14 June 2013

Cull the roos?

| johnboy
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roo damage

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Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd5:58 pm 15 Jun 13

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

FreddyVegan said :

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Agreed, although to be fair, a lot of people may not have the stomach or physical strength to dispatch an injured kangaroo with a blunt instrument to the head. If they can’t do it themselves though, they should call it in so someone with the right tools can come and do it.

Good point, I doubt I would have the strength.

Killing something really does it require much strength, especially if you have something heavy, or as others have said, tyre iron. Follow through though, don’t soften up at the last second, otherwise the poor animal is just gonna suffer more.

The tyre irons you get in the tool kit of most modern cars is a pretty flimsy thing with not much weight to them. I reckon a lot of people would have trouble killing a kangaroo with one.

Unless you happen to be the sort of person who happens to have a large, blunt instrument in the back of your car, which makes me wonder what you get up to at night… 🙂

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TheBusDriver4:47 pm 15 Jun 13

bundah said :

So the only time you’ve ever encountered a roo is when they’ve been grazing on the side of the road minding their own business?

blah blahblah.

No I didn’t say or suggest that at all.I am amazed that you drew that conclusion. I have had kangarood hop in fromt of both my car and the buses I drive.

Just to reiterate what I said:
That’s because like a lot of people, I’m aware that they hop around in early evenings and keep an eye out for them in areas they are known to frequent. Then I slow down and give them a blast of the horn. If they still look like they will hop on to the road I slow down even more.It isn’t rocket science.

If I see a kangaroo on or beside the road and when I am passing through areas known to have kangaroos, I slow down and drive to the conditions.

Fair enough in your situation you were driving in the evening and were driving below the speed limit. Iguess you encountered one of those suicidal kangaroos. The OP on the other hand was driving in a suburban area. They were driving in the erly morning but I am guessing the incident happened not more than an hour before when they posted it. That’s daylight. That’s a well lit street in suburbia. I mean well into suburbia. It is also a short street with a 50 K speed limit. How do you get up enough speed to hit a kangaroo on that street? That could have just as well been a kid playing on the street they hit.

Okay, you don’t expect to see a kangaroo that far into suburbia, but I’ve seen them way into the suburbs, esecially at night. I’ve seen them on London Circuit, Isabella Drive, in Dickson.
Maybe I am being a bit harsh, but it still amazes me that people hit kangaroos when a little common sense would prevent most accidents.

La_Tour_Maubourg said :

Had very close calls on Bugden Av close to the pond.
Reducing kangaroo population will reduce injury amongst motorists; which ultimately will be beneficial to the community.
“Slowing down” is not an option. Impact is usually due to very little warning.
Tuggeranong Parkway around midnight between Lakeside Interchange and Cotter Road is quite notorious (south bound. Keep in the fast lane)
🙂
(If only some bogans could be culled also)
PS that’s quite an impact. Have a lot of respect for Skodas.

Respect for Skodas? They can’t even keep up with the cyclists in the Tour de France, always dragging their arse at the back…

You’re also supposed to scan the roadside for hazards entering the road. Like horrible kangaroos or the precious 15 month old sons that inspire their murder.

How can anyone legitimately be surprised by kangaroos, ducks, wombats or children running on the road? Were you paying attention in your driving lessons?

bundah said :

TheBusDriver said :

Oh yeah I totally witnessed this. I saw that kangaroo pull out knuckle dusters and a cricket bat then hit that poor helpless family in their car over and over again. It was dispickable I tell you. 😉
Back to reality, humans cause more car crashes than any other animal. Why is there no talk of culling them? Also, I drive a bus, and have done so for years. How many kangaroos have I hit? One, just one, and even then it was a grazing hit and it hopped away. That’s because like a lot of people, I’m aware that they hop around in early evenings and keep an eye out for them in areas they are known to frequent. Then I slow down and give them a blast of the horn. If they still look like they will hop on to the road I slow down even more.It isn’t rocket science.
The kangaroo hit me is like saying the car hit an oncoming pole. Poles tends not to oncome unless they’re from Poland.

So the only time you’ve ever encountered a roo is when they’ve been grazing on the side of the road minding their own business?

I have seen roo’s in full flight bounding across roads and subsequently been hit by cars where the driver had absolutely no chance of avoiding the collision.In fact coming back from the coast just past Braidwood during a storm I was following a line of cars travelling at about 80km/h when out of absolutely nowhere a roo appeared crossing my path in full flight and fortunately I only just clipped its tail.It happened so quickly ie. within a split second that I didn’t even have time to react.

