"On the back of my calendar there are two lists of the gifts to be given for various wedding anniversaries," writes Carol Cruikshank, of Warilla. "The 'traditional' diamond anniversary was the 60th; under 'modern' you only have to wait 10 years. Something to do with the high divorce rate, or a push by the diamond industry?"

There may be something to Carol's theory. Bob Graffham, of Sanctuary Point, says a TV news item reported that "in Australia 50 per cent of marriages now end in divorce. Well, I have a far more dramatic statistic - 100 per cent of divorces begin with marriage. The good news is that the latter figure has been stable for years and will never increase."

"In relation to your question of whether big cats eat little cats," relates Bronwyn Challis, of Engadine, "a family member in Canada saw a cougar take their pet moggie which had escaped over their back fence. While they didn't see the cougar eating their pet, I'd say there's a good chance it did." We have further evidence that, despite what David Attenborough said (Column 8, Monday), big cats do eat carnivores. "In the early '60s I was an Australian soldier in 2RAR patrolling the Thai border with [then] Malaya during the emergency period," writes Trevor Young, of Coffs Harbour. "One night, in fairly thick jungle, our Sarawak ranger's labrador tracking dog was taken by a panther … I don't know what the panther did with the dog, but it probably didn't involve fresh vegetables!"

Margaret Woodward, of Northwood, is impressed by an ad spotted in the Herald last week for a "boutique resort" which not only has "modern suites and conference facilities" but is "state of the ark". Double rooms only, we presume.

More on children's perceptions of near and far, here and there, etc, (Spoons and their place in the cosmos, Column 8, last week), from Noeline Wallace, of Norah Head. "Many years ago my five-year-old son came with me on his first plane flight. After fidgeting in his seat for the first 10 minutes or so, he asked me 'When do we start getting smaller?' It's a wonder he got on the plane at all."

A most peculiar request from Professor Barry Milborrow, of the University of NSW: "Looking at the Australian flag at the Olympics got me wondering about the Commonwealth Star, which is larger than the rest and probably therefore a planet. Could one of your astronomical readers calculate when a bright planet, such as Jupiter or Mars, will be in the appropriate position relative to the Southern Cross in the near future? Was either of them suitably placed at the time of Federation?" We have a feeling that the Southern Cross is too far south for this to ever happen, but await expert advice.

Several readers have risen above the allegations of plagiarism levelled at Foghorn Leghorn in this column yesterday, and insist that Daffy Duck was the superior philosopher in any case.

Column8@smh.com.au(no attachments please).Phone 9282 2207 fax 9282 2772. (include name, suburb, daytime phone)