due to its prosperous industries soon to rival the cane
sugar crops of the Kimberley, writes: ‘I disembarked at Strahan on the 10th,
a delightful town marred only by the presence of the radical Country Women’s
Association, a group apparently committed to establishing the right of women to
form an association which, by its very title, excludes the stronger sex.
‘Whilst walking
along the main street, I saw some unusual animals, striped horizontally in
brown and otherwise a sandy colour, catching mosquitoes. I inquired of a local
larrikin (ill-dressed in dungarees and carpet slippers) the exact nature of the
beast, to which he replied, “Them’s the Tasmanian Rabbit, surr. I can sell you
some pelts my family has varnished.’ I did not enquire where his kin had
varnished to, but instead bundled him into care lest he, too, should varnish.’
The
Tasmanian Rabbit doe has up to seven kittens at a litter, and carries them in a
pouch below her head for the first twelve months of their life. She nests at
ground level in the warm craters that dot the surface of Tasmania, while the
male brings her food which he regurgitates from a hollow inside his snout. The
kittens are mature at 17 months.
See also: Country Women’s Association,
Referendum on; Flower Arrangements; Strahan, Tas
1 comment:
Tremendous
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