Australia is synonymous with animals - I'm headed to BATMANIA !!!

So when I tell people that I'm heading to Australia, some of the first things out of their mouth is "wow there are some crazy animals there! Have you heard about all those dangerous and poisonous things there!?" Well I say, YES, I don't live in a hole, I know that Australia has quite the reputation and The Outback sure does have a daunting and exciting sound to it. But let's take a realistic, closer look at what animal dangers I will be encountering... 

Before Melbourne was Melbourne, it was called Batmania.... 
Other names Melbourne had were  Bearbrass, Bearport, Bareheap and Bearbury.

Getting the hint?? I think I'm either going to be running into Bruce Wayne or I'm stepping back in time to the 1999 movie, Bats. 

Well rest assured friends and relatives and that weird person who shows up on my Google Analytics from Germany.... Melbourne was not named Batmania because of bats, it was named that because of one of the founding fathers whose name was John Batman. 

So now that we cleared that up, let's take a look at some of the other quirky animal encounters that might come up in Melbourne. 

Well I was planning on bringing my goat "Pinkie" into the country, until I read the laws...
"Under local Melbourne by-laws, it is an offence to drive your goat (or dog) harnessed or attached to a 
vehicle in a public place. It's also illegal to sing a rude or bawdy song within earshot of another person."

I guess she'll have to stay at home  :-( 

So I can't bring my goat for transportation nor will I be delayed in traffic by people pulling goats...I won't be attacked by bats in "Batmania"... should I be knocking on wood?

Well then I read that Melbourne is officially the fox capital of the world, with between 6 and 23 foxes per square kilometre in the urban area of the city. That compares with 4-6 foxes per square km in country Victoria and around 13 sheep and 3 people per square kilometre in Australia.

So this foxy lady is headed to foxy Melbourne, hanging with foxy Melburnians...in 2 weeks (to the day!). 

And I leave you with one animal thought....... About 90 tons of dog poo is left on the streets of Melbourne every day.

That sounds like an incentive to come visit me while I'm studying abroad!!!