The Huntaway of New Zealand Farmer

It’s been said that a dog is a man’s best pal.  When it comes to a New Zealand farmer, this is undoubtedly true.  Some New Zealand farmers do not just have a handful of acres, they have a handful of thousand, and trying to get your flock of sheep into the stockyards can bring a entire new meaning to the phrase ‘working for your money’ if the farmer had to do all the leg perform.  There are around 43 MILLION sheep in New Zealand, which is an average of 12 sheep per particular person.  Wouldn’t want to get them mad now would we?  (A well-liked statement from comedians from overseas).  The average flock size on the average farm is around 1400 sheep.  The initial sheep arrived in New Zealand around 1773, and their population exploded to a whopping 83 million prior to it began to decline due to other farming possibilities such as dairy and raising beef cattle.

The Huntaway is New Zealand farmer’s very best pal

The vast size of New Zealand enables for some massive farms, or stations as they are referred to as.  This is especially correct in the South Island exactly where some rocky mountainous terrain can only be inhabited and used for grazing sheep.  The average farm in the South Island of New Zealand is around 536 acres, the bigger stations can range from more than 300 hectares to 25,758 Hectares (the popular Walter Peak Station, founded in 1860).  The largest station in New Zealand is now owned by the Government and measures 1,800 km².  So as you can picture, you need to have a ‘best friend’ to aid.

The agile Huntaway running across the backs of sheep

New Zealand has formulated its own kind of breed to support muster the big number of sheep in from the hills and all nooks and crannies.  Instead of the precision and silent method from the trusty ‘eye’ sheep dog (those black and white sheepdogs usually seen in English movies), the shepherds of the stations needed a much more robust dog with a loud voice and one that is not afraid to stand its ground.   So what’s a farmer to do if that ‘breed’ is not readily available?  Effectively, do the Kiwi factor off course and invent (breed) a single.  Enter the New Zealand Huntaway, officially not a breed as no a single in history knows precisely what their pedigree is, what other breeds were utilized, how significantly of which breed or can even agree on a ‘standard’ by which to measure the breed.  All colors, sizes, breed mixes are offered and used, as long as they are loyal, like to bark and can listen it’s a New Zealand Huntaway.  Selective breeding from great working dogs have narrowed the ‘breed’ into a instantly recognized dog in New Zealand, but there is no strict ‘breed standard’.  New Zealand Huntaways are normally black and tan, sturdy dogs that are very athletic.  The dog wants to have excellent stamina as on some stations they are needed to cover nearly one hundred km per day.  When the farmer has a fantastic functioning dog, it is treated with respect but is expected to do its job.  A huntaway’s principal trait is the bark, which can be switched on and off by command.  This is off course really essential, as noise at the wrong time and in the wrong spot, can lead to disasters such as a smothering of sheep as they pile on top of every other and suffocate, or a stampede in the direction of the shepherd! And trust me when I say a huge flock of sheep running at full speed can be ‘wool blind’ (or just don’t care) and can be a rather frightening encounter.  Commands are generally verbal but can also be completed by whistle.  A great shepherd with a number of dogs can train each dog to obey particular commands and have a number of dogs ‘working’ together performing different issues utilizing diverse commands.  To see this in action is an incredible sight, I’m usually curious to if they ever muddle up the commands, off course a true shepherd would just not let on a error and to the untrained eye like myself, I wouldn’t know if the sheep had been meant to go left or correct.  It just appears like a perfectly executed operation.

As puppies the Huntaway should show a organic instinct to perform by around 6 months of age and typically the puppies who don’t show this are euthanaised, hence the stockmen are keeping only good solid functioning dogs who primarily create great offspring.

The story goes that farmers started the Huntaway with the Border Collie, then for good measure mixed in some Beardie (sheep dog  from Northern Scotland), Old English Sheepdog, the Smithfield (both from England), abit of Labrador, Fox Hound, Retriever and what ever else was about at the time.  Contrary to the primary coloring, the German Shepherd was not involved.

A excellent huntaway is as useful as any other member of the functioning team of the farm, occasionally even much more so.  The Huntaway is a New Zealand Farmer’s ideal buddy.

About the author :

Monica Toretto is a writer, painter, photographer and blogger. She lives with her two young sons in Invercargill near Bluff. She has travelled broadly in Canada and the US and worked as a veterinary technician ahead of returning to New Zealand. Her operate has appeared in several magazines in the UK and New Zealand. She has also authored a book of poetry and photography named ‘Words’.

