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

If you like my blog, please, feel free to share it with others.



 

Living in Francois Peron National Park

Sneaking up on a wedge tail eagle at Point Peron

For years I have been a somewhat frustrated holiday-maker. In the short time one can travel in other countries on working holidays, it has been difficult to emerge fully in to the local culture and get to know the people that live there. Travelling became a procession of visits to the major tourist destinations ticking them off the list one by one. Those lists were acquired from a brochure or a top ten web-site every man and his dog has in his possession and passes by the real world with the real people in them.



Herald Bight - one of the camp sights visited during an excursion into the park

Being able to spend the time here in Shark Bay is a luxury not many people get to experience. We have met a lot of locals and getting to know them was easy. We are now on first name terms with 30% of the town, know the greengrocer by name and have been stopped in the main street of Denham by locals to have a chat. This is the ultimate country inclusive tradition I believe.



A camouflaged bearded dragon

As volunteers for DPaW (Department of Parks and Wildlife) both Julie and I have had the pleasure to travel into the national park with some of the DPaW staff. These guys have a wealth of experience in the job that they know well. Every time we are out in the park something unexpected happens. There will be a lizard sitting on a branch or a sea eagle flying overhead. We have seen a dugong just five metres off the beach and helped a sea snake swim back out to sea. There is a wild life avalanche in Francois Peron National Park - all shown to us with expert commentary ocker Ozzy Attenborough style.

 

 

A white breasted sea eagle flying overhead

Some of the places where we've had “smoko” - even though none of us  smoke - are just simply breath-taking. For morning tea we stopped at Sheila’s Bluff. A stunning red semi-circled bay North of Bottle bay. The story goes that two local young men were collecting firewood on top of the cliff (in the old days one could still light camp fires in this area). They threw the sticks they had collected over the edge of the cliff so they didn't have to carry them down. Sheila the dog wrongly jumped after a stick causing her to fly towards the treacherous terrain below. As you can see in the photo it is quite a drop. Sheila dodged several big boulders on the way down, tumbled and rolled a couple of times and ended up laying completely winded on the beach. After the initial shock of seeing their dog disappear over the cliff edge and after making sure the dog was ok they cracked up laughing and named the rock Sheila’s Bluff. Apparently Sheila spent the rest of the day quietly under the ute.  

Sheila's Bluff

At South Gregories we stopped for lunch at a goat cave carved out at the high tide mark. Inside there are several stages of geological evolution going on if you are interested or you can just enjoy the turquoise sea water lapping at the little white beach in front of you while eating your sandwich.




The snorkelling is great at Gregories reef. 

Even cleaning the toilet is exciting in these parts. We were told about a redback spider trapping big bugs, lizards and even small snakes in its web that is amazingly strong and sticky.

Keep an eye out for these redbacks. We have "removed" several from the toilets at Gregories and Bottle Bay campsites. One such beautiful insect had made its home on the handle of the toilet brush. According to Wikipedia, historically humans were bitten in their genetalia as redbacks were hiding in the outdoor dunny. It must have been like dangling a carrot in front of those little spidy's fangs. These days indoor plumbing and better facilities has solved that problem. Makes you look twice right?




This friendly redback spider lives in our toilet at the homestead.

If you are bitten, symptoms usually include nausea, vomiting, chest or abdominal pain, agitation, generalised sweating and high blood pressure. For first aid treatment of redback spider bites Wikipedia recommends applying ice and taking Panadol against the pain. Keeping still helps prevent the poison from spreading through your body. If pain persists a hospital assessment may be needed. If I was bitten I would be banging the door of the hospital down immediately. Never mind the Panadol.

Another amazing fact I found about redbacks is that during a horrific sexual cannibalistic ritual, the beautiful red striped female eats the all black male spider genitals first. One last amorous act by the male before turning into crunchy spider food. It must be said that redbacks do not engage in long term relationships




The colours of Skipjack Point.

 

A couple of times now we have been able to walk the 1500 metre trail between Cape Peron and Skipjack Point. A truly remarkable spot, with great sweeping views over the beach and ocean. There has to be one of the largest colony of cormorants (otherwise known as shags) queuing up along the beach we have ever seen. A huge wedge tail eagle was spotted by Julie on top of a low scrub. (see Julie's photo at the beginning of this blog).



The largest row of cormorants we have ever seen at Cape Peron.

From the boardwalk - a vantage point high above the sea at Skipjack Point - on a quiet wind-free day you can see many rays, dolphins, dugongs and sharks.  





A dugong coming up for air in Shark Bay.

We have had many chats with the rangers around the homestead, have been invited into peoples homes for cuppa's and loved the DPaW Christmas party. We would like to thank all DPaW staff for the time they have taken to show us around Francois Peron National Park and making us feel welcome.



Grey bits
 

Who is Francois Peron you may ask or you may not? Francois was a French scientist who came out to Terra Australis as Australia was known then on an ill-fated expedition on the ships the "Naturaliste" and the "Geographe" in 1800. The death toll reaching 40 due to scurvy, fever and dysentery on this voyage The two ships were separated for a long time and the expeditions into the peninsular were lost and late returning on three occasions. Francois Peron, whilst earning the wrath of his captain for getting lost, collected around 2500 zoological, for that time unknown species, and his enthusiasm and excitement about the peninsular wild life I share with him. Maybe he wasn't lost at all and just enjoyed the soft glowing low scrubby hills covered in flowers and strange animals. Unfortunately Francois contracted Tuberculosis and died when he was 35.

 

Francois Peron never had a chance to become
 a semi-grey nomad.

 

If you like to read more about Francois Peron go to: http://www.sharkbay.org.au/assets/documents/factsheets/francois-peron-v2.pdf



 You can read more about redback spiders at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redback_spider

A Perennial Tar Vine or Commicarpus Australis at Cape Peron