Dearest Foxy,

And with high cheek-bones as well ? Are you using 'our' generally, or specifically ? Or are you suggesting that lonely Scottish shepherds have left behind more than just a historical legacy ?

My Scottish-originated grandfather told my mum that, when he was a drover up in the channel country before 1900, they had to be careful around any shepherd and his sheep - they usually had a favourite, called by the drovers 'the shepherd's wife', which used to sidle up to any visitors, and was watched very jealously by the shepherd. I imagine they had furious rows after the drovers had gone. I suspect that some of the drovers might have been sorely tempted though. Some of those young ewes are damn good-looking.

Joe

Fox,

You are spending too much time on OLO. Just tend to those home fires and his sheep bothering should cease. If not, a farmer might get some further use out of his Schrade Old Timer.

Dear Joe (Loudmouth) and otb,

Great responses from you both.

I'm most impressed.

Fox,

Ta very much.

I must return the compliment though, because your innate skill at diversion has been honed to a razor's edge.

What about Native Australians though? If you were born here do you accept - whoops the PC word is 'embrace' that kind description?

After all, those Native Australians are among the most generous, welcoming peoples in the world, even encouraging migrants from teeming, monocultural countries with values and political traditions toxic to our own to expand their cultures here.

Or are foxes forever feral in their ways? It is a challenge, because foxes cannot be domesticated,

"when wild/tame foxes age from juvenile to mature, they go through hormonal changes and can become extremely aggressive. ("They turn into real bastards," says Fedewa.)"
http://www.popsci.com.au/science/can-i-have-a-pet-fox,378909

otb,

Thank You for your kind words.
A great improvement in your posting tactics.
I hope this keeps up.

Native Australians?

A "native" is regarded as a person born in a specified
place or associated with a place by birth - whether
subsequently resident there or not.

So of course I do not have a problem with that term.

Thank You for your link to foxes. I chose that moniker
mainly because I love their colour. (Being a red-head
myself). Also we're always on the side of the animal
being chased - on the side of the fox not the hounds. ;-)

There's a quote from Napoleon that appeals to me:

"I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion.
The secret lies in knowing when to be the one or
the other..." (or words to that effect).

BTW: My star-sign is Leo!

Dear Joe (Loudmouth),

Thanks for this discussion.
I'm learning quite a bit from it.

The following website may be of interest to you as well:

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/09/dna-confirms-aboriginal-culture-one-of-earths-oldest/

It is very interesting to learn that Aboriginal people had
Siberian ancestors. Yay!

We're also told that -

Aboriginal Australians are descendants
of the first people to leave Africa up to 75,000 years
ago, a genetic study has found, confirming they may
have the oldest continuous culture on the planet.

Isn't it great that humans have inter-mixed throughout
history!