Living in the Country

[Ken Gargett]

15 minutes ago, PapaDisco said:

Um . . . what happens when you hit a wombat with a car? 

yes, nothing good. a large wombat shaped dint in your car and a grumpy wombat. imagine running into a small boulder. 

[JohnS]

5 hours ago, ayepatz said:

You guys have it easy. Try living with this evil Scottish predator.

The "wee-bastard" midge.

Aye, beware the wee little predators! 

[joeruby]

6 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

i remember driving on the beach at fraser island many years ago with my old man. spotted something 50 metres from waters edge, way up in the start of the dunes. looked like a stonefish. we went back and sure enough, a stonefish, still alive. been washed up by the storm the night before. one of the biggest anyone had ever seen - a bloke with the group bottled it in formaldehyde for scientists. and then pinched it - bastard. apparently agonising venom.

but if you get a chance in an aquarium, check out the eyes. they have truly extraordinary eyes. beautifully coloured and they seem to go on forever. so deep. told that to a marine biologist once. she thought i was mad. two weeks later, she rang me in awe. 

mind you, i am glad we do not have electric eels or candiru. 

but why no love for the poor cone shells? or the tiny blue-ringed octopus? 

 

Let's not forget marine stingers, and box and Irukandji Jelly fish, available free of charge when your up in Queensland for a surf and a splash.

[Fuzz]

Wombats are slow moving speed humps. If you hit one at speed, it doesn't go splat, but you will after your car stops flipping.

[PapaDisco]

8 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

and there are plenty of people who have thought it would nice to have a photo with a koala (beware the drop bears), only to discover they have claws and can be very grumpy and leave a nasty gash.

WAIT a second!  Y'all Aussies are just compulsive exaggerators aren't you?  I see it now!  There's not a damn thing on that island nation that can hurt you.   It's just that you've organized everyone to embellish and spin a tall tale about it all being dangerous in order to keep the tourists away.   It was trying to make Kute and Kuddly Koala a hitman that gave you away!   There's not a thing on that island to be afraid of . . .

Think I'll go hug an Inland Taipan just to prove my point.  

[Fuzz]

Oh, no, no, no. We'd never try to dissuade tourists from coming to Australia. If it weren't for tourists, our native fauna would eat us Aussies instead!

[gweilgi]

8 hours ago, polarbear said:

Taken from http://www.convictcreations.com/animals/wombat.htm

"nowadays they pose a danger to humans when they wander on roads and are hit by passing motorists. A huge barrel of muscle with a low centre of gravity, Wombats may act as a launching ramp that sends the car skywards and off the road"

True ... but wombats are rare.  Kangaroos are much more dangerous, IME.  They jump round corners.  One jump, they are parallel to your car.  Next hop, they are in front of your car and the next thing you know, you have 100kg of dog meat crashing through your windscreen.  

Anyway, what really freaks me out are the warning signs about trees.  I'm not sure anywhere else in the world has public parks festooned with signs warning of "tree failure".  Trees in Europe of America may fall down, but they don't just *fail*!!! 

[Fuzz]

Back in the early 2000s, a mate had a Daihatsu Charade that struck a roo at speed. Hit it mid hop and the roo came right through the windshield. Lucky for him he was alone in the car and it went through the passenger side.

[Ken Gargett]

8 hours ago, gweilgi said:

True ... but wombats are rare.  Kangaroos are much more dangerous, IME.  They jump round corners.  One jump, they are parallel to your car.  Next hop, they are in front of your car and the next thing you know, you have 100kg of dog meat crashing through your windscreen.  

Anyway, what really freaks me out are the warning signs about trees.  I'm not sure anywhere else in the world has public parks festooned with signs warning of "tree failure".  Trees in Europe of America may fall down, but they don't just *fail*!!! 

my favourite sign in australia is at an old rail crossing on a back lane in the Yarra Valley. "Give Way to Trains". 

seriously? and what is the alternative? 

[Jeremy Festa]

 

17 hours ago, polarbear said:

Taken from http://www.convictcreations.com/animals/wombat.htm

"nowadays they pose a danger to humans when they wander on roads and are hit by passing motorists. A huge barrel of muscle with a low centre of gravity, Wombats may act as a launching ramp that sends the car skywards and off the road"

True

17 hours ago, PapaDisco said:

Um . . . what happens when you hit a wombat with a car? 

I have actually been in the passenger seat when my mate Scotty hit a wombat. 

The entire car indeed became airborne. 

What made this worse was we were coming down the mountain from Charlotte Pass (Perisher) snow fields, and heading home to Jindabyne.

We were seasonaires back in the day.

Once we landed our 3 foot, full car aerial, which seemed to feel like 30 feet of air, we slid off the road and down a small embankment. 

Anyway, we very nearly froze to death that day, as we waited to be towed out, since Scotty didn't have chains and his car was actually a piece of shit.

I really felt for that wombat. Although a few people were saying that it would be fine.