G'Day from Down Under, as the beans go on a field trip to Healesville Sanctuary, about 65-K (41 miles) from Melbourne in Australia. Opened in 1934, Healesville Sanctuary features Australian wildlife with more than 200 species of native birds, mammals and reptiles, displayed in a beautiful bushland setting.

First up is the koala, known in the U.S. for those Prozac-begging Qantas Airways ads in the 70's. Koalas feed almost entirely on gum (eucalyptus) leaves. Because eucalyptus leaves have a high water content, koalas rarely need to drink. (But when they do, be sure to take away their car keys...) To deal with this nutritionally poor diet, koalas conserve energy by resting and sleeping for up to 19 hours a day. (while watching football, no doubt...)

The beans liked meeting the koalas, but were tempted to go get them a double-tall espresso, and see if that would wake them up a bit...

A dingo ate my vegetables!!! Yes, next up were the dingoes, those lovable creatures who earned a bad reputation from a Meryl Streep movie... Probably introduced to Australia 3000-5000 years ago by the aborigines, pure-bred dingoes are becoming rarer as they interbreed with domestic dogs. In the desert, dingoes eat rabbits, rodents, lizards and birds, while in south-eastern Australia, their main food sources are wallabies and wombats. (See? Not a single baby!)

Of course, the dingoes were accused of killing Lindy Chamberlain's infant, which was so dramatically recreated by the lovely Ms. Streep in 1988's "A Cry in the Dark" (AKA "Evil Angels"). The beans however felt that the dingoes didn't have a fair trial in this matter, and have hired Johnny Cochran on their behalf. It's the least that they could do...

One of the cool things they do here is animal rescue. Every year the Sanctuary provides care for more than 1000 injured and orphaned animals that are brought in. After treatment, many are returned to the wild or integrated into the Sanctuary's collection for educational or breeding purposes. The beans salute their efforts.

Finally, it's with great pride that our frijoles friends got to hang out with an honest-to-goodness Tasmanian Devil! Yep, here he is - looking nothing like his Warner Brothers created counterpart.

The Tasmanian Devil is the largest surviving meat-eating Australian marsupial. Once common on mainland Australia, devils are now found in all Tasmanian habitats, including outer city suburbs. Being mainly carrion-eaters ("I eat dead people!"), they use their powerful jaws to chomp down on every part of animal corpses, including the skulls (all together now - SPEW!!!).

Tasmanian Devils have an unusual "rocking-horse" gait and are not fast movers, so hunting is not one of strong suits. A litter of 2-4 young are carried in the backwards-facing pouch for 15 weeks. After this time they ride on the mother's back or follow at her heels, like a nagging kid in the cereal aisle....

The beans were glad to meet Mr. Devil here, and were twice as happy to see that he didn't spin like a tornado and chase wascally wabbits...