Some people say the COVID-19 swab isn't the most pleasant of experiences.
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Don't listen to them. We have it on good authority that the nurses giving the swabs are as gentle as a lamb.
The tests are done very efficiently, too. In two shakes of a lamb's tail, you'll be done. Please pardon the puns. We're the black sheep of the family.
We hear nurses were surprised to see Louie the sheep in the backseat of a Honda Jazz, as it made its way through the COVID-19 drive-through testing clinic at Belmont. In the commotion over spotting a sheep, the nurses were a tad worried about cars ramming into each other.
Topics hears that nurses are used to people bringing their pets along while they get swabbed.
Usually, they bring their pet dog. Which is good for the swabber and the swabbee. You see, the patient gets the support of their pooch and the nurses get a boost from seeing a happy dog, in between swabbing more than 100 people a day.
As for Louie, thankfully he didn't need to get swabbed. But we did hear that sheep are helping in the fight against coronavirus. On farms in Scotland, sheep are being used to produce antibodies against the virus.
Apparently, the sheep aren't being harmed in the process. We can't promise they won't end up as roast lamb, though.
Sweet As Honey
Motion-sensing cameras set up in nest boxes in Lake Macquarie have given one researcher her very own version of an Attenborough film.
"I've recorded rainbow lorikeets, eastern rosellas, scaly-breasted lorikeets, squirrel gliders and feathertail gliders using insulated and uninsulated nest boxes," University of Technology Sydney PhD student Reannan Honey said.
Owls and brushtail possums were also spotted in the boxes.
Lake Macquarie City Council funded Ms Honey's four-year study, which involved monitoring sugar and squirrel glider communities at 25 sites.
"The glider population has increased steadily since I first started trapping in 2017. I recorded 47 new gliders this year - 29 sugar gliders and 18 squirrel gliders," Ms Honey said.
She was excited by the survival of glider populations in fire-affected bush near Cooranbong.
She had feared the worst after fire hit the area in December.
Monitoring last month showed gliders had survived the blaze or returned after fleeing.
"It's amazing we are still detecting them on site - I was so excited about it," she said.
Non-Viral Jokes
How did the bird break into the house? With a crowbar.
Why was the sheep arrested on the freeway. Because it did a ewe-turn.
- topics@newcastleherald.com.au
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