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Sneezing with hay fever? Native plants aren’t usually the culprit

Hay fever is a downside of springtime around the world. As temperatures increase, plant growth resumes and flowers start appearing. But while native flowering plants such as wattle often get the blame when the seasonal sneezes strike, hay fever in Australia is typically caused by introduced plant species often pollinated by the wind. <h2>A closer look at pollen</h2> Pollen grains are the tiny reproductive structures that move genetic material between flower parts, individual flowers on the same plant or a nearby member of the same species. They are typically lightweight structures easily carried on wind currents or are sticky and picked up in clumps on the feathers of a honeyeater or the fur of a fruit bat or possum. Hay fever is when the human immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. It is not only caused by pollen grains but fungal spores, non-flowering plant spores, mites and even pet hair. The classic symptoms of hay fever are sneezing, runny noses, red, itchy, and watery eyes, swelling around the eyes and scratchy ears and throat. The problem with pollen grains is when they land on the skin around our eyes, in our nose and mouth, the proteins found in the wall of these tiny structures leak out and are recognised as foreign by the body and trigger a reaction from the immune system. <h2>So what plants are the worst culprits for causing hay fever?</h2> Grasses, trees, and herbaceous weeds such as plantain are the main problem species as their pollen is usually scattered by wind. In Australia, the main grass offenders are exotic species including rye grass and couch grass (a commonly used lawn species). Weed species that cause hay fever problems include introduced ragweed, Paterson’s curse, parthenium weed and plantain. The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5102629/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">problematic tree species</a> are also exotic in origin and include liquid amber, Chinese elm, maple, cypress, ash, birch, poplar, and plane trees. Although there are some native plants that have wind-spread pollen such as she-oaks and white cypress pine, and which can induce hay fever, these species are exceptional in the Australian flora. Many Australian plants are not wind pollinated and <a href="https://blog.publish.csiro.au/austpollinatorweek/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">use animals</a> to move their clumped pollen around. For example, yellow-coloured flowers such as wattles and peas are pollinated by insect such as bees. Red- and orange-coloured flowers are usually visited by birds such as honeyeaters. Large, dull-coloured flowers with copious nectar (the reward for pollination) are visited by nocturnal mammals including bats and possums. Obviously Australian plant pollen can still potentially cause the immune system to overreact, but these structures are less likely to reach the mucous membranes of humans. <h2>What can we do to prevent hay fever attacks at this time of the year?</h2> With all of this in mind, here are some strategies to prevent the affects of hay fever: <ol> <li>stay inside and keep the house closed up on warm, windy days when more pollen is in the air</li> <li>if you must go outside, wear sunglasses and a face mask</li> <li>when you return indoors gently rinse (and don’t rub) your eyes with running water, change your clothes and shower to remove pollen grains from hair and skin</li> <li>try to avoid mowing the lawn in spring particularly when grasses are in flower (the multi-pronged spiked flowers of couch grass are distinctive)</li> <li>when working in the garden, wear gloves and facial coverings particularly when handling flowers consider converting your garden to a native one. Grevilleas are a great alternative to rose bushes. Coastal rosemary are a fabulous native replacement for lavender. Why not replace your liquid amber tree with a fast growing, evergreen and low-allergenic lilly pilly tree?</li> </ol> <h2>If you do suffer a hay fever attack</h2> Sometimes even with our best efforts, or if it’s not always possible to stay at home, hay fever can still creep up on us. If this happens: <ul> <li>antihistamines will reduce sneezing and itching symptoms</li> <li>corticosteroid nasal sprays are very effective at reducing inflammation and clearing blocked noses</li> <li>decongestants provide quick and temporary relief by drying runny noses but should not be used by those with high blood pressure</li> <li>salt water is a good way to remove excessive mucous from the nasal passages.</li> </ul> Behavioural changes on warm, windy spring days are a good way of avoiding a hay fever attack. An awareness of the plants around us and their basic reproductive biology is also useful in preventing our immune systems from overreacting to pollen proteins that they are not used to encountering. This article first appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/sneezing-with-hay-fever-native-plants-arent-usually-the-culprit-190336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Body

