MG5150 wrote:bigrich wrote:sheep grazier that i talked to down inverell nsw reckon's alpaca's were a good thing for protecting sheep . me personally , if dogs/dingoes are killing livestock it's a farmers right to shoot/trap them . from what i do know (which ain't much compared to some of you ) dingo's do knock over cats and foxes which is less predator's in the bush.
i've come across dingo's over the years but they've generally disappeared too quick for me to have a crack . i was butchering a goat on a property at Bundarra nsw ,when i heard something moving quick through waist high grass towards me , it's movements didn't "sound" like anything i heard before. i look up and twenty feet away there's a dog staring at me . as soon as our eyes met he was off into the scrub . i had a goat leg in one hand, a knife in the other. i think he thought i looked like trouble . rifle was 10 feet away leaning against a fence posti've had a few encounters like that.
another interesting topic on this forum from which i've gained a little more knowledge . thanks to the posters for sharing their experiences
You can still shoot them on private land in Vic (with the exclusion of around the Little Desert area) - but state forests are now a no-no. National Parks have always been protection zones.
The first one I shot was about 300m from our house on a track in state forest (when it was still legal). Two popped out infront of me when I was walking along a track, they were starting at me and I happened to have the 22LR and dropped one on the spot from about 30m.
I've been stalking deer and put up a few hiding in thick scrub and they normally skadaddle once you get too close. They're pretty weary of people and probably have a fear drive triggered by your bipedal silhouette.
That being said, the ones near our local water catchment which also has a running track have decensitives and often follow or chase joggers because they don't assosciate people wiht danger anyone - same as the ones on Frasier Island.
I think there are less than 20 recorded fatalities where dingos have been involved since settlement. Most are kids and invovle campsites or places where the dingos are fed. aybe 5-10 peopel go missing in the vic high country every year. I've got no doubt the dingos would eat a body they find, but it's unlikly they're responsible for the killing.
a elderly resident of frasier island disappeared years ago , and a few years later they found his well chewed skull . i wouldn't doubt that a couple of dingos would pull down a elderly bushwalker ,especially ones that don't fear humans. a friend of mines daughter was trailed by a dingo when out for a walk on a cattle station. she's of small stature and these same dogs give vehicles a wide birth cause they associate vehicles with getting shot. i don't think there's a given behaviour with some ferals , solitary boars very often surprise me with their tricks and intelligence . dogs are even more cunning