So the fact is that there are situations where no matter how quick and experienced one is behind the wheel you can be caught out and pretty much end up a passenger.

Definitely agree. I thought I was a goner when I was on the motorcycle when a roo jumped out. I don’t know how it didn’t hit me but I had nothing to do with it. I had tine just to tuck in and hope for the best. This was riding past UC on College St. Never would have expected a roo there in the middle of the day.

TheBusDriver said :

Oh yeah I totally witnessed this. I saw that kangaroo pull out knuckle dusters and a cricket bat then hit that poor helpless family in their car over and over again. It was dispickable I tell you. 😉
Back to reality, humans cause more car crashes than any other animal. Why is there no talk of culling them? Also, I drive a bus, and have done so for years. How many kangaroos have I hit? One, just one, and even then it was a grazing hit and it hopped away. That’s because like a lot of people, I’m aware that they hop around in early evenings and keep an eye out for them in areas they are known to frequent. Then I slow down and give them a blast of the horn. If they still look like they will hop on to the road I slow down even more.It isn’t rocket science.
The kangaroo hit me is like saying the car hit an oncoming pole. Poles tends not to oncome unless they’re from Poland.

So the only time you’ve ever encountered a roo is when they’ve been grazing on the side of the road minding their own business?

I have seen roo’s in full flight bounding across roads and subsequently been hit by cars where the driver had absolutely no chance of avoiding the collision.In fact coming back from the coast just past Braidwood during a storm I was following a line of cars travelling at about 80km/h when out of absolutely nowhere a roo appeared crossing my path in full flight and fortunately I only just clipped its tail.It happened so quickly ie. within a split second that I didn’t even have time to react.

So the fact is that there are situations where no matter how quick and experienced one is behind the wheel you can be caught out and pretty much end up a passenger.

It doesn’t need to be a big roo to do damage either. I was driving on Athllon Dr near the lake and a small roo was on the side of the road. I slowed down and stopped. Thinking I was in the clear I started driving and the roo jumped out in front of me. The bonnet was crumpled slightly and I had to get a new bonnet, grille and paint job.

La_Tour_Maubourg12:17 am 15 Jun 13

Had very close calls on Bugden Av close to the pond.
Reducing kangaroo population will reduce injury amongst motorists; which ultimately will be beneficial to the community.
“Slowing down” is not an option. Impact is usually due to very little warning.
Tuggeranong Parkway around midnight between Lakeside Interchange and Cotter Road is quite notorious (south bound. Keep in the fast lane)
🙂
(If only some bogans could be culled also)
PS that’s quite an impact. Have a lot of respect for Skodas.

The one time I hit a ‘roo it was coming back up the Clyde in the dark.
The ‘roo glanced off, I pulled over and checked the car. I guess I could have gone off into the bush alone and looked for the ‘roo but that wouldn’t have ended well.

The last time I saw a dead roadside ‘roo, first I saw the car, then I saw the ‘roo with a clear view of its entrails.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

FreddyVegan said :

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Agreed, although to be fair, a lot of people may not have the stomach or physical strength to dispatch an injured kangaroo with a blunt instrument to the head. If they can’t do it themselves though, they should call it in so someone with the right tools can come and do it.

Good point, I doubt I would have the strength.

Killing something really does it require much strength, especially if you have something heavy, or as others have said, tyre iron. Follow through though, don’t soften up at the last second, otherwise the poor animal is just gonna suffer more.

The tyre irons you get in the tool kit of most modern cars is a pretty flimsy thing with not much weight to them. I reckon a lot of people would have trouble killing a kangaroo with one.

Unless you happen to be the sort of person who happens to have a large, blunt instrument in the back of your car, which makes me wonder what you get up to at night… 🙂

Wildcare are the wildlife carers for Queanbeyan and Southern NSW, they are the southern equivalent of WIRES and do a great job but for any injured animal issues within the A.C.T you have to call Canberra Connect 13 22 81 and they will call the appropriate Rangers to deal with the situation.

Pretty pathetic, but it displays the mentality very well. They hit an animal because they were driving too fast and couldn’t avoid hitting it, so they want hundreds of these animals hunted and brutally killed so they don’t threaten their precious cars. What crap.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd9:18 pm 14 Jun 13

IrishPete said :

I rest my case that the popular support for the cull has nothing to do with savings roos from starvation or saving little critters and plants from being trampled, eaten out of house and home or just eaten. The popular support is about saving shiny duco.