You’re less likely to die if you’re treated in your own language

<div> Hospital patients who speak the same language as their physicians end up healthier, according to new research. The study, which was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.212155" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that hospital patients had shorter stays and were less likely to die, fall, or catch infections during their treatment if they had a physician speaking their language. The researchers examined medical records for home-care care recipients in Ontario, Canada, between 2010 and 2018. In total, they looked at 189,690 records. A third of Ontario’s population doesn’t speak English as a first language. Among these home-care recipients, 84% were English speakers (Anglophones), 13% spoke French (Francophones) and 2.7% spoke other languages (Allophones). The researchers examined whether these patients were treated by a physician who spoke their first language (language concordant) or didn’t (language discordant). “We found that patients who received language-discordant care had more adverse events (such as falls and infections), longer hospital stays and were more likely die in hospital,” the researchers told Cosmos over email. Francophones treated by a French speaker were 24% less likely to die, while Allophones’ chances of death dropped by 54% when they had language-concordant care. The authors float a few reasons for this disparity. Previous studies have shown that better patient-physician communication leads to faster and more accurate diagnoses, and more patient cooperation – both of which have better health outcomes on average. Language discordance, on the other hand, correlates to cultural differences between patients and healthcare workers, which is typically bad for patients. “These are staggering findings that make a strong case for providing care in the same language for linguistic minorities in hospitals,” says co-author Dr Peter Tanuseputro, a physician scientist in the Department of Medicine of The Ottawa Hospital, Institut du Savoir Montfort and Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario. “It’s clearly easier to convey important information about your health in your primary language. Regardless, the more than doubling in odds of serious harms, including death, for patients receiving care in a different language is eye-opening.” Just 44% of Francophones and under 2% of Allophones received care from physicians who spoke their language. For comparison, 58% of physicians in the study spoke English exclusively. “We expect these disparities to be more pronounced in linguistically diverse populations for the following reason: the odds of receiving care from a physician who speaks your primary language decreases if there are more linguistic groups in the population,” the researchers told Cosmos. “We believe that the results of our study highlight the importance of identifying patients who live in minority language communities so that appropriate strategies can be implemented to increase the provision of language-concordant care to these patients.” This means hospitals should ask patients what languages they speak, establish directories of their staff’s language proficiencies, refer patients to doctors who share their languages, and use professional interpreters. “Furthermore, a healthcare system’s ability to provide language-concordant care depends on the languages spoken by physicians, which should match that of the general population,” say the researchers. “This could be optimised by recruiting physicians with specific language proficiencies, and by dedicating resources to increase opportunities for medical education among minority language communities.” Image credits: Getty Images </div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/language-hospitals-care/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com </a>and was written by Ellen Phiddian. </div>

Mind

Why dingoes should be considered native to mainland Australia – even though humans introduced them

