Hill billy capers

[Outlaw Yogi]

+ Fred & Kato #4 [@25%].JPG

I've told numerous people, generally newcomers to my area, "everything takes time in the bush".
That applies to just about everything, from cooking dinner by fire to obtaining
materials to build structures, or whatever the desired project.
But for me personally, life seems to running a quick pace.

I had a dog baiting problematic neighbour to deal with, but it turns out he has about
half a dozen people I know of out to get him, and at least as many I don't know after
him as well. He's currently in hiding and his property unattended. Fusswit and Scrubber
took off just prior to the full moon. So I'll have to wait for a bit if I want to put
his head on a stick.

While not yet given the all clear, it now seems very unlikely I have lung cancer, despite
dropping 9 kilos in weight.
I have an oval shaped cavity (eaten away) in my lung about the size of two five cent
pieces side by side, and an infected area about the size of a small fist surrounding it.
If I was still coughing blood and smoking the quak says he would suspect cancer and refer
me to a respitory specialist. So I've forked out for a second $60 worth of antibiotics
and will have another CT scan in November.

My gold dust particle extraction project is on hold till I dig and construct a cool dark
place to run my bucket reactor. According to research via my dictionary of science, some
of the nitric and hydrochloric acid mixes I wish to test are highly volatile. Some catch
fire if heated, and one I'll probably avoid, explodes if light is shone on it.

I've been invited to join a pig dog breeding business. While there are two people who
know the terrain better than I, one is an 87 year old cow cocky who's not into hunting,
and the other is a 60 something year old Vietnam vet with a bung foot. So I'm the only
one fit and motivated enough to train these dogs.

My 1st student is Kato (5 month old Kelpie) who I run with my assistant Fred ( my 3/4 red
cattle & 1/4 Koolie, which everyone says looks like a Dingo [2 of which say have had him
in their rifle sights] or Red dog from some movie with the same name). My 2nd student is
General (4 month old Pitbull) and my 3rd student is Horse (3 month old Great dane X
American bulldog). Apparently there are Wolf hound and Mastif pups coming soon and my class
will number about 15 dogs.

The breeder and his cohorts have come from out north west to my area for several reasons.
One is their former base is Pavovirus infected and they lost 3 valuable pups. Another is the
steep rugged scrubby and forested terrain here, as opposed to flat red bulldust plains.
And another is because the pigs here are genuine bush pigs.

As I've informed numerous would be pig hunters previously, "the pigs here are really fit, they
carry no fat at all, they're not the sort of pigs you can put on a spit for a party, you
have to boil/stew them if you want to eat them. They run fast and fight hard."
The boss of this crew has apparently hunted my area before and says he came here for the
challege. Telling his mates back home "these aren't crop pigs, these pigs will kill your dog"

It seems I got the job (commission on sale of dogs + share of accessories & paraphernalia
sold to the public) because most would be pig hunters are opportunists who sit in their
truck or on a quad bike, where as all my kills have been on foot. Hunting from vehicles is
fine if you've got open ground, but try that in the hills and you'll wind up over a cliff,
stuck on a rock or log, or spike your tyres on logs in the long grass.

This crew also want me to help them make pig hunting videos, similar to those made by Bloom
brother's 'Get amoungst it productions' with bloopers and foul ups included. I suspect this
may be the most lucrative aspect of the project. And now that I think about it, is probably
one of if not the prime reason for coming to my area, because realistically, who wants to
watch vids of people hunting from a truck?. I have been given a copy of a Bloom brothers
vid - 'Aussie dogs Vs American hogs'- Doggin' Boars 4 - but am yet to view it as the CD/DVD
draw on my laptop is jammed. I have been shown short clips online via bloombrothers.com.au
and am told Bloom brothers have bought dogs from this crew previously.
To date the only hunting video I have seen is 'Life's a Boar 4' and was unimpressed with
the Kiwi style of hunting, where they wear the pig down til too axhausted to fight back and
then shoot it at close range with a lever action 30/30.

Cosmic K9 man! .. have done a few training sessions with the pig dogs and now a Greyhound
breder/racer about 15 or 20 km up the road rang/phoned and wants me to help him too.
See what happens on thursday.

