Southern bell frogs
THESE critters are supposed to be rare in our district. For the past four decades I just thought they were frogs – they are that common out here in the rice crops and irrigation. It is only in the past year or two that I have found out that these common frogs on our farm are supposed to be rare. After the shower of rain the other night, they decided that the best place to sit was on our road. I picked up about a dozen or so in less than half an hour and put them into an ice cream container. That takes a bit of doing and they were not happy about it and they have a lot of hop in them. But if they keep sitting on roads to get the insects, they will become an endangered species. I have become good at telling the difference between a rock, a lump of mud, a sheep turd and a southern bell frog. They are big, around eight to 10 cm long and they sit at about a 45-degree angle. All other frogs are much smaller and usually sit flat before they get run over. This collection of rare frogs was safely relocated to our wetland where they have plenty of friends. An old farmer once said to those in charge of wetlands years ago. “Just give me the water. I will feed thousands of water birds. I will breed the frogs for you. I will breed millions of insects for you. I will do this all for free. All I want is the bit off the top when it is right to go.” That would be the rice. Our rice is still king of the desert and always will be. Our rice breeds and feeds more than just the people that buy our wonderful SunRice products.
More firefighters needed
OUR Moulamein Town Brigade and our Moulamein Road Crash Rescue are a bit short of numbers at the moment. They need more members to step up and help out. Our Road Crash Rescue unit has all of the whiz bang equipment that the big boys have to get anyone out of a car in an accident. Our unit has already helped to save a couple of lives. This could be you, or someone you love that need this service. Our brigade will be doing a demonstration at our Moulamein Yabby Races this Saturday between 11am and noon. Come and have a look. For more information, please ring our captain on 0427 963 683.
Permits ended
FIRE permits are longer required to burn off. Timber may now be burnt. You must still notify your neighbours and if you are doing a big one you have to register your burn on rfs.nsw.gov.au . Good luck with that.
Moulamein Preschool yabby races and Easter fair
THIS great event will be held this Easter Saturday in our main street from 9am until 1pm in Moulamein. This is always a big day for our town and our preschool. If you do not have a yabby do not worry as our Men’s Shed have been busy and they have plenty to hire for the day. On the day there will be of course our yabby races. There will be the egg throw, egg and spoon races, dash for cash, jumping castle well bolted down, showbags, lotto jars, barbecue, cake stall, snow cones, market stalls, raffles, vintage cars and lots more. Our NSW Rural Fire Service will be doing a membership drive and they will demonstrate how they can cut up a car to save your life. This is a big day. For more information, please ring Hannah on 0472 904 724 or just turn up on the day. Our Moulamein Angling Club run their duck race just after our yabby races. By then it is beer o’clock for sure. If you would like to be a sponsor of this great day and support our preschool. Ring Hannah for more details.
Footy-netball started last week
OUR seniors came out of the blocks and got 6 straight goals in the first quarter to Ultima’s four straight goals. You do not see this very often in any footy match let alone country footy. This was four more goals than was kicked in the AFLW Grand Final. But that is another matter. We have some big boys out there this year. They had a bit of a sleep in the third quarter but they come good in the last quarter to win by around five goals. Not a bad effort for a team that does not know all of the names of their teammates yet. I was asking our back pocket who got the goals in the first quarter as it was the other end of the ground. He did not know their names yet but he said number 19. My eyesight is bad from a long distance and it did not seem right. I almost wrote the goal to number 19 until he turned his back on me. The cheeky bugger was number 19. I will be watching him. Our new recruit Josh Flight managed 10 goals in his first game. Our under-14 netballers got up but I think the rest went down. Home to Wandella in two weeks. Come over for a look and help me keep an eye on number 19.
Easter bowls tournament
WE have our usual Easter Bowls Tournament coming up again this year. On Good Friday we have the Bill Houton any combination pairs. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our Saturday competition because of lack of entries. I suppose this Easter is the first time some families have been able to get together for a while. So bowls comes in second. Our Bill Houton pairs is almost full at the time of writing so it should be a great day.
Moulamein Angling Club fishing competition
IF you want a great, cheap day out on Sunday, come over to our local angling club’s only competition for the year. It will cost you a whole $5 for adults and $3 for kids. For this very expensive entry fee you will get a barbecue lunch and the chance to win plenty of prizes in the senior and junior sections. This great event starts at 10am and goes until 3pm. There are raffles, Easter egg hunts and it will be held opposite the wharf in Moulamein. For more information, please ring Rozy on 0428 875 078
River levels
THE Edward at Moulamein is rising slowly at just over 1.6 meters and just over 1400 megs a day. Let’s hope these levels stay up for Easter. By the look of the river levels on the way, they should. Just depends on how many pumps get fired up between now and Easter. Fish have been quiet with an unusual number of carp getting caught. Thank you to those that give me carp. My yabby bait freezer is pretty full at the moment. Looks good for Easter yabbies.