Dingoes are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cz/article-abstract/57/5/668/5004458">often demonised</a> as a danger to livestock, while many consider them a natural and essential part of the environment. But is our most controversial wild species actually native to Australia? Dingoes were brought to Australia by humans from Southeast Asia some 4,000 years ago. Technically, this means they are an introduced species, and an “alien” species by <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/68/7/496/5050532">classic ecological definitions </a>. By contrast, most legal definitions consider dingoes native, because they were here before Europeans arrived. Though it sounds academic, the controversy has real consequences for this ancient dog lineage. In 2018, the Western Australian government declared dingoes <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-wa-government-is-wrong-to-play-identity-politics-with-dingoes-102344">were not native fauna</a> due to crossbreeding with domestic dogs. This potentially makes it easier to control their numbers. In a <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/41/3/358/472935/An-eco-evolutionary-rationale-to-distinguish-alien">new research paper</a>, I find dingoes do indeed fit the bill as an Australian native species, using three new criteria I propose. These criteria can help us answer questions over whether alien species can ever be considered native, and if so, over what time frame. <h2>Why does alien or native status matter?</h2> Humans have been moving animal species around for millennia. Thousands of years ago, neolithic settlers <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2907.1992.tb00129.x">moved rabbits</a> to Mediterranean islands, traders unwittingly took black rats from India to Europe and Indigenous Southeast Asian people took pigs to Papua New Guinea. The rate of species introductions has ramped up with the movement and spread of people, with many recent arrivals posing a major threat to biodiversity. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435486/original/file-20211203-25-eianud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Pigs were introduced to Papua New Guinea by Indigenous people thousands of years ago. Does that make them native? Shutterstock Researchers often distinguish between alien and native using the year the species was introduced. There are obvious problems with this, given the dates used can be arbitrary and the fact perceptions of nativeness can be based on how much <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0309132507079499">humans like the species</a>, rather than its ecological impact. For example, there has been strong opposition to killing “friendly” hedgehogs in areas of Scotland where they are introduced, but less cute animals like American mink get no such consideration. For conservationists, alien status certainly matters. <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2006.0444">Alien species act differently</a> to native species in their new environments, which can give them an advantage over locals in terms of competition for food, predation and spreading new diseases. This can cause native population declines and extinctions. As a result, species considered alien in their ecosystems are often targets for control and eradication. But species considered native are usually protected even if they have extended their range significantly, like eastern water dragons or the Australian white ibis. Native status is, of course, a human construct. Past definitions of nativeness have not directly considered the ecological reasons for concern about alien species. This is what <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/41/3/358/472935/An-eco-evolutionary-rationale-to-distinguish-alien">my new research</a> seeks to address. <h2>An ecological definition of nativeness</h2> What I propose are three staged criteria to determine when an introduced species becomes native: <ol> <li> has the introduced species evolved in its new environment? </li> <li> do native species recognise and respond to the introduced species as they do other local species? </li> <li> are the interactions between introduced and established native species similar to interactions between native species (that is, their impacts on local species are not negative and exaggerated)? </li> </ol> For dingoes on mainland Australia, the answer is yes for all three criteria. We should consider them native. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435474/original/file-20211203-23-1o19jql.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Dingoes on mainland Australia meet the criteria for native status. Peter Banks, Author provided Firstly, dingoes are not the same dogs first brought here. Dingoes are now <a href="https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4564.1.6">quite different</a> to their close ancestors in Southeast Asia, in terms of behaviour, how they reproduce and how they look. These <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14515-6">differences have a genetic basis</a>, suggesting they have evolved since their arrival in Australia. Their heads are now shaped differently, they breed less often and have better problem solving skills than other close dog relatives. Second, it is well established that native prey species on mainland Australia <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2018.0857">recognise and respond to dingoes</a> as dangerous predators – which they are. Finally, dingo impacts on prey species <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/41/3/338/447847/Introgression-does-not-influence-the-positive?redirectedFrom=fulltext">are not devastating</a> like those of alien predators such as feral cats and foxes. While hunting by dingoes does suppress prey numbers, they don’t keep them as low (and at greater risk of extinction) as do foxes and cats. Of course, dingo impacts were unlikely to have always been so benign. Dingoes are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1191/0959683603hl682fa">linked to the extinction</a> of Tasmanian tigers (Thylacines), Tasmanian devils and the Tasmanian flightless hen, which disappeared from mainland Australia soon after the dingo arrived. In my paper, I argue such impacts no longer occur because of evolutionary change in both dingoes and their prey. We can see this in Tasmania, which dingoes never reached. There, prey species like bandicoots still show <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0161447">naiveté towards dogs</a>. That means we should not consider dingoes to be native to Tasmania. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435484/original/file-20211203-23-101r65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Native prey species on the mainland recognise and respond to dingoes. Shutterstock <h2>Alien today, native tomorrow?</h2> This idea challenges the dogma alien species remain alien forever. This is an unsettling concept for ecologists dealing with the major and ongoing damage done by newer arrivals. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/62/3/217/358332">Some argue</a> we should never embrace alien species into natural ecosystems. This makes no sense for long-established introduced species, which might now be playing a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-fence-from-space-satellite-images-show-how-these-top-predators-alter-the-desert-155642">positive role</a> in ecosystems. But it’s a different story for recently introduced species like cats, given not enough time has passed to get past the exaggerated impacts on local species. These ideas are not about considering all species present in an ecosystem to be native. Introduced species should still be considered alien until proven native. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435482/original/file-20211203-27-1atm2p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Cat sitting in the outback" /></a> Cats are a bigger threat to Australian wildlife than dingoes. Shutterstock This approach suggests ways of classifying species which might be native to a country but have moved to new places within the country through mechanisms like climate change or re-wilding. For example, we can’t simply assume returning Tasmanian devils to <a href="https://theconversation.com/bringing-devils-back-to-the-mainland-could-help-wildlife-conservation-43121">mainland Australia</a> more than 3,000 years after dingoes drove them extinct there would count as reintroducing a native species. Defining nativeness in this ecological way will help resolve some of the heated and long-running debates over how to distinguish alien and native species. How? Because it targets the key reason conservationists were worried about alien species in the first place – the damage they can do.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172756/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-banks-7272">Peter Banks</a>, Professor of Conservation Biology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-dingoes-should-be-considered-native-to-mainland-australia-even-though-humans-introduced-them-172756">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Domestic Travel

