Austalian Safari… the short version…
Mike Mistelske
AUSTRALIA …(ȯ-ˈstrāl-yə)…
…[Encyclopedia Britannica]: smallest continent and sixth largest country (in area) on Earth, lying between the Pacific and Indian oceans.
…[“encyclopedia Mistelske”]: The Land Down Under; a big place; feral
FERAL…(fîr'əl)… existing in a wild or untamed state; savage
Two of the many native species abundant on this trip: red kangaroos and emu; but indigenous species were not the focus of this adventure…
Several years in the making, this was not to be a conventional hunting trip…
On our first visit to Australia some years ago, my wife Barbara and I had visited both the wilds of Aboriginal Arnhemland and some of the giant cattle ranches of the Northern Territory. On that trip, we learned of Australia’s huge free-ranging populations of feral animals descending from the released or escaped “livestock” of a hundred years ago.
In wild Arnhemland, we had successfully pursued Asian water buffalo - very much like hunting Africa’s Cape buffalo—only the Asian bulls get significantly larger than the African. On the big cattle ranches (some, millions of acres in size), the object was to help control the wild pigs, donkeys, and other “exotics” that posed a serious economic threat. Speaking of “exotics”, Australia is blessed with at least seven non-indigenous deer species (red, fallow, chital, sambar, rusa, hog, and elk)…but that was another hunt…and another story.
On those previous trips, I had been told that there were herds of wild camels scattered through Australia’s vast interior deserts. While a hunt for camels in such a unique habitat sounded extremely intriguing, the logistics of such an excursion were beyond what I could fit into my previous visits to the South Pacific. THIS TIME, desert and camels it would be!
Australia is a big place. After flying literally half way around the globe to get there, my companions and I then drove for two long days just to reach the near edge of the desert habitat we sought. To cross the desert, one would need to be prepared to drive another 2,000 miles. BIG!
My companions included three Australians…guys who had lived, worked, or explored their entire lives in the areas we were to visit…and one Oklahoman. My Oklahoma friend is planning to write his own description of this adventure, and I’ll leave it to him to provide a lot of the detail. This is the short version.
On the third day of actually hunting, we finally found our first mob of camels, and what an exciting moment it was to first see them silhouetted against the sky! Over the next few days we twice found herds of these wandering beasts. Our camera lenses were good enough to capture a few images that could be enlarged to “close” the huge distances:
On the fringes of the desert we also found a few of the large “red” species of kangaroo, and a good number of dingos (we were on the “uncontrolled” wild side of the 2,000km-long “Dingo Barrier Fence”). The most visible of the carcass-cleanup crew were the great numbers of large “wedge-tailed” eagles.
Always interested in reptiles, I was pleased to catch (and release) a very gentle young (six-foot-long) python in one of the few wet areas on the fringe of the desert. I was also excited to have an encounter with what is considered the most venomous of Australia’s many venomous snakes, a young (five-foot-long) “king brown”. The brown snake was exceedingly active and ready to challenge anyone who approached within a distance of about ten feet. He would swap ends in an instant, and then raise his head and flare his neck in a very intimidating display.
LEFT: a very gentle young “Carpet Python”
BELOW: a very aggressive “King Brown”,
perhaps Australia’s most deadly snake
Our outing was not limited to the desert. On the way back to civilization, we decompressed on a property in a much moister and more lushly-vegetated area. There we found feral pigs and goats in abundance…and the omnipresent kangaroos, emus, and parrots—always enjoyable to see.
We even did a bit of shooting, at ranges up to 327 laser-measured yards.
