by crapmamma
Camping on Fraser Island recently we had read and heard all the warnings of dingos being particularly aggressive this year. We were vigilant and cautious but not necessarily fearful. With 3 small children in our family we were undeniably aware that we were carrying our very own dingo bait.
To us: cute boys swimming, to dingos: dinner and a drink….
Signage everywhere warned us of their presence. Not to mention the clear message conveyed by our campsite owners of the particular aggressive behaviour of dingos seen within the campgrounds.
Clear warnings…
Don’t leave your children alone.
Don’t walk alone anywhere at night time
Carry a stick with you everywhere.
We were under no illusions they were around.
Footprints reminded us they were around
But the kids weren’t too worried. In fact 3 year old Mayhem was certain when he saw his first dingo, if it came near him he was going to ‘punch it in the face’ then ‘stab it in the heart’!
We aren’t a violent family………………..no seriously.
But regardless of how aware we were and how prepared we felt, my sphincter puckered violently on two of the many occasions we encountered some of the most beautiful but dangerous Australian native fauna, the dingo.
On the first occasion I was early morning beach fishing with neighbour and friend Brenda and her 9 year old son. As we fished along a line of about 7 other fishermen, up to our knees in the cold salty ocean we heard the familiar call travel along the line of men
Dingo. Dingo. Dingo. Dingo. DINGO. Until the bloke beside me pointed up the beach to a lone dingo meandering toward us.
This was not that dingo but another we spotted from our truck. They’re truly beautiful and remarkable creatures.
I felt the adrenalin strike my extremities as I glanced back to my four wheel drive 20 metres away. I could see the face of my 3 year old peering through the back window and I felt small relief that he’d chosen to sit in he truck and play with my iPhone rather than brave the morning chill.
I watched the dingo approach each of the fishermen starting from the other end of the line. He approached every single one of them. Some were wary and moved deeper into the ocean with their fishing rods ready to strike if necessary. Others remained still waiting for the animal to move on.
At the end of the line Brenda and I stood poised, alert and anxious wondering what the dog’s next move would be. Brenda ushered her boy behind her, her maternal protection over-riding any conscious thought.
The dingo came towards me, eyeballed me and with the handle of my rod at the ready I held my breath. But he moved on to his next interest, the boy. This time instead of a passive sniff, the dog’s behaviour shifted.
I could almost see the change in his face.
His lip turned up to a snarl and he jumped towards the boy. From the outset it appeared like a dog playing, but from where we were standing this was no game.
Holding her ground Brenda shoved the handle of the rod toward the dog. The dingo backed away then returned for another attempt, lip still raised and teeth bared. Again Brenda stomped toward the dingo and within seconds the dog’s attention was drawn to a flock of seagulls and without further thought he raced up the beach away from us, leaving us trembling and instantly curbing any urge to continue fishing….
The second ‘dingo experience’ was a few days later within our campground. Walking together with The Chook Whisperer and our 3 boys we had just growled at our elder two boys for running too far from us. We were very aware of the dangers of the kids being more than a few metres from us even within the bounds of our campgrounds.
The warning sign at the entrance to our campgrounds, we were under no illusions about dingo behaviour in the area
The Chook Whisperer lagged just a couple of metres behind us, walking beside 2 year old Mischief who insisted on traveling at the pace of an injured snail…..
As we walked, enjoying the morning crispness, we were unaware of the stealth-like animal that crept up from behind my husband and youngest child. Head low and eyes on his target he headed straight toward our toddler, clearly the smallest in our group. Out of pure luck or perhaps a small instance of mother-instinct I turned around to check on The Chook Whisperer and our youngest boy to see him being stalked by the dingo.
Clay. Dingo! I could hear the high pitched panic in my voice as I quickly looked back to my eldest children and directed them to stay still.
Startled my husband jumped around to see the animal so close to his son he could have reached out and touched it’s wet nose.
Grab him! I yelled to my husband. Pick him up! The Chook Whisperer picked up the un-phased child and slowly backed away. I can’t be certain but I think the words that came from the 2 year old were ‘Nice puppy. Here dingo‘…..
It took a couple of attempts of me growling and running at him to chase to the confident hunter away and we eventually backed away safely with all extremities attached and undamaged. After having reported the incident to the local rangers we later found out that there were another two incidents involving young children with the same dingo that morning.
The experience left us more hyper-vigilant than ever. Whilst the Chook Whisperer and I lost a few nights sleep over the incidents, the boys were happier than ever to have a grand tale to tell their friends!
Two of the many experiences we had with the dingos on Fraser Is during our most recent camp weren’t particularly positive but it reinforced the work of the Wildlife Rangers in educating locals and visitors on safe behaviours when in dingo territory. The Rangers made almost daily visits to campsites checking on and talking with campers.
With almost every conversation we had with the rangers they each expressed frustration at tourists ignoring extensive signage warning not to feed or engage the dingos. The rangers clearly indicated that much of the dingo behaviour is caused by people either feeding the animals or leaving food/food scraps unattended which attracts the dingos and makes them less cautious and sometimes aggressive around human when food is no longer available. I guess the message is simple, read the signs and follow the rules. Oh and and keep your dingo bait children close by.
Whilst this post is not intended to generate debate on dingo management on Fraser Is I just found a recent ABC article that gives an interesting perspective on the Fraser Island dingos if you’re interested.
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