“It broke my heart”: Native Americans outbid to buy back their own sacred site

Over 290 prehistoric Native American glyphs that depict people, animals, and mythological figures adorn the walls of Picture Cave in eastern Missouri. The cave has been deemed an “ultimate sacred site” by the Osage Nation, who were pushed out of the land as a consequence of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Since the 1950s, the land has been owned by the extremely wealthy Busch family, who mostly used it as a hunting ground. When the Busch family announced last year that they would be selling the cave, and the 43 acres of land surrounding it, the Osage Nation began a campaign to procure their land back. They teamed up with the Conservation Fund, as well as Fish and Wildlife Services, on the account of endangered bats living in the cave. Despite their mammoth efforts, the Osage Nation could not gather enough money to buy their sacred land back. “[Picture Cave] is our ultimate sacred site,” says Andrea Hunter, a member of the Osage Nation and director of its Historic Preservation Office. “It was our land to begin with and we then had to resort to trying to buy it back. “And we’ve got landowners who don’t understand the history of the place they live in and whose significance doesn’t amount to more than monetary value [for them].” The Busch family sold the land to an anonymous buyer for $2,200,000USD, just $200,000 more than the Osage Nation offered. “Watching it get to $2 million stopped my heart,” said Hunter. “It broke my heart.” Hunter and her team are currently trying to contact the anonymous bidder from Nashville to explain the historical and cultural significance of the land. So far, they have not been successful in their communications. Image credit: Youtube - Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers

Art

“Dangerous nuisance animal”: Man accused of ripping kookaburra's head off named and shamed

The lawyer for a Perth man who is alleged to have ripped the head off beloved Kevin the Kookaburra has called the bird a “dangerous nuisance animal” that should have been dealt with by the Parkerville Tavern much earlier. The Parkerville Tavern is where the man is alleged to have grabbed the local favourite known as Kevin, ripped his head off and thrown the bird under the table. Ross Williamson said that his client Daniel Welfare had left the country after a barrage of death threats and attacks over last week’s killing via social media. However, Williamson would not confirm whether or not his client was guilty of being responsible for the death of Kevin. He has also issued restraining orders to two women who he has accused of issuing an “online vigilante campaign” against his client. However, the women said that they will not stop until Welfare is brought to justice. Tania Scheulin, witness to the incident, has been outspoken about this. “I will never stop until the person that did this has some repercussions for it, charged by police or gets a fine.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> There's a new development in the case of a kookaburra that had its head ripped off at a Hills pub. <a href="https://twitter.com/kamingock?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KaminGock</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9News?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9News</a> <a href="https://t.co/TQe8N6qICt">pic.twitter.com/TQe8N6qICt</a> — Nine News Perth (@9NewsPerth) <a href="https://twitter.com/9NewsPerth/status/1189124300785123329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2019</a></blockquote> However, Williamson has said that he has previous information relating to Kevin’s behaviour at the Tavern and that kookaburras are an invasive species in WA. "The kookaburra is an invasive species in WA," he said to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/perth-kevin-the-kookaburra-beheaded-man-leaves-australia-death-threats-crime-news-wa-australia/e3c92ab2-5af5-4df1-bca7-c5b5f9089de2" target="_blank">9News</a>. "Until recently you could shoot them with impunity and people used to do that and get a community service award for doing that sort of thing. "This particular bird I have reports about. It has attacked children. It's injured the faces of children... this bird is - or was - a dangerous nuisance animal and the Parkerville Tavern should have done something to deal with it." He has also criticised the state government’s role in the case. "I noticed the Police Commissioner, with the Police Minister at his side, called a press conference saying they are going to prosecute my client over the demise of a pest - a harmful, nuisance bird," he said. "I hear nothing about the police investigating and prosecuting people for making threats to harm, kill and rape my clients. "I call on the police to do that - to investigate this criminal vigilante."

