Yowiehunters Forum

Hi Heffrum

You left out "S..t yourself".

Big Cats

Heffrum wrote:What would you do if confronted by a yowie by yourself,
1-RUN?
2-FAINT?
3-CALL DEAN?
4-USE AN AIRHORN?
Sandy Creek and Bellthorpe woods off Stoney Creek Rd. Kilcoy worth looking at!
5-STAND YOUR GROUND?
6-TAKE A PICTURE?

Comedy answers first (just to get them out of the way LOL)
1. Run - for about 100 metres at which point I'd be totally winded.
2. Faint - after the media told me how much they'd want to pay me for the photos (KIDDING!)
3. Call Dean. Just to make sure it wasn't him in a fursuit conducting some weird Yowie impersonation experiment
4. No air horn. My high-pitched shriek of excitement is MUCH more effective, and needs no air cannister or batteries. Mostly harmless to children and pets.
5. Stand my ground. For about ten nanoseconds before I simultaneously wet and messed myself
6. Take a picture - making sure it was suitably out of focus and blurry

Real answers:
In order, assuming of course this encounter is longer than a few fleeting seconds...

1. Stop dead in my tracks and not moving my eyes off him/her, power up the camera.
2. Aim it in the general direction of the Yowie and start shooting (it's always set on multiple shot setting) as soon as I can get the camera pointed directly at him/her, not stopping, and continue while raising hte camera to my face level, whereupon I would risk putting it to my face to view the screen and concentrate on getting at least three or four good, in-focus shots.
3. Flick camera onto video mode and let it run till everything's over.
4. By now, I'd be hyperventilating. If I had any wind left in me, I'd be scoping out an escape route if he starts to look as if he's aggressively advancing. Adrenaline has turned me into a potential Olympic athlete, but I know my energy burst in escape mode would be very short!
5. I wouldn't speak, but might try humming or something, but NOT WHISTLING!
6. The whole time, I'd be assessing his/her body language to determine if I am potentially in danger. I might opt to crouch down and lower my eyes a bit to look less threatening, as I know I'm too fat to run far and I hope being female, if it's a bloke Yowie, he might not see me as a threat that needs to be neutralised. You can bet I'd still be looking at him/her through lowered eyes or the corner of my eye though!
7. If nothing dramatic is happening, I think I'd just wait and let the encounter run its course.
8. If he/she charges me, well, I'm figuring I'd basically be doomed, so unless the car is right behind me, I think I'd be taking my chances by staying put rather than trying to run away (in case it awakens the chase instinct in the big hairy person)

Honestly, if it really happened though, human response to bolt (fight or flight) is probably going to win out, though I don't think I'd get far before having a full on cardiac event.

After it was all over, and the Yowie had left the scene, I'd be on the phone to Dean as soon as it was safe. Then I'd have to sit down and probably have a bit of a trembling episode while I wrapped my head around what just happened. Then, I'd put another memory card in the camera if the first one was full, and take as many photos as possible of the area, looking for a footprint, or series of them, or hair caught on branches. Take a few pics of the sky, and my watch to verify time and date. Leave something to mark the site, like a occy strap or hairband around the tree/branch etc for future investigations. Get out the handy tape measure and try to get an idea of the height, width of the Yowie, length of stride, etc. Look around to see if I interrupted him/her from foraging or something, and see if I can see any vegetation damage or signs of frequent passage. Bear in mind, the whole time, I'd be keeping my one good eye open and listening in case he/she is still out there, sussing me out!

Go home before total nervous exhaustion kicks in. Phone Dean again

Not tell anyone until I had exhausted all avenues for my report.

Report it here. Bugger the media, they can kiss my arse.

As soon as I got home, I'd make several copies of the footage and photos, and distribute them online in several repositories on filesharing sites I have accounts with. Ensure the original photos on the memory card are left there, untouched and unaltered.

Take a week off work to recover.

Arrange to go back with Dean and a team to the same spot ASAP.

Kind regards,
Shazz

I lived in Clontarf for around 20 years, but im olny 29 now......lol. Darren and Geoff what was the street called when you lived in clontarf, and what was the area like at that time.....bust, houses around, has any one come across some thing like this in Redcliffe?