Kangaroo tails

 

The nightscape at the Peron homestead

 

The hills are alive out the back of the Peron homestead.  You can find red dust, bush, goat skulls, a heck of a lot of wildlife and an old Bilby enclosure only 300 metres away.  This was a successful program ran by DpaW as part of Project Eden. There is now proof on camera that the Bilby population is bouncing back from near extinction at Francois Peron National Park. We were told that there are several Bilbys still hanging around the old disused enclosures overlooking the homestead.

 

The old Bilby enclosures

Enter Mars and Jules – those semi-grey nomads that love the wildlife. ‘Let’s go Bilby spotting tonight!’ they say.  Armed with two massive torches we climb the hill in that eerie Australian night-scape and discover for ourselves how smart Bilbys are and do not appear when you want them to. Their ears are huge and they must have heard the virtual ‘boom-box’ footsteps of ours from miles away. Disappointed, we returned down the hill where we strolled past the goat enclosure. This is a fenced off area with two gates – it is there to capture and remove goats from the national park.

 

The goat enclosure with emus that just don't understand.

 

Shining our torches into the enclosure we spotted a mighty Euro kangaroo with bulging muscles sitting on the edge of the trough having a casual drink. Even though we were standing there for quite some time, at the entrance it was not noticing us at all. Suddenly it got spooked and hopped very fast toward us. I stepped forward and with arms in the air, I yelled ‘Whaaaa’!!!! This big missile jumped sideways very quickly and missed crashing into us by a mere whisker. As we are still thanking our lucky stars we soon realised we were under fire again, as a second, but smaller Euro flew towards us at breakneck speed missing myself by a hairs-width, but cannoned into Julie’s legs. Julie was scooped up into the air and for a couple of seconds was awkwardly-perched, balancing on top of the head of the briefly halted torpedo and gently slid down landing with an undignified thump to the ground while letting out an eardrum splitting squeal. Julie was obviously shaken but miraculously unhurt. While the Australian bowling champion hopped off into the darkness, I did the only thing a man (a nervous man) could do in this situation – have a really good (unappreciated) belly-laugh.

 

 





A kangaroo at dusk contemplating the next move

 

Please note the following story may be disturbing for some readers.



Fast forward two months where we are campground hosting for a couple of weeks at Canebrake Pool  near Margaret River. It is an early Saturday morning and we are driving to Busselton to participate in the Geographe Bay parkrun. We are both in a terrific mood and laughing about a Dutch couple we met the previous day who were very taken by the ’28 parrots’ that are common as mud in the south-west. Dutch accents are flying around in the car and when hilarity reaches its crescendo the grey back of a Kangaroo suddenly appears in front of us for a split second and immediately disappears with a “clonk” underneath the car. I pulled over straight away in a daze and remembered to switch on the hazard lights. My heart sinking as deep as it will go. I can hear Julie starting to sob uncontrollably “Oh, no, it has broken its leg” she said choking on the words. I think;  I can’t do this. I stepped out of the car and walk across the 20 metres of red slightly corrugated dirt track towards this amazing creature. She is on the ground writhing in circles trying desperately to get up.






I made the decision very fast and looked for a rock. After I found the right size (how do I even begin to know what the size should be?) I returned back to the car and turned all rear vision mirrors away from where Julie, who by know was seriously distraught, would not be painted a permanent brain image of her “man?” brutally killing a harmless, undeserving, native being. I walked back the 20 metres as if it was my green mile and stood over her. I placed my foot on her shoulder to turn her head sideways but I am surprised about the animals power as she struggles free. I can’t do this. The next image has been burned into my memory ever since. The roo is facing me now with her front paws extended towards me. She looks at me with those dark eyes and almost manicured eyelashes  straight into my soul as if to say” you are going to help me, aren’t you?” In my mind I violently steel myself to ignore this look and manage after several attempts to pin the roo down with my foot.  I can’t do this. Slowly my arm rises above my head. I look up at my hand and the white knuckles that are squeezed around the rock. I can’t do this. This is it Mars. I look at the side of her head and aim to kill for the first time in my life.

The end.

Dear reader, I have to interrupt this story and turn away the rear vision mirrors for you the same as I did for Julie. I hope what I ended up doing was the right thing for this exquisite animal and do not think it is necessary to describe the events any further.  


Grey Bits

 

I was driving seventy five kilometres per hour. Way below the legal speed limit when the car hit the roo. There was no time to avoid her. 
 
There is more risk when you are driving at dawn and dusk to hit our native wildlife. Try to plan your trip accordingly, please. 

Please check the pouch of a female Kangaroo for Joeys after an accident.

Give the pouch a good inspection
 

Do not put a wounded Kangaroo in your car. They are very strong and can easily hurt you or your family.

Do not corner a Kangaroo or Emu. They have an inbuilt fight or flight sense that triggers them to run in random directions. They will run straight into you as Julie can vouch for or they may hurt themselves sometimes fatally by crashing into walls, fences and cars. 




Emus panic too

  
We have bought sonic animal devices that emit a high frequency pitched sound that may prevent wildlife running towards a moving vehicle. You can purchase these whistles from any Auto shop.
Kangaroos cannot see very well but their hearing is sharp. Try yelling something when you want a Roo to take note.  Maybe a few profanities in roo lingo may do the job.

How would you feel if you had to kill a Kangaroo given the same situation? Are you prepared to do the job required? Do you know the best way to kill a kangaroo as humanely as possible? Would this be a life changing event for you?




A joey in full flight

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