Tale of the Yabbie ;)

Today my daughters Rhiannon and Aeron pulled a yabbie ( I choose to call it such) from a local creek.
What a life kids still live in our area. Once a pastime of most Australians, it has become a rarity in this day and age sadly. Pollution and over population take a toll on on a lifestyle of freedoms and choice.

I was, as someone brought up to hunt and catch my own food, quite impressed that hands only were used to land this large and aggressive creature...as was Denis Wilson, who was over at the time partaking in a cool beverage with me.

The girls noticed the yabbie was crawling with leech like creatures. These creatures were not interested in human flesh...like the land based leeches of my previous post, but were content with their current host.

With the help of Denis, the below closeup was taken...with fork prongs for scale.
A most educational afternoon for all.....and, yes, the kids cooked and did eat the spoils of the hunt (minus leech like creatures :) ).

Yes, the yabbie was free of eggs or young.

Long live the old days....at least for adventurous children.

A forest of bloodsuckers

After the wet and misty weather we have had, I thought a trip to the Robbo Reserve would be a good idea.
I hadnt been there for a while, so a visit was long overdue.


The kids and I found few fungi, and a whole heap of leeches.
The area was overrun with them, not only on the forest floor but also dropping from higher branches in the canopy.

We were lucky to make it out alive....lol
Seriously though, I have never seen so many leeches in all my many walks through the environs they so love.
Most were quite small, giving the impression that they were the product of a quite successful breeding season some time recently.

The kids found the whole adventure quite educational....if a little creepy.