Meanwhile it's still stinking hot and the whole area is tinder dry, ready for a fire storm.
The phukwit fire warden only gave himself permits to burn his crown land catle leases when
conditions were suitable, putting everyone else at risk for the sake of his precious grass.
I took some blokes for a hunt along Gin Gin Ck in a state forest he has a catle lease on
about 6 weeks ago, leaving their ute on the side of the road near a side creek for easy
access, and he left yet another 'NO PIG HUNTING' note on the vehicle. This time actually
claiming the state forest is 'private property'. He must think no one can read a map and
doesn't seem to realise we know his semi literate threats are all bluff. I considerd ringing
him up and asking if he'd like to buy a national park.
Unfortunately for him Forestries can do as they please. I hunted a creek in a different part
of the same state forest thursday morning that is being converted into a national park, and
portions of it were still smoldering. Meaning they've torched it within the last week or two.
Which is good, because it makes it much easier to penetrate Lantana and scrubby undergrowth.

+ [HBC] Pups 26 (@25%).JPG

[Outlaw Yogi]

Who's a pretty boy?

+ [HBC] King parrot 21 (@25%).JPG

As for critter wars, the area has been invaded by annoyingly noisy Kukoos from Sulewasi.
The Crows are busy chasing the males around while the females sneak in and drop eggs in their
nests. Generally I would favour anything that gave the Crows a hard time, like my organic
burgular alarms - Noisy Minahs and Blue face Honey eaters (who do battle daily) but these
Kukoos are just as if not more irritating than the Crows, so I fire marbles from my slingshot
at them til they move on.
Recently I had a heap of Red tail Black cockies defoliating my Bloodwoods, but I like them,
as opposed to the feral invading Sulfur crested White cockies who rip off and mutilate my fruit.
I did have Galahs try to move in and take over the Rainbow Lorikeets holes/nest but I killed one
and the rest moved on.

This is Fluff the ...

+ Bearded Dragon 13 [cut @ 50%].JPG

.. who lives by the road.

Gotcha!

+ Bait thief 2 [25%].JPG

[Super Nova]

Yogi,

You are one hard core bushie.

Great photos.

[Outlaw Yogi]

I'll take that as a compliment.

Whenever I get the $#!+s or cranky because something's not working out the way I want or whatever, and start mumbling and grumbling "I'm sick of this $#!+" blah blah whinge gripe, I have to pull myself up and ask "What is the alternative, where am I going to go?" .. I don't like city/urban life, the rules and restrictions that come with it, the responsibilities, crowds, traffic, ect ect ... so figure I've got it as good as it gets.

[Outlaw Yogi]

Baby Tawny Frog mouth 10 (@25%).jpg

Seems my comment about life running a quick pace was more accurate than I anticipated.
The pig dog training turned out to be rather short lived. Not through any fault of mine,
but rather the character who made the offer can't make up his mind from one day to the
next what he wants to do, as his plans seem to change daily. I suspected as much the
second time he organised a hunt but didn't show up, and a neighbor who's known him for
quite some time warned me of his unreliability. But like I said to a jeleous pig hunting
arm chair expert (in Bundy) slagging him off without ever meeting him "I'll give anybody
a chance to prove themself, even that ex junkie down the road". I feel embarrassed for all
the people he's got running around working on the details regarding this supposed pig dog
business when ultimately it's all going to amount to nothing, or "pie in the sky" as a
neighbor predicted.

The character in question and his cohort couldn't get Kato (the Kelpie pup) to respond to
commands. I spent a week on him, and within three days I had that Kelpie cattle proofed,
that is he could be skitched onto cattle and then be recalled. This character took a
bulldozing job up north, and left his cohort in charge of the dogs. He had asked if I'd take
his mate's place, but I said "I don't mind training these dogs, but I'm not going to be
responsible for them 24/7". I showed his mate my techniques and left him to it when the
antibiotics I was on seem to induce sun burn at the extremities - hands, feet
(blistered toes) and top of head. In my absence his mate clearly failed to follow up the
training, as two weeks later while on a break from the bulldozing, he said "I'm going to
shoot Kato tomorrow, won't do as he's told". Fortunately a neighbor has taken the pup,
and just as well, because there's nothing wrong with that dog. He just needs someone to
spend time with him.

It's been really hot and dry for months, so there's been no pigs about, but a bit over a
week ago the rains started. On average we're getting good rain roughly every second night.
Couple of days ago I found fresh pig diggings in the state forest out the back, and horse
dung right beside it, meaning the cow cockie lease holder had riden through.
I mentioned this to someone and they said the pig dog breeder claimed to have recently seen
pigs near the bridge over Gin Gin Ck accompanied by a white horse. But as I said to someone
else Saturday morning "I don't believe a horse would be getting around with these pigs,
next they'll be telling me there's also a monkey and a Japanese girl dressed as a Buddhist
monk with them too".

