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Rick LeCouteur
Inviting young readers to marvel at the wonder of nature's creatures
Rick's Blog
#bunyipsbooksbeyond
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In Memoriam: Jane Goodall 1934-2025 (#405)
This week, the world lost one of its most luminous champions for wildlife, nature, and hope. Dr. Jane Goodall, pioneering primatologist,...
Rick LeCouteur
30 minutes ago3 min read
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Carl Sagan - Part 3: The future of humanity & the pale blue dot (#404)
I wrote this third part of this series because Carl Sagan’s legacy isn’t only about the tools of skepticism or the politics of science....
Rick LeCouteur
2 days ago3 min read
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Carl Sagan - Part 2: Science, politics, and leadership in the age of misinformation (#403)
Carl Sagan never lived to see the current presidency, but his writings anticipated many of the tensions that have arisen during 2025....
Rick LeCouteur
2 days ago3 min read
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Carl Sagan - Part 1: Wonder, skepticism, & baloney detection (#402)
Carl Sagan continues to matter. In an age when misinformation and pseudoscience can spread faster than truth, his voice reminds us of the...
Rick LeCouteur
2 days ago4 min read
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A Floating Intrusion:Â When a ship becomes an eyesore (#401)
Sydney Harbour has long been defined by two icons. The curve of the Opera House sails and the steel arc of the Harbour Bridge. These are...
Rick LeCouteur
Sep 102 min read
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Words for a Best Friend: When memory fades, love remains (#400)
Alzheimer’s disease is more than a medical diagnosis. It is a thief, silent and merciless, that robs people not only of memory but of...
Rick LeCouteur
Sep 52 min read
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Go Where You’re Scared: Permission to be new again (#399)
When painter Alex Katz  was asked, late in a career most artists would envy, if he still worries about new work failing, he laughed and...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 313 min read
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The Exam Room Reset: Cole in the middle (#398)
On that morning in 1996, the exam room at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital was already full before the black Labrador...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 264 min read
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The Hummingbird Feather: A message and a memory (#397)
Today I found a hummingbird feather while sweeping in the garden. I almost missed it. It was so small. Then I noticed the iridescent...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 233 min read
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Corporatizing Vet Care (Part 1): Oligopoly or Opportunity? (#396)
This is Part 1 of a series of blog posts regarding corporatization’s near-term shocks and long-term stakes. Corporatization isn’t...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 213 min read
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The Day the Mice Went Dark: The NCI Mouse Repository shuts down (#395)
The NCI Mouse Repository is gone. Here's what we lose and what should happen next. On July 1, 2025, the National Cancer I nstitute (NCI)...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 184 min read
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An Opinion on Vet Care Through 2035: Specialists, corporates & costs (#394)
TL;DR (Too long; didn’t read) From 2026-2035 specialty care will keep expanding, corporate ownership will remain influential (and more...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 184 min read
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Dopamine Demystified: Movement, motivation, meaning (#393)
If you’ve heard that dopamine is the brain’s feel-good molecule , you’ve only got the movie trailer, not the full film. Dopamine is less...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 173 min read
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Teaching Vet Med Like It’s 2025: Why 2010's methods don’t belong (#392)
Vet school lectures are seldom attended by Gen Zers, who prefer to learn via digital platforms in their own time Fifteen years ago, I...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 163 min read
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From Data to Wisdom: A veterinarian’s guide to smarter decisions (#391)
Modern tools and timeless judgment shape better patient care. In veterinary medicine, clinical decision-making is rarely about a single...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 134 min read
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Street Photography: Presence, permission, and the unscripted moment (#390)
Street photography is the making of unstaged photographs of everyday life in public spaces , using observation and timing to reveal a...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 122 min read
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Contextualized Veterinary Care: Matching medicine to context (#389)
Conceptual diagram of the complex iterative processes involved in practicing contextualized care, acknowledging the involvement of...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 114 min read
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When Veterinary Teams Fracture: Mistreated allies become foes (#388)
In veterinary medicine, as in all professions, the strength of a leader is measured not by the title on the door or the number of...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 103 min read
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Mr. Tom Puss: The ship’s cat of the First Fleet (#387)
In 1787–88 the First Fleet , eleven ships under Captain Arthur Phillip (two naval escorts, six convict transports, and three store...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 94 min read
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Veterinary Leadership: The Peter Principle explained (#386)
In 1969, Dr. Laurence J. Peter introduced a painfully humorous yet alarmingly accurate concept in his book The Peter Principle: Why...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 83 min read
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