Greyfriars Bobby, Champion the Wonder Horse and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo shall have their revenge – Susan Morrison

Australians seem astounded by their discovery that kangaroos really can communicate with us.
A statue, suitably attired for the age of Covid, of Greyfriars Bobby whose smart descendants may be plotting against humans, given the mess we've been making of the planet (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)A statue, suitably attired for the age of Covid, of Greyfriars Bobby whose smart descendants may be plotting against humans, given the mess we've been making of the planet (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
A statue, suitably attired for the age of Covid, of Greyfriars Bobby whose smart descendants may be plotting against humans, given the mess we've been making of the planet (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

I have known this since the days of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Skippy’s co-star was Mark McManus, later of Scottish television ‘Taggart’ fame. His accent was savage even to fellow Glaswegians. It was practically an offensive weapon. Why this supersmart ’roo chose this particular human to communicate with was always a bit of a mystery.

Skippy was a great one for bounding off into the bush and finding prospectors trapped under fallen rocks, then coming back and directing rescue operations by making kangaroo noises and waving his little claws about. Much later I discovered that Skippy’s arms were actually cut off a dead kangaroo and manipulated by a chap off-screen. Slightly coloured my happy memories, that.

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We grew up with other smart animals. Aside from Skippy, we had Champion the Wonder Horse, who had a neat line tracking down the bad guys. He had a better crime clear-up rate than Police Scotland. If you’re over a certain age, the theme tune is in your head right now, and you’ll hear it for the whole day. Sorry.

Champion had a bit of a rival in Trigger, Roy Rogers’ horse. He could boast a stay in the Caledonian Hotel. Probably behaved better than some other celebrity guests they’ve had.

Even dolphins got in on the act with Flipper, who was ready at a moment's notice to pop up and give warning of an imminent meltdown at that new nuclear power plant and deliver precise instructions on how to drop the cooling rods into the overheating stacks.

And of course, we had Greyfriars Bobby, a wee dog smart enough to realise that if he sat in the same place all the time, he’d get fed gratis from a nearby restaurant and get name checked by Queen Victoria.

It has never surprised me that animals are smart, what has surprised me is that they don’t start talking behind our backs.

Given the way we have been treating this planet lately, I wouldn't blame them for plotting to get rid of us.

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