Skippy visits Canberra ?

H1NG0 said :

Ahh bless the roos. Their massive numbers here must surely make this the most Australian capital city.

When the Aranda paddock is full of sheep, I wonder which country we are supposed to be the capital of.

Sigh. When we used to have a lawn . . .

Yeah – it’s funny H1NGO, but I was really contemptuous towards the Americans who always asked ‘dumb’ questions about roos (while we were living in the US) like ‘Oh, do you have a pet kangaroo’, ‘Do you keep kangaroos in your yard’ etc… Having gone over there from Melbourne, I found these questions just ridiculous … but now I take photos of our yard-roos to show my overseas friends – who are completely amazed (just as I was amzed to find deer grazing on my front lawn over there). The suburban roos are still a novelty for this city girl, and are one of the many reasons that I love living in Canberra.

Ahh bless the roos. Their massive numbers here must surely make this the most Australian capital city. This fills every tourists imagination of roos hopping down busy city streets.

I have also noticed the roos near the Barton highway which are always there seem to be thinning out as it gets warmer. Not that they have died, but are probably making their way into nearby neighbourhoods. Before Forde was built, that land had some massive roos which continue to be in the parkland behind it. Once it dries up, I’m sure they will be paying Forde residents a visit to reclaim their land.

Trunking Symbols – I think when grassland is in short supply, the roos are forced into suburbia, where the grass is green. With the spring rains and new grass growth they revert back to the grasslands … but I’m thinking this bout of heat will brown off most of their grass, and they’ll be back in suburbia agin soon. There is a giant boy that practically lives on a round-about in Fadden during winter – he’s gorgeous. We find loads of roos (and their poos) in our frontyard on winter mornings.

Do roos hibernate during summer? When I drove to Tuggeranong pool along Athllon during winter at 5AM there were always a large number of roos on the median strip and by the side of the road just before the Sulwood roundabout. Now when I drive there since the weather warmed up, there are none. They seem to have disappeared after a TV news report in around September saying they’d be tagged and “managed”.

I actually hit a roo on Barry Drive one night. Killed my mini but got up and hoped away must have been one tough bugger.

I’ve twice seen Roo road kill on Commonwealth Ave Bridge. And have had one hop past my front door in the old house at Nicholls, and across from my current house at the inner north.

So, yeah, bd84 was right, haha.

Aeek said :

I saw a dead kangaroo once between Parliament House and the Lodge.

Probably killed by the AFP for protesting.

Lock in the first option, I say. People don’t give our marsupial friends the credence they deserve. I’m sure the roo in question was armed with a cogent argument in support of a Senate Inquiry into parks and wildlife funding. No doubt it also dreams of the power its species would wield had evolution blessed them with opposable thumbs…