I received an email from my friend Susan Trow who corresponds with deerhound people all over the world. She received the amazing cute pictures I will try to attach.

It has been so hot in SA for over a week…40+ degrees Celsius everyday, very dry also. A little Koala which just walked into the back porch looking for a bit of heat relief. The owner filled up a bucket and this is what happened!

Next cute picture

2nd last

and Finally

What cute pictures!! He looks very relieved sitting in that cool water

Is cute the right desciption? I didn't think Kaola's drank water, they obtained all they needed from the leaves they eat. Could be there's something very wrong here, either with the Koala, the food supply or the climate.

It does look like it badly needed to cool down:unsure:

Maybe he was just too hot and was needing to cool down, quite sensible really. Hope he was ok and it was not due to anything serious!

Might be a good idea to check the garden in the morning!

alan wrote:


You're right Alan. Probably the people didn't realise this but the koala seemed thankful for a cool spot to rest. The email I received was that it went onto their verandah looking for shade.

Today was the hottest day on record for Victoria reaching a scorching 48C Thank doG it isn't that hot here, though I better not speak too soon. Another strange thing, Melbourne was 48C today but 24C for tomorrow. What a (relieving) drop.

Yes, saw this in the British newspapers yesterday, it looks like our snow is on the TV over there too!! Funny how weather can be in extremes like it is. My daughter is in Perth and she has sent pictures of her body boarding in the Ocean, it is very very hot and she looks very very pink! she has paddy skin, I warned her you can't sit out in it! She now tells me she loves it so much she wants to get a working visa if she goes, we'll all go! I couldn't bear her being 12,000 miles away

And what about the fires?
The radio news keep saying that there are fires heading for Melbourne and Sydney………………….

Hello all,
as you may know we live in Melbourne, Australia, in the eastern suburbs.
The fires here have been horrific, none closer than 5 miles from us......
That is close enough......
49 people dead, 640 house burnt down, that is not a mistake, 640....
When all is finally tallied up both of these figures will increase.
Some friends in the Deerhound club had to evacuate, their house is PROBABLY gone, they do not know yet.......... 550 houses near them have gone
Our whole State is tinder dry, drought for 10 years, yesterday was 46C.
These are the worst fires in recorded history in Oz.

Dave

Hi Dave
How are you guys holding up? We were watching the news and have upgraded fatalities to 65:ohmy:
Who was affected? I hope they and their hounds are safe.
I can't believe that these bastards can deliberately light these fires (excuse my french) but it makes me so angry. Bushfires are one of my biggest fears being surrounded by bush, and like Dave said, it is so dry and a tinderbox.
I can't believe how close they are to you. 5 miles is nothing with the strong winds you have been getting. Is Helen OK? Is Warrigul safe?
Keep us updated.

Hi Sam,
sorry to be private here... tried to phone you..... could not connect.
We are OK, Helen is OK....
All in deerhound club ( as far as we know ) are OK, except Ken and Els Airens.
They have evacuated, they do not know if their home is OK, from the news it is PROBABLY gone
So horrible

Dave

The phone lines must be jammed with all the enquiries etc. Thanks for letting us know. I so hope Ken and Els have something to back to. It is so so terrible.

I've just heard about the Melbourne fires - thank goodness that the Deerhound people are all safe. I've got non-Deerhound friends who live in Franklin - are they likely to be affected? My knowledge of Aussie geography is non-existent.

So sad for anyone of you to lose everything. I hope you will all be okay. Going back to the picture I think I would do the same as the bear if I was hot too:silly:

Hi Sid,
have not heard Franklin mentioned, which means they are OK as we were listening to ABC radio all of Saturday and Sunday.
Update........ 184 cofirmed dead, that figure will increase, probably to 300 !!!!!!!!!!
Just over 1000 houses burnt down
5000 or more people homeless.
The things we have been seeing on TV news are horriffic and heart-breaking.....
In fact I can't bear to watch most of the time.

Dave

I was reading the DogVictoria site and looking at the members affected. There was one of GSP owners who lost everything including dogs and horses. I later found out that my friends are friends of them. They were in their car with dogs in the trailer trying to escape. They couldn't get through and then the trailer was engulfed in flames. This story breaks my heart. They managed to escape the car and lay down in a paddock and by some miracle survived.
It is so hard to fathom the horrors that are being experienced.
I shed tears every night thinking about the animals that have suffered.