Book - "An Accidental Bushman"
This book of great NZ back-country yarns and photos from the early 1960s by Kerikeri author - Ross Lockyer, has just been reprinted due to popular demand. Now available at a reduced price of $27 + postage. Contact the author on Neighbourly, or go to the website www.rosslockyer.co.nz....
An Accidental Bushman
The Making of a Forest Ranger
Growing up in small town Taranaki, Ross just knew that he enjoyed hunting, hiking, trapping, fishing & exploring the back-country of New Zealand.
In "An Accidental Bushman" - Ross tells about some of the incorrigible larrikins, precarious predicaments & hair-raising exploits that shaped his training & early career as a Forest Ranger in New Zealand.
Ross has a way of telling a story that draws you into the moment & sweeps you along with the action. There are plenty of laughs (some at Ross’s expense) & enough scrapes & shenanigans to make you wonder how Ross ever survived to write the book!
"An Accidental Bushman" sometimes reads like a hilarious instruction book of what not to do, with many of Ross’s ill-fated adventures stemming from what simply seems like a good idea at the time—like his disastrous introduction to boating with no experience, no safety gear, and ultimately no working engine! Ross makes a habit of crashing vehicles, manufactures cyanide possum bait (and lives to tell the tale), gets seriously lost in the bush, spends a night in a haunted hut, gets marooned on a river island amidst swirling floodwaters, contracts hypothermia & survives some memorable culinary disasters. It’s clear that without his uncanny knack of always falling on his feet, Ross wouldn’t be with us to tell these stories today.
Ross also shares yarns of the colourful bunch of larrikins with whom he trained, worked, hunted & socialised, regaling us with tales of interrupted trysts, foul revenge, forest fires, thieving wildlife, crippling hangovers, poaching, parties & motorised mayhem.
The book includes some 60 photographs from Ross’s vast collection which richly illustrate his writing.
A thoroughly enjoyable read written in a warm intimate Kiwi style.
Settle in for another book of rip-roaring adventures that’s as hard to put down as the last one!
Author of "Cannibals, Crocodiles and Cassowaries" (Papua New Guinea) and "The River is my Highway" (Indonesian Borneo) which are also available on the website: www.rosslockyer.co.nz...
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!