Urban etiquette in regional Australia. Animalia......(7)

Although we don't always notice, there are rules of etiquette which apply whenever we leave the house and enter public spaces in urban areas or when denizens of those same public places enter our homes.
On the New South Wales North Coast (as elsewhere in regionl Australia) these rules take on a distinctive flavour.

Basic Rules

• Never argue with a snake. It almost always wins any territorial dispute and the losers sometimes find themselves in A&E at the local district hospital.
• Estuary waters and the ocean are the natural home of sharks not humans, so be polite and don't disturb them at dawn and dusk by swimming in their living rooms.
• A Maned Wood Duck usually crosses the road on foot to get its small brood to the other side, so drivers should slow down and keep eyes open for fledglings if an adult bird is sighted on the bitumen.
• Spur-Winged Plovers always have undisputed right of way on a footpath when they are taking their young out on that first excursion into the big wide world, and they will tell you so - loudly!
• Magpies won't like you during breeding season if you haven't politely introduced yourself to the family when they first moved into the neighbourhood. A friendly word in passing pays dividends later on.
• Spiders are not your friends, but neither are they your enemies - recognise that most are merely passing the time of day and don't whack them with that rolled up newspaper or deploy the fissionable material you keep under the sink.
• Small birds often fall from nests during storms. If a parent bird isn't near or the fledgling is just too young to make it into a bush or tree - call WIRES for help.
• Possums in the roof space may be a nuisance, but they are not committing a capital offence.Trap and release these furred offenders elsewhere, don't poison them.
• Don't steal flowers and native plants from the wild - be honest and pay for specimens at the local plant nursery. Most plants ripped from natural habitat die when replanted in the average garden anyway.
• Never be polite to a mosquito - it is always looking for new ways to bite and annoy you.
• Bush flies must be endured with stoicism if you want to be seen as a true blue Aussie.
• Cane toads are the spawn of Satan so give no quarter.
• Keep your pet cat in the house between dusk and dawn and don't let your dog roam free.
• PICK UP THE POOP WHEN YOU WALK THE DOG!