Skip to main content

The dogs that protect little penguins










When foxes discovered little penguins on a small Australian island, they nearly wiped the colony out. But a farmer came up with a novel way to protect the birds - and the story has been made into a hit film. As a premise for a film, think Lassie meets Babe meets Pingu. What's not to like? Middle Island, a beautiful, rugged and windswept outcrop off the coast of southern Victoria is home to a colony of the world's smallest penguins. Originally known as fairy penguins, before some pen-pusher deemed that politically incorrect, they've now been given the far more dreary sounding title of little penguins. To be fair, they are just that - little, standing at 30 to 40cm tall. There used to be hundreds of them on Middle Island - but that was before the foxes got to them.  Dec. 14 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35039105





Shown here is the chart for the Waxing Crescent Moon of December 15 drawn for London where the story was published.  Both the luminaries  form hard aspects to Jupiter and the nodal axis which are conjunct the star Cor Caroli. Alpha (α) Canes Venatici, Cor Coroli, is a star, on the Southern Hound, Chara.







The usual illustration of the constellation, Canes Venatici, is of two Greyhounds straining at the leash held in the hand of Bootes. The Moon is conjunct  the star 13 Vulpecula of the Fox.  On the Ascendant is Alpha (α) Bootes, Arcturus,  a golden red star in the constellation of Bootes, the armed Shepherd  also referred to as the Protector. And finally, the Sun is conjunct the star Ras Alhague, alpha (α) Ophiuchus, the healer. Ophiuchus is also referred to as the medicine man. Its stars are connected with healing, mending, restoring or revivifying  people or situations that have declined or deteriorated in any way.


So do the pieces fall together? We have the Shepherd or the Protector’s dog chasing the Foxes who had nearly wiped  out the  penguin colony! The dog’s  role helps in restoring and regenerating a situation that was in serious decline.

Comments