Contents

COVER : Wearing a perpetual “smile” giant weta Deinacrida rugosa, now found only on islands in the Wellington regions, makes its way over a forest log with all the grace of an armoured tank. Despite the protection of the insect’s heavy skeleton, giant weta have proved easy meat for introduced predators, and most species have been elimated from the mainland. Photography by Brian Enting.
CONTENTS - Features :
DANCES WITH HORSES [Rodeo is about one thing and one thing only : staying on - for eight gut-wrenching, bone-shaking seconds];
‘THE GIRLS CAN’T GET OUT!’ [”I saw people silhouetted against fire, banging and screaming at windows, then falling back into the flames ... “ So recalled a horrified witness of the Ballantynes department store fire, which claimed 41 lives];
PUKEKO - THE INDOMITABLE SWAMPHEN [Whether strutting through a swamp, flying across a pond or running across a motorway in front of cars, these tough birds have made themselves right at home in modern New Zealand];
FAITH AND BROTHERHOOD [Few communities have retained the cultural traditions and fervent beliefs of their ancestors more diligently than have the Bohemians of Puhoi];
THE DEMON GRASSHOPPERS [Weta lurk in our gardens, frightening us with their spiny legs and grotesquely enlarged heads. But among their kind are some of the largest, gentlest and most unusual insects in the world];
CONTENTS - Departments :
LETTERS; GEONEWS [celestial trails]; SPACE [the running bull]; WEATHER [summer madness]; OPEN COUNTRY [the great spraying machine]; COMING UP [What’s in store]; MINI ADS;