Ive been trying to get through several tracking courses which are either US or African animal based. These are good to learn from when stuck at home however it occurred to me today to try and look up some Australian animal tracks and found very little. I gave Jake Cassar a quick call to see if he know of anyone that had done an Australian version of animal track identification cards and low and behold he had just released one.
The first season of Alone Australia is premiering in 2023, in which ten people are dropped in the Tasmanian wilderness, totally alone and with only a handful of equipment and tools, and forced to survive.
Three women and seven men make up the first Alone Australia cohort, hailing from NSW, ACT, TAS, SA, and VIC (our theory is that it’s too cold for Queenslanders, Territorians, and West Aussies).
Walked out the front door to have breakfast after my morning bike ride and a magpie flew down and sat on the hand rail. The baby maggie walked along the hand rail toward me and came to a stop at the upright and peered around the post looking at me. Then hopped down to the table and back up and again onto the opposite side of the post. Then I thought alright here’s a piece of toast and placed it a foot away from me. I didn’t look at the maggie, only out the corner of my eye until he finally grabbed the toast and promptly dropped it off the side into the garden bed. Where I had to fish it out with a tent pole until he could reach it from behind the plants.
cheeky maggie this one has an injured foot
Magpies are smarter than most people think. I was telling this story to a mate that does voluntary work for wildlife rescue and he told me that many people feed mince to wild birds.However the mince doesn’t have enough calcium in the meat and the birds beaks eventually break down. Your better off feeding them dog biscuits with a higher calcium content. The larger ones soaked in water. I saw a bin at the local supermarket for donations of pet food to the dog rescue in the town. I was going to grab a cheap bag of feed to place in there next shopping day but I think Ill grab a second bag for the magpies. Last night they flew down wanting to be fed. I hadn’t given them any left overs for two days and they seemed starved. They usually leave bread alone for the smaller birds but they actually fought over a few slices of bread. There’s been no rain in a few days maybe the worms and bugs have gone to ground.
kookaburras hunting
Update 07 MAR
size of a pinky finger nail unsoaked
Brought the dog biscuits, $13 for a large bag of no brand name. Two bags one for the rescue donation bin and another for the birds. I tried throwing out a handful for a test but they were too hard and had to soak them.
they actually like themsoaked up to thumb nail size much softer
I thought they would be more on you-tube on cooking in a military mess tin but there seems there’s not. Most of the ideas are on Northern Embers Outdoors using a FireBox stove. The Military must have eaten a lot of bacon and eggs ,according to other you-tube channels.
I was looking for recipe ideas before beginning this project. Lots on the history, designs and model differences though.I wanted to try something different to cooking bacon and eggs or pasta and MRE’s. (Sorry I can actually cook)To find recipes I had to go back to World War One Trench Cooking at the Yorkshire Trench.
Why am I cooking in Mess kits ? Apart for being a student of history. After trying many cook systems and cutlery it came down to using two brands. One plastic in a triangle shape which holds off the heat through your hands and can use the lid as a plate. I would have liked the same idea but square however and the mess kit which has the advantage of being able to also cook with, having multiple functions. What I’m trying to do is streamline all my gear.
Tracking Arachnids and Insects. If you had of asked me 3 months ago if this is something I thought Id be going out of my way to do I wouldn’t have believed you. However the more I learn about tracking the more you see the world in other ways.
In the last post I was making char cloth and while I was standing there waiting for the smoke to stop I noticed Spider Excrement or as we say in Australia Spider Shit, and sitting above me was a web. When you see those little black dots on a window sill look up next time.
The bad guys never thought of this to catch Spiderman.
Ernie from PaleoHikerMD channel posted a great idea on making char from cotton rope. Unless I went to a marine shop I doubt Ill find 100 percent cotton rope the closest I could find was cotton sash cord from the local hardware store and nothing there was listed as 100% mainly 90% so I thought for $3.00 Id give it a go.
Char is a material with a low ignition point allowing it to catch alight with very little spark. I usually use calico from the local sewing material store so rope is a great idea if you can find 100% material. The process to create char is called Pyrolysis which is the decomposition of organic matter at very high temperatures in the absence of oxygen.
I had to cut a small piece of chicken wire to prop the tin onto the stove and it took approx 8 minutes for the smoke to stop. It was rather a small hole. It was designed so you could turn the lid of the tin to seal the hole. The same can be done on tobacco tine by drilling through the hole on the side then swapping the lid around to sit on the opposite side to reseal the tin.
The MSR Pocket Rocket is a great way to make char cloth when a fire isn’t available. While I have it out I was going to try cooking in mess tins. Ive only ever used them to eat from before.
sash cordloaded into the tinchicken wire for supportsmoke dispersing from the side holeit got fairly smokeysmoke reducing after 6 minutesat 8 minutes smoke died outsash cord isnt 100% cottontrying again with 100% calicohad a little visitor while i was waiting for the tin to coolskinkcalico char cloth
This is really Part 2 of Wool Anoraks. I finally made the decision to purchase a Mackinaw coat over an Anorak. I did this for several reasons. One its not really cold enough in Australia for an anorak. It would be something Id only use one month out of the year, two I found a good price and shipping through Natural Man in the UK rather than going through an American store with their shipping costs. Like most bushcraft clothing the UK its much easier to import from to Australia than from the US.
rear view
I also thought a Mackinaw coat I could use throughout the year, therefore getting the most use for the cost of purchase. I really wanted a wool coat for using on bushcraft courses. I also saw many you-tube reviews of anorak brands that were stating the wool was very itchy. The Mackinaw Ive been wearing around the house for the past half an hour in a t-shirt and not itchy at all. Very comfortable and enough room for wearing a hoodie underneath. My only regret is that I didn’t purchase the vest to match at the same time. The temperature is steadily starting to drop so Ill see how the coat goes over the next few months. Shipping from the UK is currently taking around 20 days.
inside lining
Why WOOL ? Its cool when its hot, fire proof near an open fire and if it gets wet still keeps you warm.
Next week I’m going to purchase an Oyster farm kit box to give it a go. Ive done a mushroom growing course before that was US based but Id like to see what the Australian version is like besides I can use after-pay, making it easier on disability payments. The previous course I did taught to purchase spore and break it up into buckets with straw to make a one box kit into ten buckets but I cant use that many mushrooms and Id like to see how I go with one box before investing in a larger project. The recommended species by Amy at Little Acre Mushrooms were Snow Whites for the climate in my area. For $150 AUD you get a kit thrown in and the course for $100 with payments of $37.50 per fortnight. Ill see how my mushroom farming skills are then I may do something larger.
Snow White Oyster: Grows in 10°C to 24°C
The Snow White Oyster mushroom has an amazingly bright white appearance. Forming large white caps, this savory oyster mushroom is a fantastic protein swap in meaty dishes.
Warm White Oyster: Grows in 10°C to 30°C
The Warm White Oyster mushroom will be lighter in colour when grown at a warm temperature and a darker colour when grown at a cooler temperature. Forming dense bunches, this mushroom is a robust all-rounder.
Gold Oyster: Grows in 18°C to 30°C
Gold Oysters are beautiful and nutty. This tropical mushroom species is great tossed through a pasta or crisped up in a frying pan. Forming tight clusters of golden mushrooms, this variety will add some colour to your kitchen.
“Tracks and signs are the letters, trails are the words and sentences. Nature is the book.”
Francis Collie must have delivered one of the most entertaining talks at the ITS on how to decipher and present a track to another person, using story telling.
