Deer in Melb Suburbs almost now ?
Submitted: Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 08:14
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37051
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Robin
Couple of weeks ago in post 36351 (Local Melb. Snow trip) I mentioned coming across a doe and fawn no far out of
melbourne , but last night we decided to check out a re-furbished resturant
(must learn to use the spell check) called the Sky High at near Olinda.
We took the back road from the Basin an outer east
Melbourne suburb.
Its a winding corrugated dirt road that winds up thru some remnant
forrest.
One of few such roads around and a great test track for setting the Patrols adjustable shockers.
Anyway a couple of km up we came across 3 doe just on evening grazing
in a small
clearing. Lovely sight.
While its
forrest where they were, the whole area is surrounded by outer
suburbs now.
Robin Miller
Reply By: Leroy - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 08:39
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 08:39
seen kangaroos south of the ring road near pipe works. They used to come down the corridor where the new craigiburn link is now.
Leory
AnswerID:
190676
Reply By: TerraFirma - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:30
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:30
Wait until you see the Black Panther, seen it twice up at Big River, scared the hell out of me whilst I was dirt bike riding. The
deer in the backyard would be good but need to get rid of the ducks..
AnswerID:
190706
Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:43
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:43
Are you serious? Tell us more.
There has been a fair degree of anecdotal evidence mounting over some years to support the possibility of a big cat around the Wood End area and we had once poster on here a while back who was rock climbing in western Vic and swears he saw one. I have an open mind but am slowly moving to the "probably exists" side.
Mike Harding
FollowupID:
448334
Follow Up By: Robin - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:47
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:47
Well I'm planning to fire up the YZ this weekend
so you never know Terra.
I bet its been hard to convince people of that.
Spend a lot of time in bush and never seen anything
I can't explain yet...
Well on reflection I did see a Toyota towing a Nissan once!
Robin Miller
FollowupID:
448338
Follow Up By: TerraFirma - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 11:13
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 11:13
Have fun with the YZ, nice bike. Take care, make sure you are kitted out, those cats have real big claws..! LOL
FollowupID:
448342
Follow Up By: Jodi - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 13:50
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 13:50
Mike we can add to the big cat story. About 4 years ago on a drive between campsites on river and the local
shop at
Licola, friends swear black and blue they saw a big black cat run accross the road. It's fairly open grass paddocks there and they said this thing was going full pelt. Ran accross the road about 50 - 100 mtrs ahead of them. There's not much that runs as gracefully and easily as a cat (
well not that I know of in this country anyway). We thought it might be the dogs that are causing problems there but they swear black and blue this was a cat running full speed. Since then, Partner and I have been
camping several
places east Gippsland and woken to find paw prints and tracks along the waters edge in the mud that cannot be explained by any other animal that could have been in the area. I believe they're out there - whether they are giant ferral cats (and I mean huge) or really are panthers I am not sure.
FollowupID:
448384
Follow Up By: Scubaroo - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 21:47
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 21:47
Have seen wallabies out near
Daylesford very dark in colour that hop very low to the ground with their tail out straight behind them - easily mistaken for a big cat, which would explain many of the sightings - but not all of them! Dunno what sort they are, see them around the pine plantations at dusk a lot.
Paw prints are kind of hard to explain away though. There's something out there!
FollowupID:
448517
Follow Up By: madCrow - Friday, Aug 25, 2006 at 01:59
Friday, Aug 25, 2006 at 01:59
Hi Robin
"Spend a lot of time in bush and never seen anything
I can't explain yet..."
"
Well on reflection I did see a Toyota towing a Nissan once! "
No that wasn't a Toyo towing a Patrol. It was a Patrol pushing the bl##dy Toyo! For Sure!
cheers buddy
madCrow
FollowupID:
448538
Reply By: TerraFirma - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:57
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:57
The Big Cat incident happened over 2 years. The first time we were riding not too far right of Stockman's Reward on a trail (Don't remember the name anymore) and the lead rider stopped all of a sudden waving his hands. We didn't see it, he described it, we saw the footprints and ended up having a laugh and a drink by the campfire that night. The following year I was riding about 1 Km from there and it jumped across the track probably 20 yards ahead of me, scared the hell outta me. Later that night at the Marysville Pub we talked about it with the girl who owns the joint and she said they get reported sightings every now and then of it, and then of other things they don't know what they are.
