Rollercoaster Parenting

After High School Musical comes Bindi the Jungle Girl.

The boys had seen her show once on TV, and were totally impressed with all the animals, especially the dangerous ones. Then, on Monday morning, all three of our monkeys woke up before five o'clock, and we decided to walk up to the little cafe near the train station that is open really early for breakfast - and two coffees. The nice young lady serving us was called Bindi, which made her instantly popular with the boys. Later that day in the supermarket we saw a cheap Bindi the Jungle Girl DVD. What with it being school holidays, how could I ignore the coincidence?

So now I find myself endlessly explaining that yes, they are all real. Bindi and her mum and brother are still alive, but her Dad (aka the Crocodile Hunter) is dead. But yes, they are real. The tree house, however, is not real, the outside is a drawing, the inside is created in a studio. Yes, all the animals are real, except for the obvious toy animals. And then i get endless questions about which animals are "good ones". I try to explain that all animals are "good" as long as they are in their natural environments. Outside their natural habitat they become pests (they get that, as we have been through that extensively with regards to plants and weeds). Possum is especially impressed that even dangerous animals are "good" - he finds it hard to get his head around that one. And then there are hundreds of animal-related questions that make me realise I really should have paid more attention at school.

I don't want to get into the debate around Bindi - but Mister Determined reckons that she's cute, with a very beautiful mouth. So there you go. She's all right then.

So, in the spirit of all things animal, here is a picture a friend of mine send round for some light relief (she's desperately trying to finish her Masters Thesis - keep it up and good luck Michelle).

Pack of dogs attacking a crocodile near Richards Bay.

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The crocodile, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the "apex predator", can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and "survival of the pack mentality" bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph, courtesy of Nature Magazine. Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the croc' preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the croc'.

Not for the squeamish!