We also were given bread to feed the kangaroos. That was an experience. We have been used to seeing the smaller variety of 'roos, not the six-foot-tall variety. As we crossed the croc pond bridge, the 'roos must have heard or smelled us coming. About six of them were approaching, hopping towards us with the leader in the rear. They are very friendly and don't want to harm you at all. It is the 4-inch-long rear claws and very sharp front claws that do give you a bit of a pause. When the leader fully stretched up on his hind legs, grapped Viggo's shirt pocket with one hand and the bread with another, it was quite a sight. They continued to follow us around the zoo until we finally convinced them we were out of bread. They were very fun!
The zoo houses two adult cassowaries. They are beautiful creatures, but it was confirmed how dangerous they can be. The zoo owner had been previously attacked by one of the adults when he slipped and fell. He has scars across his chest as proof.
We also saw crocodiles, dingos, emus, monitor lizards, possums, gliders (a type of squirrel), a wombat, and tons of birds (kookaburras, owls, parrots, eagles, egrets, doves, herons, etc.). Needless to say, a little different than the typical American zoo.
Roo on top of a feeding disc | The road-crossing cassowary |
An accident you don't want | That's a big ... roo ! |
Feeding the roos! | Wombat |
Emus | Captive cassowary adult |
Tall Roo feeding | That was a tall one |
Teddy |
V: We thought the cassowary was a mythical bird, really, ... until one crossed the highway in front of us. Wow, what a cool sight to see it slowly, nonchalantly cross the road, and head on down the side of the road, looking for a path into the forest. Very neat that one was, as we were protected inside the vehicle.
But I didn't feel so protected when I almost literally ran into one as I was bringing a bag to the car, parked at our lodgings in Mission Beach. I was walking a path, and heard a little underbrush noise to my right, and then, voila, the cassowary crossed the path right in front of me. I froze, and hoped it wasn't coming my way on the path, and looked for some object to put in between the two of us. Fortunately, it was just interested in foraging at the base of a tree right by one of the hotel's rooms. So I just hustled up the path to the car, leaving it behind to my left. That encounter did gave me ... pause, shall we say.
Imagine being in the room 602, coming out, and "Oh, hi, Big, Potentially-Lethal-Kick Cassowary!"
Awwww, MAN. I spent every waking minute of my time there searching for a cassowary, but never got lucky enough to see one. We'd drive around neighborhoods known for them, go on hikes to look for them, sit around waiting for them -- nothing. We'd finally give up and head back only to find out that a cassowary had been hanging out in front of our cabana all afternoon, or had just left the driveway of the restaurant, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt turned into such a joke that Jelle secretly bought me a plush toy cassowary, stuck it behind a tree and then pointed me in its direction, exclaiming "I think I just saw one! Look, it's over there, hiding behind that tree!" I have never come closer to peeing in my pants than when I sprinted over to the tree and found the cute little toy cassowary lying there...
Alex