IP

Science?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd9:17 pm 14 Jun 13

FreddyVegan said :

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Agreed, although to be fair, a lot of people may not have the stomach or physical strength to dispatch an injured kangaroo with a blunt instrument to the head. If they can’t do it themselves though, they should call it in so someone with the right tools can come and do it.

Good point, I doubt I would have the strength.

Killing something really does it require much strength, especially if you have something heavy, or as others have said, tyre iron. Follow through though, don’t soften up at the last second, otherwise the poor animal is just gonna suffer more.

SammyLivesHere9:01 pm 14 Jun 13

Years ago I stood in the rain with a fellow motorist after someone had hit and left a Kangaroo to die in the middle of Mugga Lane. It was late, cold, wet. The roo lay on the white line for a while until we could move him to the side of the road, put newspaper around him to keep him warm. We waited 3 hours for the Ranger to come. He said to us to call the Police next time – they respond to car accidents and hitting a roo is an accident, whether someone else left him to die or not. Thankfully since then I have not had to do this – we were so upset watching the roo slowly die – but neither of us could kill him, all we could do was stay in the rain and keep him as comfortable as possible. Culling roos will not stop them crossing the road, or stop vehicles hitting them – at least now I’ve been a Canberra resident for over 10 years I now know the roads at night can mean a roo crosses, so I don’t speed and I stay alert. I would stop again, but next time I will ring the Police they too carry firearms.

TheBusDriver7:49 pm 14 Jun 13

Oh yeah I totally witnessed this. I saw that kangaroo pull out knuckle dusters and a cricket bat then hit that poor helpless family in their car over and over again. It was dispickable I tell you. 😉
Back to reality, humans cause more car crashes than any other animal. Why is there no talk of culling them? Also, I drive a bus, and have done so for years. How many kangaroos have I hit? One, just one, and even then it was a grazing hit and it hopped away. That’s because like a lot of people, I’m aware that they hop around in early evenings and keep an eye out for them in areas they are known to frequent. Then I slow down and give them a blast of the horn. If they still look like they will hop on to the road I slow down even more.It isn’t rocket science.
The kangaroo hit me is like saying the car hit an oncoming pole. Poles tends not to oncome unless they’re from Poland.

Grimm said :

FreddyVegan said :

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Agreed, although to be fair, a lot of people may not have the stomach or physical strength to dispatch an injured kangaroo with a blunt instrument to the head. If they can’t do it themselves though, they should call it in so someone with the right tools can come and do it.

Good point, I doubt I would have the strength.

Probably due to lack of steak.

oh hur hur hur gtfo you bogan peasant.

It’s probably more the fact I am a small female.

FreddyVegan said :

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Agreed, although to be fair, a lot of people may not have the stomach or physical strength to dispatch an injured kangaroo with a blunt instrument to the head. If they can’t do it themselves though, they should call it in so someone with the right tools can come and do it.

Good point, I doubt I would have the strength.

Probably due to lack of steak.

FreddyVegan said :

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Agreed, although to be fair, a lot of people may not have the stomach or physical strength to dispatch an injured kangaroo with a blunt instrument to the head. If they can’t do it themselves though, they should call it in so someone with the right tools can come and do it.

Good point, I doubt I would have the strength.

Also she has a very young child in the car who she shouldn’t leave in there alone. I have entered the number into my phone.

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Agreed, although to be fair, a lot of people may not have the stomach or physical strength to dispatch an injured kangaroo with a blunt instrument to the head. If they can’t do it themselves though, they should call it in so someone with the right tools can come and do it.

Good point, I doubt I would have the strength.

A car’s just a car – sad for the ‘roo though. Hope it wasn’t the big ol’ fella or family of 3 I’ve seen most mornings on their way back to the hills after a nightly nibble at Fadden PS these past 5 years. I rather like the idea of ‘roos bouncing around in the suburbs and pooing in my yard. Most days it’s only dusk and dawn you need to be on the lookout, and has been the case for the past century or so, although I did see another poor bastard that was hit at the start of the on-ramp to Cotter Road off Adelaide Ave earlier today. Still alive, but stoic to the end. There were a couple of ladies there with it, presumably waiting for the ranger.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Agreed, although to be fair, a lot of people may not have the stomach or physical strength to dispatch an injured kangaroo with a blunt instrument to the head. If they can’t do it themselves though, they should call it in so someone with the right tools can come and do it.