AnswerID:
190712
Reply By: satellite_boy - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 11:24
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 11:24
My sister lives in Montrose not far down the
hill from the skyhigh and ive seen up to seven
deer in her and the neighbours back yards, its pretty built up area but there are corridors of
forrest around. Alas it will not be long before some lunatic will try to kill them with a air rifle or bow. Its really wonderfull that my kids can see wildlife (even introduced) so close to home.
AnswerID:
190722
Follow Up By: Robin - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 13:08
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 13:08
It certainly is wonderful - what with Leroy's Kanga's , platypus and
Deer close by we might finally be winning over the lunatic's.
We even got nesting eagle at our bush block last year, but we are seeing an increase of rabbits to.
Robin Miller
FollowupID:
448375
Reply By: Mr Fawlty - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 12:07
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 12:07
Reading an article in Australian Geographic & Platypus are now breeding again in the Yarra.....Not in the downtown reaches but a bit upstream, still in suburbia tho....Been discovered that they thrive of Carp eggs that the carp lay in the bottom of rivers creeks etc. Kills two birds with one stone dosen't it - solves the problem of finding suitable homes for platypus and gets rid of the carp....
AnswerID:
190728
Reply By: Turist (The Original One) - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 16:03
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 16:03
Amazing how these threads change.
This one just turned
deer into big cats :-)
But if you catch that big cat please bring it up the Sutherland Shire in
Sydney.
It can feed on the bleedin
deer that eat the roses, rip up the grass, turn over the garbage tins.
Blasted things are so game they stand their ground in front of you and won't move if a good feed is handy.
And keep right clear when the stag is feeling randy.
The 30.06 makes too much noise, rocks bounce off them, a crack with the stockwhip only gets rid of them for an hour.
Got to be a solution, any ideas?
Bob
AnswerID:
190776
Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 18:46
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 18:46
Bob,
Don't grow roses and tie the bin to a fence or wall.
As for ripping up the grass....it saves mowing it:-)))
Buy a camera with a big lens and take all the shots you like.
FollowupID:
448478
Reply By: Eric Experience. - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 16:10
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 16:10
Robin.
A tenant on my land on the other side of the mountain from you reported a panther to the Australasian post, yes it was about 30 years ago, the resultant hunt and research determined that what she witnessed was a swamp wallaby [wallabia bicolor] at full speed. When they are startled they run with there front paws just clear of the ground and look very cat like. 10 years ago it was reported again to the local paper. I now live on the land and see this animal or its offspring often and each time I have to admit it is very cat like and very different to the kangaroos that are here in large numbers. Eric.
AnswerID:
190777
Follow Up By: Robin - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 16:44
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 16:44
Interesting story Eric - sounds quite plausible to me.
I have so many
deer now to N.E. of
melbourne in last year or 2
that it would seem like their is no natural predator for them,
so as Bob implies they may be in the suburbs standing their
ground soon.
Seen a few big wild cats to (pussy variety) but
deer is a bit
big for them, I think they might stick to rabbits and smaller.
Robin Miller
FollowupID:
448444
Reply By: Graham56 - Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 19:32
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 19:32
Robin,
Deer have lived in the Dandenong's for
well over one hunderd years and before the area was populated they were hunted for food during the depression, so it is no surprise they are still there in small pockets, having access to corridors of forest that lead from big forest areas to the outer suburbs they will come in for a good easy meal(they relly love Rose bushes) but they can vanish just as quick so enjoy them when you see em.
As I'm an avid
Deer stalker and 4wder I've always got one eye on the track and one on the bush, as you never know where you'll see one next.
(Just as a side note as I hunt them it doe'snt, pardon the pun, mean I shoot every one i see, I also get tremendous satisfaction to just sit and watch them go about their business in the bush.)
Regards Graham
AnswerID:
190811