Summary: We've got snakes and turtles, and even a game of horse soccer for you this week. We're also soaring high above the desert in central Australia, and chilling out with a horse massage. In the Northern Territory Indigenous rangers are mustering feral camels; and they're searching for rare orchids in western Victoria.<br><br><br><br><br><br><strong>1. NESTING TURTLES IN THE SAND - Fleur Bainger (CARNARVON WA)</strong><br>Three of the world's most endangered turtle species - the loggerhead, green and hawksbill turtles - nest within the remote Ningaloo Marine Park of Western Australia. Their migrations and nesting behaviours are carefully monitored by scientific volunteers working with the Gnaraloo Turtle Conservation program. Reporter Fleur Bainger heads out at dusk into the sand dunes with team leader Kimmie Riskus and Perth-based volunteer Fiona Morgan to track the turtles coming ashore. The volunteers spend months at a time camping out at Gnaraloo Bay, gathering valuable data on turtle numbers and hatching rates, important information when only one in 10,000 turtle babies survive.<br><br><br><br><br><br><strong>2. SNAKES IN THE SHED - Greg Muller (Melbourne VIC)</strong><br>Do you know what's inside your neighbour's shed? In an unassuming backyard in suburban Melbourne snake handler Sean McCarthy houses up to 200 snakes, including venomous inland taipans, tiger snakes and even an albino death adder. Sean believes snakes are largely misunderstood and people have an unnatural fear of the reptiles. He shows reporter Greg Muller around his collection and has some words of advice on dealing with snakes in and around the house.<br><br><br><br><br><br><strong>3. CHOPPERS CHASE THE CAMELS - Caddie Brain (Alice Springs NT)</strong><br>It's taken three years of planning and organisation but the Central Lands Council in the Northern Territory has finally conducted its first feral camel muster. Indigenous rangers in 4WDs and a helicopter musterer successfully caught about 60 camels in a day-long operation on the Haasts Bluff aboriginal land trust, about 400 west of Alice Springs. Reporter Caddie Brain is there to record all the action.<br><br><br><br><br><br><strong>4. ORCHID BLOOMS IN THE DESERT - Laura Poole (Horsham VIC)</strong><br>The volunteers are equipped with GPS devices and two-way radios, on the hunt for rare orchids in the Little Desert National Park in western Victoria. It's part of an annual survey by the Department of Sustainability and Environment to locate threatened species and this year they're hoping to find the Caladenia Arenaria, otherwise known as the sandhill spider orchid. Reporter Laura Poole joins the hunt with survey co-ordinator Dr Noushka Reiter and members of the Australasian Native Orchid Society.<br><br><br><br><br><br><strong>5. KICKING GOALS WITH HORSE SOCCER - Paul Sutherland (Mt Isa QLD)</strong><br>It started out as a way to develop and improve the horse riding skills of pony club members. Now it's become a popular sport for youngsters living in north-west Queensland. Reporter Paul Sutherland drops in on a training session for "horse soccer" at the Hughenden pony club, conducted under the watchful eye of chief instructor Melissa Driscoll. The game sees young riders coaxing their ponies around the field, trying to get them in position to "kick" an oversized soccer ball through a set of posts to score a goal.<br><br><br><br><br><br><strong>6. MASSAGE FOR HORSES - Miranda Saunders (Bega NSW)</strong><br>It's not just humans who ache for a massage at the end of a long day in the saddle - apparently horses do to! Anna Ford has worked as a qualified equine masseuse for more than a decade. Reporter Miranda Saunders watches as she gives six-year-old hack "DJ" a full body massage on a farm near Bega in southern New South Wales.<br><br><br><br> <br><br><strong>7. GLIDING ABOVE THE DESERT - Brendan Phelan, field reporter (Alice Springs NT)</strong><br>Have you ever wondered what the beautiful central Australian landscape looks like from a bird's point of view? ABC field reporter Brendan Phelan joins the appropriately named Tom Bird from the Alice Springs Gliding Club for a flight over the countryside. Tom has been a member of the club for more than 50 years and loves soaring high above the eagles.<br>
