MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Steeplejerk]

Guitar strings !!

[StoneRoad]

Box of Bowden cables (control cables for example on cars / motorbikes or gilders and early aircraft)

[Stanley]

I think I have to give it to Young Tom..... Piano strings actually...

Next one?

[Tizer]

What's this little beauty?...

[Cathy]

It's a possum, one of our native marsupials.
They are protected over here. If one gets into your roof-space they have to be removed (very carefully) and transported back to it's proper habitat.

[Stanley]

I think I would have said the same as Cathy and will go with her superior knowledge.

[Tizer]

Spot on with possum Cathy, but do you know your possums well enough to say which type it is? It's a sweet little thing and has a lovely name!

[Cathy]

Our most common are ringtail and brushtail. There are dozens of different types. Yours looks tiny, is it a pygmy possum, I've never seen one though.

[Stanley]

Can't wait to see if she is right......
I saw some big ones in Perth Zoo. It was an infra-red camera view of them in their den during the day and they were all laid on their backs. One was scratching its stomach. Lovely.....

[Tizer]

Cathy's got close enough and it's time to reveal the name...I couldn't resist it. Click `Next' until you reach photo number 11 on this web page: LINK It's the Sugar Glider! Latin name Petaurus breviceps. Wikipedia describes it as `a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its preference for sugary nectarous foods and ability to glide through the air, much like a flying squirrel.' Here's one in action: LINK

[Stanley]

Like a supercharged hamster......
Thinking about Perth Zoo reminds me of the day I was standing with an American Lady watching an Ostrich. Like all birds it ejects urine and faeces at the same time and while we were watching it had a good clear out. I swear it almost turned itself inside out prompting the lady to scream out "Ugh!! Gross!!" and I have to say I totally agree with her. Sorry about that but you need to know these things....
Next for shaving!

[Stanley]

Can anyone tell me what this is?

[chinatyke]

Sleeve badge of a rifleman in the army? Sorry, not into military uniforms and such.

[Stanley]

In the right area China but a bit more specialised than that.

[Tizer]

A sniper's badge?

[Stanley]

I could be very hard and say no Tiz but that's close enough. It's a Marksman Badge awarded for a near perfect score on the range when shooting the annual TOET course (Test of Elementary Training) When I got one in 1954 they took me back the following day to Sealand Ranges to shoot the course again because they thought I'd cheated because I was graded C3 on account of my eyesight. I did even better.... That included getting five bulls eyes at 600 yards without the benefit of telescopic sights using the old Short Magazine Lee Enfield .303 rifle. Unbelievable now.



The 100 metre range at Sealand today.

Next one?

[Stanley]

Can anyone tell me what's going on here?

[PanBiker]

Controlled explosion of something under the heavyweight covering, maybe old ordnance?

[Tizer]

I suspect Ian's right - Stanley memory has been jogged by the news of the unexploded bomb in London today.

[Stanley]

Ian is right. Blasting the Manhattan Schist for the foundations of a new skyscraper in NY in 1980. The mats are made of woven chain. The clue is the drill parked at the back.
Next one?

[Stanley]

What can you tell me about this?

[Gloria]

Something to do with "Year of the Dog"?

[chinatyke]

You beat me to it Gloria. The Chinese character is 狗 gou meaning dog.

[Stanley]

You're both right, it's the Chinese sign for my birth year, I am an Iron Rat. Next rat year is 2020.
Next one?

[chinatyke]

You're both right, it's the Chinese sign for my birth year, I am an Iron Rat. Next rat year is 2020.
Next one?

How can that be right? It's a dog not a rat.