News

Justice for Kevin: Man who tore kookaburra's head off could face prosecution

A man who tore the head off a kookaburra in a Perth pub in front of families with young children may still face prosecution. The man, allegedly in his 40s, was at the Parkerville Tavern, when the beloved but chip stealing resident kookaburra known as Kevin stole some chips off his plate. The man allegedly grabbed the kookaburra, pulled the bird's head off and threw it under the table. Kevin was beloved by locals who attended the pub. An RSPCA spokeswoman told AAP that the organisation had not given up on pursuing the man but said that the Animal Welfare Act was unclear. Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan has promised to search legal avenues surrounding native wildlife protection. “It is pretty disgusting I think everyone is rightly appalled. We are now checking with the department whether or not this can be characterised as an act of animal cruelty,” she said on Monday to <a rel="noopener" href="https://10daily.com.au/shows/10-news-first/a191028drqhz/shock-and-disbelief-as-man-who-allegedly-ripped-head-of-kookaburra-may-not-be-prosecuted-20191028" target="_blank">10daily</a>. “I think everyone in this community would say there should be some penalty for behaving in this way. And that’s what we are very determined that we will sort this out.” Environment Minister Stephen Dawson has said that a review of the Animal Welfare Act is underway. “If the allegations are true, this is a despicable act. The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and WA Police are conducting a joint investigation into the incident,” he said. “The State Government currently has a review of the Animal Welfare Act underway, with an independent panel due to provide advice to the Agriculture Minister next year. “Cases like this will be examined as part of the review.”

Family & Pets

A selfie-loving emu is quickly putting a small Queensland town on the map

A town in the Queensland Hinterland in Australia is quickly finding itself on the map after news got out about a fun-run’s local mascot: Fluffy the emu. Fluffy has been turning up every Saturday to keep fun-run joggers company as they run through Nambour. The emu is even ready to help organisers set up before the sun rises. “We don’t get big numbers normally, but since Fluffy has been around our numbers have been increasing,” Parkrun organiser Melissa Taylor told 7 News. Organisers said that Fluffy has been boosting numbers as people are flying from around the nation to get a photo with the emu. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F7NEWSAdelaide%2Fvideos%2F2455662484494154%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe> However, event organisers were worried last month as Fluffy and emu buddy Muffy might be forcibly relocated from the Nambour site due to a complaint. The complaint that was lodged to Queensland’s Parks and Wildlife Services. QPWS spoke to 7 News and said that at the time, there is no intention to remove the animals. Rangers would be monitoring the emus closely.

Domestic Travel

Prince William reveals George's role in school nativity play

Mere months after starting school, Prince George has reached another exciting milestone – participating in his first nativity play. The Duke of Cambridge revealed his four-year-old son’s adorable role in the performance while visiting the Children’s Global Media Summit in Manchester yesterday. “I went to my boy’s nativity play," he told a group of kids at the event. “It was funny. He was a sheep." Could this be the start of an acting career? Last month, <a href="/news/news/2017/11/prince-george-set-to-star-in-his-favourite-tv-show/" target="_blank">it was reported</a> that George would be making a cameo in a special “royal" episode of his favourite animated series, Fireman Sam. “We’re going to celebrate Fireman Sam’s 30th anniversary by introducing a very special episode,” producer Ian McCue said. “We heard that we have a very famous fan in Prince George, so we thought it would be really fun to bring a royal family to Pontypandy and see how the community reacts to that.” We bet soon-to-be aunt Meghan Markle would happily share some tips!