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New Zealand : Wool and Milk

New Zealand is typically noticed as the country where the sheep outnumber the people, which is quite accurate but we are not all about the wool – we’re identified for our ‘white gold’ as well.  Yes I’m talking about milk! I reside in a region exactly where the dairy cows significantly outnumber the human population and dairy farming is huge.  Us Kiwis really like our nature, our beaches, our wildlife and obviously our lush green pastures with – you guessed it – dairy cows.

The grazing sheep of New Zealand

Southland is at the bottom of the South Island, the most southernmost area in New Zealand, and has a really different climate to the rest of the nation due to its proximity to the South Pole, and to best it off, Southland has claim to fame by getting New Zealand most sparsely populated area (in other words, there aren’t that several of us)  Southland is around 28,681 km² with three,400 km of coastal stretch.  The other claim to fame should be that the region contains two National Parks Fiordland and Rakiura National Parks.  Fiordland National Park is 7,860 km² and is New Zealand’s biggest National Park.  Rakiura National Park takes up 85% of Steward Island which is the little island proper at the bottom of mainland New Zealand (and is integrated in the Southland Region).  Both are as beautiful and diverse as the folks who contact New Zealand residence.

Kiwi Dairy Cows are grazing ( Image : Towards Light on Flickr )

Yes, New Zealand has lots of sheep compared to men and women.  The sheep total in 2011 was 32.6 million, compared to the present 2012 human population of entire New Zealand at a mere four.four million.  But Southland is special when once more, by becoming the area with only 94,900 humans compared to a whopping 589,000 dairy cows!

A stunning image by Alan Hopps : Fantastic field, New Zealand Cows and Church

The New Zealand dairy industry is world renowned, we have in total 11,735 dairy herds, with five.9 million cows scattered throughout the nation that are accountable for the 17.3 billion liters of milk produced per year.  New Zealand controls 1 third of the globe trade in dairy goods, with 95% of the annual production in New Zealand exported overseas – not undesirable for a wee country  even if I say so myself!
So when you hear men and women speaking about the gorgeous landscape, the green forests, the clean beaches, the sheep and ‘kiwis’ of New Zealand, you ought to also keep in mind that we love our humble dairy cow.

About the Author :

Monica Vos

Monica Toretto is a writer, painter, photographer and blogger. She lives with her two young sons in Invercargill near Bluff. She has travelled extensively in Canada and the US and worked as a veterinary technician prior to returning to New Zealand. Her perform has appeared in numerous magazines in the UK and New Zealand. She has also authored a book of poetry and photography referred to as ‘Words’.

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Tuatara: The living fossil of New Zealand

In my hometown of Invercargill we have our really personal living dinosaur.  His name is Henry and he’s very old, and yes, he’s nevertheless alive!  New Zealand is unique in getting some quite specific wildlife, nothing really that could do you considerably harm, we’re relatively peaceful down beneath, but unique all the identical.

Old Henry is a living treasure, he’s a Tuatara and is believed to have been hatched about the 1900’s.  He’s old!

Tuatara: The living fossil of New Zealand – Image: Barbara Dieu

Tuatara, the living fossil of New Zealand  is a reptile with a distinct lineage, ‘Rhynchocephalia’ – and the Tuatara is the only member nonetheless alive today.  The rest of the loved ones inhabited the earth about 200 million years ago.

Tuatara are greenish brown and are about 80 cm (31 inches) from head to tail tip.  The males specifically have the dinosaur look of sporting a spiny crest along the back.  Both sexes have no external ears and have reasonably long claws.  Although widely claimed to be living fossils, recent research have suggested that Tuatara have changed significantly considering that the Mesozoic era.
Tuatara is Maori which implies ‘peaks on back’.  The Tuatara has been protected by law since 1895 and a breeding system is assisting this unique species survive.  Invercargill have Henry, who became a father (possibly for the initial time) on January 23, 2009 at the age of 111.  The breeding system at Invercargill has been going effectively with yet another batch hatched in late 2011.
Tuatara lay eggs and the entire process from copulation to hatching can take anywhere from 12 to 15 months.  Reproduction normally occurs at two to 5 year intervals since it takes the female a few years to offer eggs with yolks and then one more seven months or so to type the shell, that’s a lot of work.

Tuatara: This living fossil of New Zealand looks like Grumpy – Image by Steve & Jem Copley

Tuatara feed on beetles, crickets and spiders and in the wild share the burrows of birds such as petrels, prions and sharewaters.  Tuatara also dig their personal burrows and are territorial, inflicting severe bites to intruders.

