Ready to Rumble roos

Well hot on the tail of the post about the male roo Buster and his romantic intentions with Titch , today I saw some very amusing behaviour between a couple of young male roos.
To set the scene.. I had gone out the front with the intention of cleaning up the garden a bit..i spotted Titch and Tippy and another joey a bit older than Tippy..so garden gloves down and camera up.
Now the three were grazing happily away when an older male roo joined them..he was followed not long after by Buster and another smaller male.

Well the young male roo started to follow the bigger one around..and he was tugging at his tail.
Now at first I was a bit confused but I realised this was clearly a dominance game.
And he kept going,the older male just moving away all the time…and he was really tugging that tail!

Young male really pushing his luck

 

 

 

 

Not satisfied with tugging his tail he started to sniff him as well..

Now clearly the other male is responding in his own way showing dominance..i think that is obvious to all..but this younger guy was really trying to show himself as a contender..

Now he has gone maybe too far..

Eventually the bigger male stopped eating and decided he had had enough of this annoying young guy..

Enough is enough

And then the rumble..it was short and not seriously aggressive ,just enough to let the younger male know who was boss..

Okay kid..enough

And that was that..they looked up saw me and made out that nothing had happened..they continued grazing and left each other alone.
Another fascinating day for me and the reason it takes so long for me to get anything done here 🙂

Monday Morning Visitors..

So busy and trying to catch up..so a quick series of cute shots from this morning…first day of Spring…and this mum and her young male joey were enjoying some grasses in the rain…she.. as you can see.. has another wee joey in her pouch…which remained out of sight…

 

Monday morning boxing match

I think you may enjoy these images..they are not the best as I had to take them through the bedroom window… did not want to interrupt these young guys…I just wanted them to behave naturally…without my interference…and so I munched on my toast and crouched in my bedroom and let them have fun..you will see little Nicky has grown and she kept her distance while the boy rumbled 🙂

See the claws are flexed and they use their tails to balance while boxing

A lot of power in those legs ..

Is this the talk down?

No still some talks to be had yet!

And the kick

A bit of a launch

Monday morning mowing..roo style

Morning all…this morning the Ketchup mob was helping with lawn mowing..and fertilising.this is how we do it in rural Victoria…..I spotted them when I was making a cuppa and of course I put everything on hold…who wouldn’t when you are so lucky to have these sweet creatures visit the least you can do is say hello…

WW: Kitchen Window views in the morning

The song on the radio was perfectly timed

Coming up my street yesterday and the song on the radio I was enjoying seemed to be perfectly timed…I of course was slowing down because the Mob of Roos were hopping all over the place…

Another day just driving up my street..

NOISES IN THE BUSH

On the weekend hubby and I were outside getting the garden and lights sorted for xmas…yes most of you are going to have a lovely white xmas but for us it’s usually hot..this means everyone has their meals outside..until we can’t stand the heat anymore and head in…boxing day will be our big day as the kids all live a fair way from us and they visit their partners families..so 12 for a late lunch hopefully outside with perfect weather…hmmmm…anyway I digress…so we were outside and I heard the tell tale thump of a roo…and it was a big thump..imagine the sound of a large thick plank of wood being belted on dry branches and the ground..i looked up and saw nothing..not unusual as these beautiful animals are perfectly designed for their environment in fact you could be staring right at one and not see it.

I went back to what I was doing when the bush broke into life…the doggies were out the back and there was a radio going so they heard nothing..which was good as the spectacle we were about to see would have been ruined by barking dogs!

The boundary fence on our property is of course posts and wire and on the slope of the hill on the adjoining land we could see them…looked like both mobs that have been rotating around all the properties here..and they were pounding along..this land has a dam at the bottom so it is a popular gathering place for the roos..

Hubby and I stopped working as we have never seen anything like this before..these roos were chasing each other up and down the hill slope first one way then they would turn and go the other way..so fast and their feet pounding the ground so loud and they were ‘chuffing’ or ‘coughing’…roos don’t make those stupid sounds like the TV show Skippy had ..they make this bizarre coughing sound..they do this to warn each other of danger. This went on for so long..we crept down to the lower paddock..they were now chasing each other into the dam! hubby and I both then could see how it is they drown dogs in dams when threatened..it appeared that perhaps a young but decent sized male was making a take over bid for the girls…they were getting tired it was quite clear that some were stressed..they would dart all over while the main mobs kept going.

Apparently when a roo wants to let a more dominant roo know it is no threat it will cough back..and if a human is ever under threat they should also cough deeply to let the roo know they are submissive..anywho I had my camera and got hubby to hoist me on top of the sheeps shed for a better view..it was astounding to see..they were really so intense an every now and then a roo would stop and lick its arms..they do this as the blood vessels are close to the surface and this is how they cool down..i was of course worried about the young Holly and her bub Boo as this must be very frightening for a mum and her joey..all these aggressive males vying for top job as the Boomer of a mob.

They went off into the bushland and I crept down to my tree…hubby shaking his head and wondering why he was married to such a tomboy..up I went ..this tree is close to the fenceline and up in it I had a great view of the bush and dam..the reality is I have no desire to interfere with the roos and I respect their power and the fact they are dangerous…an aggressive roo will do some serious damage..you can’t run as they can outrun you while raking down your back with those sharp claws..so best I watch from up high..well I am a bit of a daredevil..

They came back…full pelt I could see one as he jumped in the dam and cooled off then bounded out..to quick and the angle was all wrong to get a pic..then slowly walking on all fours along the fenceline came a male..not massive but big enough!! my heart was racing as I wondered what he was up too…well when he got four feet from me he stood up and stared right at me…my heart was pounding now as I realised really he could jump higher than the height I had perched myself…hubby I think was close to having a fit!! I had my camera ready to go and because he was so close it took me awhile to reset my lens so all I got was one pic..he then turned and left..i climbed down hubby shaking his head as I asked if he could build me a treehouse …

We went back up to the house and kept on working and apart from a few roos hopping around near the dam, most likely thirsty, the day became calm..thing is we have not seen them since..this was on Saturday…I am worried for the young mums and joeys and wonder where they have all gone…this is nature…this is life in rural Australia ..and this is my home….I would never see this behaviour in a zoo or sanctuary so I am truly blessed…

Now about that tree house…..SANTA…….OH SANTA…

Sometimes you just have to wait

What i see when i try to drive up my street..i almost crawl,they are everywhere at the moment and I dread hitting one..

Notice the little one popping up and pretending to be a big roo..

I love my neighbourhood..it’s pretty cool

Have a great day