I went for a hunt Friday, through the forest and into an adjoining crown land cattle and
forestry lease. Didn't find any pigs, just timber cutters/forestry workers.
While up on a ridge I spotted a reasonable sized bush fire to the north. So when I got home
after a 12-15 km walk and seeing the valley choked with smoke, I went for a drive to find what
part of our hypocritical fire warden's lease was ablaze. I found the fire, so snuck into another
part of his lease to get a view from above, and found another logging site. When they're
finished I'll return to scavenge their left overs/off cuts for fire wood.

[mantra]

While not yet given the all clear, it now seems very unlikely I have lung cancer, despite
dropping 9 kilos in weight.
I have an oval shaped cavity (eaten away) in my lung about the size of two five cent
pieces side by side, and an infected area about the size of a small fist surrounding it.
If I was still coughing blood and smoking the quak says he would suspect cancer and refer
me to a respitory specialist. So I've forked out for a second $60 worth of antibiotics
and will have another CT scan in November.

That's good news Hoppy. If you have to smoke - use filters and find less intrusive ways of letting toxins get to your lungs. Still the antibiotics might kick in - sometimes it takes a while until you find the right one.

I would take notice of the doctor's advice though. You need to look after yourself for a while yet before you think everything is mended.

The character in question and his cohort couldn't get Kato (the Kelpie pup) to respond to
commands. I spent a week on him, and within three days I had that Kelpie cattle proofed,
that is he could be skitched onto cattle and then be recalled.

Kato the Kelpie is very cute and looks intelligent. Kelpies are such hyperactive dogs, yet so many people keep them chained up in suburbia. Fred looks like a nice dog.

I showed his mate my techniques and left him to it when the
antibiotics I was on seem to induce sun burn at the extremities - hands, feet
(blistered toes) and top of head. In my absence his mate clearly failed to follow up the
training, as two weeks later while on a break from the bulldozing, he said "I'm going to
shoot Kato tomorrow, won't do as he's told". Fortunately a neighbor has taken the pup,
and just as well, because there's nothing wrong with that dog. He just needs someone to
spend time with him.

I'm glad there was a happy ending.

[Neferti]

While not yet given the all clear, it now seems very unlikely I have lung cancer, despite
dropping 9 kilos in weight.
I have an oval shaped cavity (eaten away) in my lung about the size of two five cent
pieces side by side, and an infected area about the size of a small fist surrounding it.
If I was still coughing blood and smoking the quak says he would suspect cancer and refer me to a respitory specialist. So I've forked out for a second $60 worth of antibiotics
and will have another CT scan in November.

That's good news Hoppy. If you have to smoke - use filters and find less intrusive ways of letting toxins get to your lungs. Still the antibiotics might kick in - sometimes it takes a while until you find the right one.

I would take notice of the doctor's advice though. You need to look after yourself for a while yet before you think everything is mended.

Yogi already gave up smoking, Mantra. He told us ages ago! Are you still smoking, Mantra? A little hypocritical if you are still puffing away and giving out advice to others, hey?

[Neferti]

Glad that you are doing OK, Yogi. The lung thing sounds a little odd, plus the weight loss. Keep seeing the Dr and maybe even get a second opinion?

[Outlaw Yogi]

Kato the Kelpie is very cute and looks intelligent. Kelpies are such hyperactive dogs, yet so many people keep them chained up in suburbia..

He's smart enough. Quite long legged for a Kelpie, and very agile/nimble. He'll make someone a good mate/buddy.

Fred looks like a nice dog. .

He is, and really clever too. Plus he charms all the girls.

I'm glad there was a happy ending.

Me too.

[Outlaw Yogi]

Glad that you are doing OK, Yogi. The lung thing sounds a little odd, plus the weight loss. Keep seeing the Dr and maybe even get a second opinion?

Thanks Neferti. The doc explained cancer/tumor is an extra growth where as I have a cavity .. y'know sort of like an ulcer.

Tried getting appointments, but couldn't get an appropriate one. I will sooner or later, but feel fine. And sort of figure if I keep up the nutrients and vitamin C in particular, plus stay of the smokes, I'll be fine.