Tuatara after lived all through the entire of New Zealand in the wild, but now are just identified on the off shore islands which are totally free of rodents and other introduced mammalian predators.  There are about one hundred,000 surviving Tuatara in New Zealand and are unusual in that they prefer cool weather – they do not survive properly above 25C but can reside beneath 5C by sheltering in burrows.  It is due to this temperature why Invercargill has a extremely excellent record of breeding Tuatara.  Tuatara, the living fossil of New Zealand  is a national treasure and the 1st native species to be completely protected by law.
Invercargill ‘shares’ their newly hatched and effectively grown young Tuatara with other Institutions that participate in breeding applications and are very proud of Old Henry for ultimately doing his part at such an old age.

About the Author:

Monica Toretto from New Zealand : The Author

Monica Toretto is a writer, painter, photographer and blogger. She lives with her two young sons in Invercargill close to Bluff. She has traveled widely in Canada and the US and worked as a veterinary technician prior to returning to New Zealand. Her operate has appeared in numerous magazines in the UK and New Zealand. She has also authored a book of poetry and photography called ‘Words’.

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New Zealand Kea: The Alpine Parrot

Odd name for an equally odd bird.  The New Zealand Kea to be precise.  The Kea is one particular of only 10 kinds of parrot discovered in New Zealand, and the only Alpine parrot in the globe.  These lovely olive green parrots can be identified in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand.  It has a brilliant orange coloring beneath the wings, dull blue feathers on the wings and tail, and has a really massive narrow curved beak.  Kea are omnivorous (or also known as the New Zealand garbage can), since they do eat carrion (carcasses of dead animals).  The Kea feeds on a lot more than 40 plant species, and their diet program consists mainly of roots, leaves, berries, nectar and insects.  The New Zealand Kea also eat other birds and mammals (such as sheep and rabbits), plus they will not turn you down if you offer them French fries and burgers. In captivity the the New Zealand Kea  are normally fed butter, nuts, apples, carrots, grapes, mangoes, figs, bread, dairy merchandise, meat and pasta.

The New Zealand Kia : ‘Nestor notabillis’ Photo © Jack Brauer

The New Zealand Kea are frequent visitors to Ski-resorts, they in turn attracted to the ‘people life’ who regardless of signs saying not to, will feed these birds (or in numerous instances the birds will assist themselves to what it pleases, including passports and sunglasses).  Recent studies have shown that even though far from ideal, these ‘human fed’ birds have a greater body weight than these on a ‘wild’ diet and make slightly above typical number of eggs.  So fortunately, on this occasion ‘human’ interference has a very good outcome.

The New Zealand Kia in flight. Photo © Peter Strauss

The New Zealand Kea was as soon as killed for bounty due to issues by the sheep farming neighborhood that it attacked livestock, specially sheep.  In 1986 the Kea received full protection and numbers are gradually climbing once again. The New Zealand Kea nests in burrows or crevices amongst the roots of trees and are known for their intelligence and curiosity.  Each traits are crucial for their survival. The New Zealand Kea are capable to solve logical puzzles, like pushing and pulling issues in a particular order to get to food and are known to function together to achieve a particular objective. Whether that objective is just for pleasure or survival is at times in question, simply because Kea have a reputation for removing the rubber from about car windows and ‘stealing’ things from guests to their habitat (one such incident involved a Scottish tourist who saw his passport be ‘escorted’ off into the mountains by no means to be seen again.  I wonder how he explained that to his Embassy!).

The genus ‘Nestor’ consists of four species  The New Zealand Kaka (Nestor meridionalis), the Kea (Nestor Notabillis) and the extinct Norfolk Kaka & Chatham Kaka.  All believed to stem from a species that dwelled in the forests of New Zealand five million years ago.  The Kea’s closest relative is the Kakapo. A gathering or group of New Zealand Kea is aptly named ‘a circus’ as these birds can typically been observed tumbling and ‘playing’ like kittens.

Kia: The only Alpine parrot of the planet in nature

New Zealand Kea, the alpine parrot is a large parrot of about 48 cm lengthy (19 in) and weighs .eight-1 kg (1.8-two.2lb). Kea are not located in the North Island of New Zealand in the wild, although fossil evidence suggests a population lived there more than 10,000 years ago.  As for the number of Kea in the wild, the estimates variety from five,000 to 15,000, this is because of the Kea’s widespread distribution at low density and frequently inaccessible regions prevents an precise ‘head’ count.  In an region in the South Island called ‘Athur’s Pass’ about ten% of the local Kea are expected to be over 20 years of age.  The oldest captive Kea was 50 years old in 2008.

About the Author :

Monica Toretto

 Monica Toretto is a writer, painter, photographer and blogger. She lives with her two young sons in Invercargill near Bluff. She has travelled broadly in Canada and the US and worked as a veterinary technician just before returning to New Zealand. Her function has appeared in many magazines in the UK and New Zealand. She has also authored a book of poetry and photography called ‘Words’.

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