News

Meet Nepal’s oldest native

Villagers believe in the hills of Nuwakot lives Nepal’s oldest native who may even be one of the oldest women in the world. According to her ID, Batuli is 112-years-old but villagers think that she may be older than that age. The centenarian leads an active life by working hard and believes that this lifestyle has helped her live for so long. When asked about the key to longevity she said, “People of this modern age who don’t work and are useless or idle won’t live long. The ones who study a lot and work hard are likely to live a longer life.” Batuli is breaking stereotypes through her work ethic in her old age and spending the money she doesn’t give away on cigarettes and biscuits. During the Nepal earthquake Batuli never left her house even though it was damaged. She explained, “Later I found the walls were collapsed. The pillars too were not straight.” Other villagers said, “She never left her destroyed house. She refused to shelter at a straight house.” Video credit:YouTube/TIG Media via Storyful

Retirement Life

What you didn’t know about feeding Tasmanian devils

Auckland zoo have posted a video giving viewers a backstage pass into how they feed their Tasmanian devils. Zookeeper Anneke Haworth loves the native Aussie animal so much she hopes everyone else will fall in love with them. <div id="fb-root"></div> <div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/57062666983/posts/10154361693036984" data-width="600"> <div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"> <blockquote> Zookeeper Anneke would like everyone to fall in love with Tasmanian devils as much as she has! Head to our devil encounter at 2.45pm today and find out why they're so special and why this precious species needs our help. Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/57062666983">Auckland Zoo</a> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10154361693036984">Friday, 10 February 2017</a></blockquote> </div> </div> Anneke wore a GoPro camera on her arm to capture what is involved in feeding these tiny carnivores. Anneke explains in the video the diet and eating habits that Tasmanian devils have. In the video, Anneke explains that although they only weigh around 8kg, “They have the bite of about a 40kg dog, so it’s more similar to a hyena.” Two of the Tasmanian devils’ favourite foods are possums and rabbits. To find out more about the Tasmanian devils eating, watch the video above. Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2017/03/kangaroo-bouncing-through-melbourne-streets/">Kangaroo spotted bouncing through Melbourne streets</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2017/03/emu-loves-morning-cuddles/">Sweet emu loves her morning cuddles</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2017/02/joyful-giraffe-plays-soccer/">Joyful giraffe plays soccer</a>

News

Food artist creates Nativity scene out of cheese

Prudence Staite, a food artist from Gloucestershire in the UK, has created the Nativity scene entirely out of cheese. It took Prudence five days and 40 kilograms of cheddar to carve the scene containing two donkeys, two sheep, a cow and Three Wise Men carrying Branston Pickle gifts for the baby Jesus. “Creating the whole sculpture was a real challenge as it’s so intricate. Sculpting the faces of Mary and Joseph was very difficult and fiddly, but I’m very pleased with how it’s turned out,” she said. Prudence used a tiny magnifying glass to ensure all the details on the face were as accurate as possible. She even used shaved cheese to make a straw. The nativity scene was commissioned by cheese company Pilgrim's Choice, who are displaying it at the Chill Factore in Manchester. A Pilgrims Choice spokesman said: “We wanted to have some fun and create the ultimate Christmas nativity scene from our mature cheddar cheese.” Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/01/sweet-potato-chips/">Healthy sweet potato chips</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2014/12/banana-date-and-walnut-cake/">Banana, date and walnut cake with cream cheese icing</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/03/flourless-hazelnut-chocolate-cake/">Flourless hazelnut chocolate cake</a>

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Food artist creates Nativity scene out of cheese

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Sneezing with hay fever? Native plants aren’t usually the culprit

You’re less likely to die if you’re treated in your own language

Why dingoes should be considered native to mainland Australia – even though humans introduced them

“It broke my heart”: Native Americans outbid to buy back their own sacred site

“Dangerous nuisance animal”: Man accused of ripping kookaburra's head off named and shamed

Justice for Kevin: Man who tore kookaburra's head off could face prosecution

A selfie-loving emu is quickly putting a small Queensland town on the map

Prince William reveals George's role in school nativity play

Meet Nepal’s oldest native

What you didn’t know about feeding Tasmanian devils

Food artist creates Nativity scene out of cheese

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