Cycle touring with Australian Wildlife 1
November 16th 2006 03:28
Scared that a kangaroo will box you off your bike? Worried the infamous drop bear will surprise you from above? Just how do Aussie animals react to cycle tourers? Here's what we've experienced...
Kangaroos are totally unfazed by cars and can often be seen lazing nonchalantly by the side of the road (especially in Western Australia). Bicycles are another matter. Your silent approach will more than likely take them by surprise. If you're lucky they will be up in a flash to bound noisily away. If you are unlucky they'll bound along beside you veering towards you and away, towards you and away. Tense up for evasive action and your bike starts to wobble dangerously. It's much safer to stop and wait for them to hop off into the sunset. NOTE: no amount of tutting or blowing into eucalypt leaves will entice a "Skippy" to come to your rescue if you cycle off a cliff.
Koalas can be hard to spot from the saddle. For a start they're more active at night and secondly cyclists tend to look down at the road rather than up at the trees. We've encountered them in South Australia and Victoria where we even surprised one on a Gippsland Rail Trail. It did its best to run from us but its fat hairy butt got in the way. They are reputedly high on eucalypt leaves and riddled with the clap but they look so cute and cuddly you may want to pick them up. Don't do it. Their claws will tear you up. Once safely in a tree, Koalas turn into stare bears. They are as fascinated by you and your bike as you are by them.
Possums Don't worry, that noise outside your tent at night isn't Freddy Kruger having a bad asthma attack, it's just a possum or three. We don't see possums while cycling. Like Koalas they gad about at night but unlike koalas they are better at hiding during the day. We have a knack for chaining our bikes to the tree most likely to house possums. (Not hard when there are so many of them!) At night possums run down the tree head first and their shadows loom hugely over the torchlit tent. They like to sniff the bikes and seem to especially like our water bottles. We don't know if that is because there's water in them or because the stench of the socks which cover the water bottles is so delightful.
Echidnas just aren't interested. These spiny little bundles are on a mission and will most likely ignore you and your bike. I say "little" because the only one's I've seen (in NSW) have been babies. Echidnas can get BIG. But obviously the bigger ones have learnt not to play by the side of the road.
Click here to read Dingo Dreaming.
Kangaroos are totally unfazed by cars and can often be seen lazing nonchalantly by the side of the road (especially in Western Australia). Bicycles are another matter. Your silent approach will more than likely take them by surprise. If you're lucky they will be up in a flash to bound noisily away. If you are unlucky they'll bound along beside you veering towards you and away, towards you and away. Tense up for evasive action and your bike starts to wobble dangerously. It's much safer to stop and wait for them to hop off into the sunset. NOTE: no amount of tutting or blowing into eucalypt leaves will entice a "Skippy" to come to your rescue if you cycle off a cliff.
Itchy Joey and Mumma Kangaroo in South Australia
Koalas can be hard to spot from the saddle. For a start they're more active at night and secondly cyclists tend to look down at the road rather than up at the trees. We've encountered them in South Australia and Victoria where we even surprised one on a Gippsland Rail Trail. It did its best to run from us but its fat hairy butt got in the way. They are reputedly high on eucalypt leaves and riddled with the clap but they look so cute and cuddly you may want to pick them up. Don't do it. Their claws will tear you up. Once safely in a tree, Koalas turn into stare bears. They are as fascinated by you and your bike as you are by them.
A typical Koala Stare Bear, South Australia
Possums Don't worry, that noise outside your tent at night isn't Freddy Kruger having a bad asthma attack, it's just a possum or three. We don't see possums while cycling. Like Koalas they gad about at night but unlike koalas they are better at hiding during the day. We have a knack for chaining our bikes to the tree most likely to house possums. (Not hard when there are so many of them!) At night possums run down the tree head first and their shadows loom hugely over the torchlit tent. They like to sniff the bikes and seem to especially like our water bottles. We don't know if that is because there's water in them or because the stench of the socks which cover the water bottles is so delightful.
Echidnas just aren't interested. These spiny little bundles are on a mission and will most likely ignore you and your bike. I say "little" because the only one's I've seen (in NSW) have been babies. Echidnas can get BIG. But obviously the bigger ones have learnt not to play by the side of the road.
Echidna on a mission, NSW
Click here to read Dingo Dreaming.
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Comment by katyzzz
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Interesting and lovely pictures, especially the Albino kangaroo, how many of those did you see?
What a great thing to do.
katyzzz