Hello Steemians, TeamAustralia - and those who've stepped up for battle against us. I greatly respect you.. I don't know that you'll win.. but good on you for coming to the party!

It was pointed out to me, after my last post, by the very wise and wonderful @gohba.handcrafts that while warning you of the dangers of our cute and fluffy fauna (a great white can be cute and "fluffy" - it is just a matter of perspective) I neglected to inform you all of our cutest, most awesomest furry weapon.

(Last Post: Come to Australia... where you might accidentally get killed https://steemit.com/steemwars/@shellyduncan/steemwars-come-to-australia)

Personally I think it should be our secret weapon, but we Aussies are nothing if not good sports- so with some reluctance - let me tell you about...

DROP BEARS

The Drop Bear, Thylarctos plummetus, is a large, arboreal, predatory marsupial related to the Koala. - I told you they were cute and fluffy - who doesn't love a Koala!

They can be found in the densely forested regions of the Great Dividing Range in South-eastern Australia. However there are also some reports of them from South-east South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island and Tasmania. They like to stick forests and open woodlands and rarely approach roads or human habitat.

They range in size similar to a large dog or leopard, with coarse orange or grey fur and often have the darker mottled pattern of their Koala relatives. They get very angry when approached!

Of most interest - and the reason for their common name is their method of hunting

Drop Bears hunt by ambushing ground dwelling animals from above, waiting up to as much as four hours to make a surprise kill. Once prey is within view, the Drop Bear will drop as much as eight metres to pounce on top of the unsuspecting victim. The initial impact often stuns the prey, allowing it to be bitten on the neck and quickly subdued.

If the prey is small enough Drop Bears will haul it back up the tree to feed without harassment from other predators.

Watch out for drop bears during mating season and pay attention to government warnings.. remember the slogan

Look up and live

Tourists (and international invaders) are most at risk from drop bears, as opposed to those born and bred in Australia. Aussie kids are brought up from birth to have a love of Vegemite. And while the rest of the world wonders about our tastebuds.. there is plenty of good reason. The love of Vegemite is a natural adaptation of the Australian human species to protect themselves from drop bear attacks.

So to all the teams coming across the steemit sea to take on TeamAustralia, bring your Vegemite, don't sleep under the trees, don't walk through the bush at night and remember to

Look up and live

Let the battle begin!

If you want to know more about Steem Wars and stay up to date check out @sirknight and the following post https://steemit.com/steemwars/@sirknight/official-submission-to-steemit-australia-and-the-world-are-at-war

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Don't forget to come check out the teamaustralia tag and see what exciting things we are all up to in the land of Oz! It's full of Aussies and Aussie-lovers with great stories from when we are at home or loose in the world!

Thanks to @bearone for creating my beautiful teamaustralia banner which I love sooooo much! Don't forget to check out her posts and show her some love as well.

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Sources:
Google.com
Traveller.com
The Australian Museum: https://australianmuseum.net.au/drop-bear
Drop Bear Preservation Society : http://dropbearpreserevationsociety.org/