Fiction (8-12)

Sample Dasyure, the tiger cat, was a handsome youngster: brown body and tail spotted over in white, he lived quietly with his mother and sister in a secluded hollow log. This is the story of the young tiger cat’s coming-of-age: of his first groping steps towards manhood after his mother’s death, and how he learned to fend for himself in an unkind, uncaring world. Like many human beings, Dasyure was a shy fellow. In his habits he resembled a burglar, coming out to work only when night closed over the bush. However, unlike the burglar, he was both brave and bold; would take on a creature whom he had no chance of beating, so pugnacious was his nature. In the story, Dasyure is both hero and villain, but as the author says: “You must have a kindly feeling towards him as a fellow-Australian. Tiger Cats, Native Cats and the rest of the Dasyuridae family do a great deal of useful work in keeping down vermin, from mice to rabbits. “And, like every good Australian, Dasyure is entitled to a “fair go”–as is every one of the very wonderful and useful native animals in this great land of ours.”