From TAMS

The reality is that kangaroos that do not hop away from motor vehicle collisions are almost invariably deemed beyond veterinary treatment. Prompt euthanasia is the best response. The pouch of female kangaroos should be inspected, and any young also euthanised.

I rest my case that the popular support for the cull has nothing to do with savings roos from starvation or saving little critters and plants from being trampled, eaten out of house and home or just eaten. The popular support is about saving shiny duco.

IP

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd4:29 pm 14 Jun 13

For once I agree with freddy. If you hit a wildlife, stop, get out and finish it off. It’s a completely despicable act.

Obviously your fancy pants Euro Skoda aren’t designed for proper Aussie driving conditions. Get a Holden ute with a dirty big roo bar and some spotties.

Czech, mate.

Kangaroos: nature’s own white Commodores.

Grimm said :

I’ll stick to the wheel brace. Must avenge car.

Keep in mind it is a Skoda.

Solidarity said :

Worlds stupidest animals.

Humans must certainly claim that distinction above all others

Fadden is full of roos, we often have a couple of big ones that come nap on our lawn in the warmer months, it’s just a fact that you have to be mindful of them when driving around the suburb. I don’t think Mat can really blame this on the delayed cull.

Worlds stupidest animals.

Human swims in ocean, get attacked by shark – human kills shark.
Human drives on road, hits kangaroo – kangaroo should kill human?

Unfortunately you can cull as many roos as you like and they will still be on the road. As someone who encounters wildlife at least once a week (thankfully I am able to stop or get out of the way 99% of the time), I recommend you just keep your eyes peeled around dawn and dusk and remember that not even the inner suburbs are safe. I have been lucky and only had serious damage that needed repair from a wombat.

You should always stop and check on the animal, if it looks like it is about to die I send it on its way with the blunt side of the axe in the boot. If it is injured, but can be saved I will either call Wildcare or, if it is small enough (echidnas) bundle it up in a towel and take it to the nearest town. The police in small towns have always pointed me in the direction of the local vet or called someone to come and get it.

Why don’t you try looking where you’re going? I live in the inner north and know to slow right down when passing parks and you can’t even wrap your head around the idea of a little wildlife out in the outer suburbs?

I hope you don’t go for a drive in the country and get a puncture from driving over an echidna or take out your suspension on a wombat?

MissChief said :

FreddyVegan said :

How was the poor kangaroo?? I hope they stopped and checked

They were probably too angry about the roo hitting them. Don’t like the attitude frankly. A number of times now I’ve found myself calling the ranger to relieve injured animals of their suffering thanks to people like this.

It’s not like the roo wanted to be fricken hit by a car. If a kangaroo is lying there in agony after you have just wiped it out with your car the least you can do is put it out if its misery or stay and make sure the ranger does come. Rangers can take hours.

FreddyVegan said :

Grimm said :

FreddyVegan said :

How was the poor kangaroo?? I hope they stopped and checked

Yeah, the decent thing to do is to at least stop and finish it off with a wheel brace.

Yes, I agree if it looks like it’s a goner. If it looks like it can be saved, then it’s a good idea to call

Wildcare 24/7 Hotline- Phone: 02 6299-1966

I’ll stick to the wheel brace. Must avenge car.

Grimm said :

FreddyVegan said :

How was the poor kangaroo?? I hope they stopped and checked

Yeah, the decent thing to do is to at least stop and finish it off with a wheel brace.

Yes, I agree if it looks like it’s a goner. If it looks like it can be saved, then it’s a good idea to call

Wildcare 24/7 Hotline- Phone: 02 6299-1966

FreddyVegan said :

How was the poor kangaroo?? I hope they stopped and checked

They were probably too angry about the roo hitting them. Don’t like the attitude frankly. A number of times now I’ve found myself calling the ranger to relieve injured animals of their suffering thanks to people like this.

FreddyVegan said :

How was the poor kangaroo?? I hope they stopped and checked

Yeah, the decent thing to do is to at least stop and finish it off with a wheel brace.

How was the poor kangaroo?? I hope they stopped and checked

wow, that’s an evil roo. def needs to be culled.
So the car was just sitting there, with the wife and baby in it, and the roo hopped up to it and started smashing it!?

But in seriousness – I very much disagree with the way that is worded. You were the one doing the driving and the hitting, the roo did the dieing. Hopefully your insurance will help you out with the car, and the three of you are emotionally fine – It’s not a pleasant experience.

… Regardless of whether there are too many roos around or not.
As I have not have had any negative roo-encounters in Canberra for a while, I will leave that opinion to the professionals already on the case.

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