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Treborlang
Australia
Roddy The Rooster & Friends
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Robert Treborlang Australia |
Roddy The Rooster & Friends |
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1859-1951 - Our Hundred Year WarThomas Austin of GeelongHas a feeling he doesn't belong. The man is lonely, hates his farm The place seems empty, without charm. Thomas Austin gets quite rabid - What this country needs is rabbit. Sits at desk, pulls out equipment, Writes to England for a shipment. The year is eighteen fifty-nine. Rabbits arrive in ten months time. No sooner do they disembark They run berserk in Barwon Park. See them hopping, leaping, jumping, Their lovable back feet thumping. See them sniffing, whiffing, scouting, Their furry fluffy cuteness flouting. Thomas Austin writes wholesaler, Rabbits really love Australia. But in the morning when he wakes, Oh the horror that awaits! The much prized and treasured star pet Has turned into a living carpet. See them digging, jumping, hurdling, With pip-squeak squeal bloodcurdling. 'Oh my god,' says Thomas Austin 'This here damage don't bear costin'!' Thomas winces as he hunts Shooting rabbits ten at once. But things soon get a bit too rough, For he's not shooting fast enough. Come the neighbours with their shotguns On the trail of the little hot ones. Kicking, shooting, punching, shoving But the beasts not overcoming. Rabbits in complete euphoria, Chomping their way through Victoria. Nothing's sweet or cute or funny When it comes to Austin's bunny. Over hillocks, under fences, The countryside has no defences. The land becomes a barren floor All the way to the Nullarbor. Nothing green has a shred of chance From Coolgardie to Esperance. For the initial twenty-four Are now a monster omnivore! Seven eat as much as a sheep And rabbits never oversleep. Even facing grim starvation Rabbits keep up procreation. The government puts out a reward For some technique to halt the horde. Coleman Phillips earns some merits When he lets out gangs of ferrets. Some build a wall like that in China Only longer and much finer. Others hit on a brilliant plan To stick the rabbit into a can! Rabbits may be pestilential But rabbit stew has great potential. For those who put their creed in this, Rabbit stew becomes big business. At the height of the rabbit maraud, Nine million cans are sent abroad. Meanwhile States increase their prizes, Hoping something materialises. Of the thousands who have a go, The one to find it was Aragao. He sought the Pied Piper mixed with Moses, What he got was Myxomatosis. What a great man! His one big failure Was not to do it in Australia! For despite his good intention, We took decades to use his invention. The one to mend the fatal error Was the dogged McNamara. What a woman! She ignores all Fear of chemical control. Her research may cause kerfuffle But the woman doesn't ruffle. And so the virus that's terrific Works its way across the Pacific. McNamara's totally lost in Undoing the harm of Thomas Austin. Studies species, breeding habits, Spurts the virus into rabbits. Just when progress seems most static, Comes a sudden change dramatic. On the south-east Gippsland coast Rabbits stumble round comatosed. In nineteen fifty-one alone Ten million die racked to the bone. And as a reward for all their pain, Jean McNamara is made a Dame.
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Robert Treborlang Australia |
Roddy The Rooster & Friends |
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