Saturday, October 21, 2006

Watch out for kangaroos

Ah, the famous "Watch out for Kangaroos" sign! How close to the city can you see it? Not far at all! This is Lane Cove National Park: as the crow flies, it would be no more than 5 km away from the city centre. Seeing the sign doesn't mean you will see the beast though. For that, try and come real early in the morning: if you're lucky you might spot one hopping away. By the time the picnicking crowds arrive, the mob will have disappeared deep into the bush.
And by the way, they aren't kangaroos here but wallabies, a smaller grey member of the family.

8 comments:

Kim said...

This is fun to see. Where my mother lived in the Mojave desert, there were signs warning drivers about wild burros. It's nice to know civilization has not driven them too far off. . .
-Kim

Felicia said...

I agree with Kim, this is not something we see in the US. I've seen warning signs for cows & burros before - these animals just hang out in the middle of the road and you will have to wait to pass - is this the case with the kangaroo?

kaa said...

here in finland, we have moose warning signs. Are wallabies gentler than kangaroos? I have been in australia before and had taken a picture close up in the midst of wallabies

Anonymous said...

Kangaroos aren't very bright, Felicia, but they panic easily and unless transfixed by headlights dart off. The ones you need to guard against are those NOT on the road which panic and suddenly dart out in front of you, especially of a night.

I once watched fascinated [while not driving very fast, and fortunately on a straight stretch of road]as a roo appeared charging alongside less than a metre away and parallel to me for quite some distance. Unexpectedly it veered into the car, bounced off, then headed in a safer direction.

Australian fauna often didn't need to evolve with abilities to cope with as many problems as their counterparts faced on other continents.

Lisi said...

is it my first time here??? I don't know but you have some interesting photos :-) Greetings from HK

JaamZIN said...

its really so exotic to me. I dont know how I would react to see a kangooro jumping in front of me on the road while I am biking. I guess I would feel like being Alice in Wonderland:)

Kala said...

now I know the difference between wallabies and kangarooos =D
Cute sign! They should have a baby kangaroo in that sign too!

Anonymous said...

You don't see this kind sign here; or kangaroos for that matter.