A near cousin of the common household Koalas, that many Australians have domesticated, this creature has the title of being the largest carnivorous marsupial, (the Tasmanian Tiger now being extinct, and the ferocious Sharwombat, the legendary half shark half wombat having been debunked as a myth.) left in the wild. The two animals, (the Koala, and the Drop Bear) share many similarities, both live in trees and share the same basic appearance, though the Koala is much smaller and more docile a creature, while the drop bear is a ferocious and deadly animal.

The name Drop Bear is taken from there preferred method of hunting, waiting in tall trees for prey to pass beneath it, the bear would then leap from the tree onto the prey with the aim of landing on the head of the unsuspecting prey, and quickly bore quite a significant hole into the head of the victim. Thus making it necessary for people to hold a sharp stick above there heads whilst walking in the Australian landscape, especially in forested areas.

Many a tourist has fallen victim to the Drop Bear but there are several things you can do to avoid the Drop Bear, the stick above the head being the best and most affordable. The peak science body in Australia, the CSIRO is working on a embedded chip that emits a signal to deter the Bears, but it is still in the testing stages and likely wont be ready until 2012. So currently unless your carrying your 'Bear' stick it is best to be careful and stay away from forested areas when possible.

Special thanks to Pope Terry for his research into this Australian Killer.

Cheers, Vince

And how many tourists do you have running around your forested areas with sharp sticks on top of their heads???

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Bushmaster wrote:

And how many tourists do you have running around your forested areas with sharp sticks on top of their heads???

None that I know of mate...but let me tell ya...everyone that hears about the drop bears watches the trees pretty intensely.

Even had a visiting US Infantry Company out here some years ago allocate a number of guys to watch for them. Guess that they were so used to the predators you guys have that they felt it was a threat that needed to be monitored.

Cheers, Vince

peoples reaction when they 1st hear a possom chuckle in the middle of the night can be precious too.just dont spin these windies before taking kids camping cause it aint fun sharing a camp bed with wife AND the kids.
we have a movie about people eating sheep over here or should that be sheep eating people???the animals caught in science experament gone wrong bla bla bla that has similar effect..

Has anyone ever been on a haggis hunt?

is haggis that scottish thing cooked in a sheep's stomach? Didn't know you could hunt that...

English Mike wrote:

Has anyone ever been on a haggis hunt?

Never had to hunt a haggis mate...but I've eaten the guts out of quite a few...most pleasant...but boy, don't it make "cough in ya rompers" something terrible.

Cheers, Vince

MMMmmmm...Sound delicious...I'll pass, thank you very much.

It is an acquired taste Bushy, and certainly not everybody likes Haggis...but it is not unpleasant.

I think that the "dish" came into being many hundreds of years ago when the Scots, like most people of that time, had to make the most of their scant food supplies. Consequently there wasn't very much on a sheep that they didn't consume or use in some way...hence the haggis being cooked in the cleaned sheep's stomach.

A traditional Scottish Haggis Recipe

I love my haggis served with neeps and tatties. Neeps is mashed up turnip or swede, usually with a wee bit of milk, and tatties are potatoes. I prefer mine mashed with lots of butter. Take a bit of the haggis, neeps and tatties on your fork at a time for a real feast. Even better washed down with a wee dram of whisky - some people like to add some whisky to the haggis. In a traditional Burn's supper the haggis will be piped in by a bagpipe player and an esteemed guest will address the beastie with some words of Robert Burn's before it's served and toasted with a malt.

Haggis Ingredients:

1 sheep's stomach bag
1 sheep's pluck - liver, lungs and heart
3 onions
250g beef Suet
150g oatmeal
salt and black pepper
a pinch of cayenne
150mls of stock/gravy

Haggis Cooking Directions:

1. Clean the stomach bag thoroughly and soak overnight. In the morning turn it inside out.

2. Wash the pluck and boil for 1.5 hours, ensuring the windpipe hangs over the pot allowing drainage of the impurities.

3. Mince the heart and lungs and grate half the liver.

4. Chop up the onions and suet.

5. Warm the oatmeal in the oven.

6. Mix all the above together and season with the salt and pepper. Then add the cayenne.

7. Pour over enough of the pluck boiled water to make the mixture watery.

8. Fill the bag with the mixture until it's half full.

9. Press out the air and sew the bag up.

10. Boil for 3 hours (you may need to prick the bag with a wee needle if it looks like blowing up!) without the lid on.

11. Serve with neeps and tatties.

Taste Ye Back: Great Scots and the Food That Made Them has a traditional haggis, neeps and tatties recipe by top Scottish chef and cookery writer Sue Lawrence.

The perfect haggis should not be too moist but should not be too dry either. It should be slightly spicy due to the cayenne pepper ingredient.

The book A Cook's Tour of Scotland by Sue Lawrence describes how butchers make their haggis and gives away some of their seasoning secrets.

Haggis also makes a delicious moist stuffing for chicken

www.scottishrecipes.co...aggis2.htm

Check out the above website for other haggis ideas.

Cheers, Vince

I have three rules as to what I'll eat.

It must pass sight...Fail
It must pass smell...?
It must pass taste...?
Then and only then will I swallow it...Maybe.

If it fails any of the above it never enters my mouth. (except for the whiskey.)