Double-headed cobra

A double-headed cobra has been found in China.

Usually it is hard for such creatures to survive for very long after hatching.

Guinea Pig World Cup

The inspiration behind the guinea pig races at Pinnacle started in 1978, when a local farmer came home from town with 4 guineapigs as pets for his young children. Once the guineapigs were home he realised his children were too young to look after them so he started looking for someone older to do the job. A family friend had been waiting on the veranda for the farmer to return from town and the children swiftly presented the guinea pigs to him. Taking it all in his stride, the friend promptly named them and announced that they should be raced.


A track was built which was 4 lanes wide and 5 meters long. The race track originally ran parallel to the veranda as can be seen in the early photos. The popularity of the racing increased and it was decided to race regularly on the Sunday of each long weekend through the year. In October of 1979 the Pinnacle Guinea Pig Racing Club and committee was formed and registered as a non profit organisation to fundraise for local charities.

The track was extended to 10 meters and was relocated to the present location to allow for large crowds. Necessary facilities were installed to make the crowd more comfortable including a grandstand, toilets blocks, souvenir tables, covered wet weather areas, shade cloth and a bar. The Grenfell Rotary and Lions Clubs was asked to cater with a BBQ and the Lions Club were asked to provide additional entertainment with their Merry-Go-Round. The inaugural Guinea Pig World Cup was held in June 1980 in front of a crowd of over 2000 and tv cameras and reporters.

The guinea pig racing is now held on the Sunday of the Easter weekend and the Sunday of the June Henry Lawson Festival Long weekend. Well over $67000 has been donated to charity over the years. The program is 20 races half of these being sprint races and half being steeplechases with the guinea pigs jumping over small hurdles which can be seen on the outside of the track in one of the photos. Late entries can be nominated on the day and over the years entries have been received from all over Australia.

The Guinea Pig Races are a relaxing unique Australian experience showcasing the larrikin attitude and laid back nature of Australian rural communities.

The biggest blunder in Australia's history

Cane toads are a poisonous South American frog that can grow as big as dinnerplates and breed like rabbits and would have to be the biggest blunder in Australia's history as scientists, paid by the Australian government, went overseas to collect canetoads and returned to Australia and set about thirty of them free in North Queensland in 1933.


The idea was that they would eat the beetles that were causing economic damage eating the sugarcane but unfortunately the cane toads never touched the beetles but helped themselves to everything else they could find. Wildlife smaller than them they will kill and eat, wildlife bigger than them will eat them and die from the poison they have in glands on their back.

The thirty toads that were introduced initially have now multiplied into the countless millions and are spreading across Australia and have recently arrived in Kakadu, Northern Territory where it is expected they will devastate the place as there are vast floodplains which are the perfect breeding ground for them. They seem to be adapting to the Australian conditions/distances too, scientists are studying the toxic pests' entry in to the NT, clocking them hopping up to 2km in a single night, or more than 50km a year - five times quicker than their predecessors travelled in the 1940s to 1960s.

Some birds have actually adapted and learned how to turn them over and eat their insides avoiding the poison glands on the back.

Ingenious Australians have also used the toads to make wallets, stubby coolers etc.

RoboCroc

AS if a 3m croc need's any help looking scary! Experts have rebuilt this injured animal's face...

Be afraid ... a 3m crocodile whose face was crushed by a car has been transformed into "RoboCroc" after reconstructive surgey at Miami's Metrozoo


Major operation ... the Miami team sets about the reconstructive surgery that will hopefully allow the croc to hunt and eat again. It's believed that the croc had been unable to eat for three months after the accident.


Spit and polish ... one of the team cleans up RoboCroc after his reconstructive surgery.


Close up... a final check of the rebuilt snout

A dog called Shamrock

Pooch power ... a dog called Shamrock is dressed in a festive costume in Belfast

Riding a jumping lion

A RUSSIAN circus features an animal trainer riding a jumping lion... animal tamer Askold Zapashny of the Zapashny Brothers' circus rides a lion during the premiere of the circus's show Camelot in St Petersburg, Russia

Cuban boxer

A boxer rests in Sagua La Grande, province of Santa Clara in central Cuba

Dachshund puppies

A boxer rests as Dachshund puppies play near it in Sagua La Grande, province of Santa Clara in central Cuba

Wild boar piglet named "Schnitzel"

Farmer Heiko Cordt walks his dogs and the wild boar piglet named "Schnitzel" in Wiblingwerde, western Germany.

"Schnitzel" was left behind when farmer Heiko Cordt tried to chase away a herd of wild boards out of a friend's garden. Cordt now raises the piglet with his five dogs.

Swan Upping

A 'Swan Upper' struggles with a swan on the River Thames during the annual Swan Upping census in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

"Swan Upping" dates from the 12th century when the crown claimed all the unowned mute swans in England to ensure a supply of meat for banquets and feasts.

Sex doll for dogs

Visitors look at a prototype sex doll for dogs during the Pet South America fair in Sao Paulo.

The massage of the bull

A minder watches the massage of the bull "Leif", which is attached onto his back in the solarium at the cattle breeding station in Woldegk, northern Germany.

The ten-year old taurus is the most important breeding bull in the province and receives for his first-class sperm donations a complete wellness programme. Leif has by now more than 11,000 daughters in 21 countries around the world.

South American Sea Lion

Young South American Sea Lion cub lies in its enclosure in the Schjoenbrunn zoo in Vienna. The cub was born in the zoo on July 24, 2009.