Photos keep coming in of the koala, a very shy nocturnal creature, venturing into territory it normally avoids and reaching out to humans for help during this terrible situation in Victoria, (the bike photo is from the heatwave in South Australia last week.) There are stories of dogs dragging their owners through the blinding smoke (one was a 90 yr old lady) to a dam or river, thus saving them from the fires. This morning a man who had lost everything (except his horse) credited this same horse for saving his life. This is the story he told, as the fire was rushing towards them, his horse - normally a gentle and docile animal - knocked his owner across a fence, to a steep downhill slope which fell into a river below, the man tumbled down into the river and spent 2 hours there while the fires burned around him, the horse bolted through the smoke and fire - it sustained some burns, but is now reunited with its very grateful owner. This tragedy south of us is not over yet!
These 2 little guys help themselves
Amazing People
At the same time north of us, two thirds of Queensland (1 million square kilometres) is under water. Apart from businesses, household goods, crop and livestock losses, there is sludge and mud everywhere, and some not so nice creatures (crocodiles) are lurking in these flood waters and of course the snakes are looking for high ground - which just could be inside a house!!! Yet, these Queenslanders (who have been in this dire situation for near a month now) have given very generously to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
