Karen Judson

Hi Susan

BTW I'm a busy mum of 5 as well!

New Zealand does have beautiful scenery and there is some pretty special
wildlife, for example the kiwi and tuatara aren't found anywhere else. We
don't have any native mammals in NZ at all, but we do have deer, pigs and so
on in the wild, they are usually seen as pests and/or are hunted/farmed.
Possums are a major pest here.

Rats and mice aren't a particular problem usually. We do have two cats which
deal with any wild ones that might be around the house. We also keep two pet
rats which have been a lot of fun. I wasn't keen at all but they've been
very responsive and interesting and interactive with our girls. We have had
guineapigs in the past but they are much more timid.

What I had in mind when I posted about the lack of wildlife was the bigger
animals such as wolves, bears, lions etc as we had been watching so many
videos about these animals both in the wild and as "pets" or semi-tame (like
"Born Free"). And I have long liked the idea of keeping turtles but here you
buy teeny ones from the pet shop and they are *so* expensive.

New Zealand is a beautiful place and I certainly appreciate the lack of
*dangerous* creatures here!

Regards,
Karen

----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Friesen" <nfriesen@...>
To: <Karen@...>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2000 2:48 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Hi Karen


> Hi Karen, I read your comments about the "lack" of wildlife in N.Z. Lots
> of Americans have the notion that N.Z. has LOTS of wildlife (including
> me! So you'll have to educate me).
> By the way, I've never seen a skink or hedgehog in the wild, so would
> find that fascinating to observe.... Are rats and mice a problem where
> you live?
> Take care, Susan, busy mom of 5, Santa Maria, CA
>
> From: Karen Judson <Karen@...>
> > > To: [email protected]
> > > Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom]smelly turtle!
> > > Date: Monday, May 15, 2000 3:28 AM
> > >
> > > Hi all
> > >
> > > All this talk of the amazing things you guys can see in the wild
> and/or
> >keep
> > > as pets is making me extremely jealous! In New Zealand we only find
> >rats,
> > > mice, rabbits, hedgehogs, possums, frogs and skinks outside.
> Red-eared
> > > turtles are a pet shop item and very expensive. I remember someone
> on
> >this
>
>
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