Bunya Nut Season - food source?

[Shazzoir]

I have mentioned before to some folks who visit this forum, that I reckon this time of year would be the time to get up to the Bunya Mountains area of SE Qld. Why? Because it's Bunya Nut season. These trees were vital to the diets of the regional aborigines, and even tribal wars were put on hold during the season of harvest of these rich sources of carbohydrate and protein.

http://www.arkoftaste.com/eng/arca/dett ... =680&prs=0

I would imagine that between January and March, the local Yowies would know of such a valuable food source, and would begin to re-visit (I hesitate to say congregate, but then, hey, if the local Kooris and Murris gathered for the feast season, why wouldn't Yowies?) areas where Bunya Nut trees grow.

Just a thought, brought on by the discussions of this thread. Is anyone actively exploring this particular area? (North west of Toowoomba, north east of Dalby, due west of Yarraman, near Nanango if you want an idea of location)

It could be possible that the presence of such a rich food source might attract the hairy guys, big and small, especially in years when the Bunya nuts are fruiting prolifically, which is supposed to happen every two or three years. If the definition of a good year is one where our mangoe fruit luxuriantly, I would also imagine that this year's nut season (January to March) might result in a bumper crop!

Kind regards,
Shazz

Shazz

[Yowie88]

I like your thinking shazzior;

A trip out there could be on the cards (some people we know said the country out past Roma resembles an English countryside!)
And due to the new growth they have been reporting large cattle droves (100 plus head of cattle). The rains, cattle droves and the nut
season means food is abundant for the big guy.

[AL Pitman]

Hi Shazzoir - Happy Australia Day

Going by the weight of the nut that was mentioned in the link , I think a hard hat might come in handy you would not want one of those suckers striking you on the noggen from a great height , as they say in the R.F.S. (rural fire service), look up and live .


MY FINAL DECISION IS MAYBE ..............

[Shazzoir]

Hey Al, hope you had a great Australia Day too!

Yep, those nuts can kill you. There are signs in the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens warning passers by of the risk of nut-falls. Hard hat? You betcha!

Shazz

[AL Pitman]

Hi Shazzoir

Is mount COOT - THA located anywhere near to the tambourine mountain / mountains , my folks have a unit at Oxenford and I have stared towards the mountains out that way ... Ya just seem to get the feeling even from that distance if that makes any sense ? , I will check on mapmaker as well . cheers .


MY FINAL DECISION IS MAYBE ...............

[cryptobotanica]

It's about 60km, Al. You can sneak up the western side of things though, avoid dealing with a lot of the city in between. Coo-tha means "place of native bees", still a few hives up there. From Cootha you can do the mountain run out to nebo, glorious, across to somerset, woodford, mt mee, etc. Very popular with bike riders, unfortunately a lot come a gutsa on those bends.

Bunya nuts are a helluva food source, packing lots of nutrients and minerals so they influence how a few critters act. My place is between (more or less) moreton bay and the Bunyas, not uncommon to find ancient bits of mother of pearl shell and strangely non-local but native plants in these parts, due to trading along the old "trade routes".

There are quite a few pockets of em in other areas, too. Big fellas might not need to walk quite that far just for a snack!

Of some interest of course is that bunyas are almost always cooked, roasted or boiled before consumption - they are extremely starchy (think... a potato, crossed wit ha macadamia?) and can plug you right up if you go munging out on raw ones. Maybe the sulfur smell is yowies with terminal indigestion?

Local mobs (and not so local mobs) used to bury em for safekeeping, hard to rule out someone or something else finding these caches and getting stuck in. I know possums like a feed of them once in a while.

Also, those pods are pretty tough to get into. Guess you could just belt one with a rock, or throw it at a treetrunk but typically they were split with stone microtools and "hammers". MUch more ripe "cones" will tend to fissure naturally but they were usually harvested a little on the green side (like coconuts, in the islands) to make em more tender.

Finally, I don't know if mystery creatures wanting to keep a low profile would go moving around TOO much when the landscape was swarming with hungry buggers with sore feet and sharp pointy things at the ready. Entirely possible that they could have been knocking off pods from other less frequented areas though.

macadamia stands are usually found pretty close to bunya country too, and almost always have few stray nuts on the go, or on the ground. Another possible source of a staple - local mobs like the kabikabi and the jinibara used to have large specially etched stones positioned in the maca patches for the purposes of mass preparation of nuts for travelling etc. Usually find a very hefty "hammerstone" with a dished-in face near these. A lot were moved around for property markers etc in the colonial era.

figs, native yams etc would have been possibly useful for anyone or anything after a feed - I have found a few patches of yams with disarrayed trees and large excavation around them. Seemed a little full on just for bandicoots or the odd hungry bushwalker.

Of course, if a nice feed of peoplemeat was on the yowie menu, it would be a great time m around the Festival, to lurk alongside a trade track , waiting to pounce on an isolated traveller

[AL Pitman]

HEY CHEERS for the update and info Crypto . I have another trip planned very soon for that neck of the woods as my partners daughter now lives within easy reach of that area so I will kill 2 birds with the 1 stone , so to speak . Thanks again !



I AM NOT LOST I AM WHERE I WANT TO BE ............

[cryptobotanica]

No worries Al.

Coot-tha is a nice spot for an afternoon, lots of bbq spots and some very tasty things on offer from the restaurants and whatnot up near the main lookout. Parking is woeful during peak times though. Can also take in Toowong cemetary, it's just down the hill more or less. And the botanical gardens,of course, they have some great stuff including the chance to get bonked by a bunya cone or flattened by a wonky cactus. They have a great natives section coming along but most people don't notice it, as it's kind of tucked away right up the top/back.

Down the road (which is to say, over the back and down a few hills) is a place called Walkabout Creek, littlies love it, it's pretty much a ranger station,and a mini wildlife sanctuary - they even have a platypus or two, as well as narcoleptic wombats, an enclosure of subtropical birds (good for training your ears), special viewing booths with nocturnal animals living in em under special lights, and all kinds of other stuff. Restaurant is passable and the walking trails are pretty easy stuff. The shophas good prices on books and guides for native and local natural heritage, some good QLD Museum publications , etc. The animal section does have a bit of a reek, haha, but what more could you expect from mobs of possums and turtles.