Yowiehunters Forum

Hi all,

Trawling an old bookshop today (looking for a copy of "Savage Shadow") and picked up "Great Australian Mysteries" by John Pinkney.

The short chapter on Yowies mentions a researcher called Liz James, who I then googled and found some of her old notes on the AYR main site - the book mentions she found a claw that was unable to be identified, has anyone heard more about it?

In the old notes on the AYR site she also mentions a hand that a friend of hers found and that she had a photo of it, I wonder if the claw and the hand are one and the same...

I know Liz (real name is Joyce). Lovely Lady... She was good enough to send me the pics.

She was telling me that the hand was sent to the CSIRO in Sydney, where it stayed while they scratched their heads. The brief synopsis is that the CSIRO had no answers. It was just prior to DNA technology being popular. By the time the owners of the property received it back, it had decomposed and smelt badly. They kept it in the house for a short time, not knowing what else to do with it, until the stench got the better of them, so.............. they threw it out!

DMH

Dean Harrison wrote:I know Liz (real name is Joyce). Lovely Lady... She was good enough to send me the pics.

She was telling me that the hand was sent to the CSIRO in Sydney, where it stayed while they scratched their heads. The brief synopsis is that the CSIRO had no answers. It was just prior to DNA technology being popular. By the time the owners of the property received it back, it had decomposed and smelt badly. They kept it in the house for a short time, not knowing what else to do with it, until the stench got the better of them, so.............. they threw it out!

DMH

Hi Dean,
Any chance you can post the pics up here so we can have a look at them?

Cheers Dan

We always had them on this site - should be there, along with the story. I know we lost a lot during change overs......

If they have vanished, I have one on page 2 of 'Deans Pix' on my FaceBook.

I believe there is a series of four. I have them all here, however for now that will be the fastest means of viewing it.

DMH

Dean, it looks like a wombat paw to me, though how it got 'stuck' in a gate is beyond me, unless a carrion eating animal or bird dropped it there... here it is for comparison with a Wombat claw - the strong thick claws indicate to me it's a digger, whatever it is.

Also, if you look at the 'thumb' claw, it is positioned differently to the rest of the claws which originate at the 'front' of the paw - womby 'thumb' claws come from the side further back. Roo claws all kind of 'sprout' out like a star from the same point...

How big was the claw, Dean, can you say?

Kind regards,
Shazz

I agree with you Shazzoir, it definatly looks like the wombat pic you posted, would be good to know the size or have had something in the shot for comparison, I always throw down a disposable lighter when photographing something that would benifit from a sizing.

Wombat....

Q. How would the CSRIO not trace such a simple specimen.

Wombats are not found in this area (I will duck now in case they are). Normally Wombats are found in Vic??

Why/how was it found in a gate, plus, contributing to the fact, his report of the unsettled stock during the night?

I only have the reported facts (said facts), and the pictures. My direct contact with Liz (Joyce), whom I have the up most respect for, there is no reason to doubt the story. Having said this, the specimen is now, sadly, gone.

One must question how you lose a hand in a gate.....?

The original pics from all differing directions are more than interesting.

If Sharon nags me enough, I will dig up the photo's. (Hear that Sharon?) FB me...

DMH

Here is my theory;

I would not put it past those huge Lace Monitors eating an already dead wombat when other animals joined in to share the spoils. The lace goanna must have got a fright seeing other animals charging at the carrion when it decided to (with a claw it is jaws) race up the nearest tall structure (a gate in this case). It must have continued scaling the gate and left the claw wedged their.

I recalled having a nice BBQ breakie once at Stradbroke’s Brown Lake when we were surrounded by large Lace Monitor’s wanting our bacan & eggs and they were not shy in coming near us (too near for that matter when one actually licked my toe!).

Here are some clear angles of the hand that Liz sent. Seems to be a rather clean break, from viewing the top image, and it looks as though the skin was the last piece in tact, because it appears torn. Found near Woodenbong, NSW. I would have to search through past correspondence and our reports for all the details - very large from memory.

DMH

Dean Harrison wrote:Wombat....

Wombats are not found in this area (I will duck now in case they are). Normally Wombats are found in Vic??

DMH

Both the common and northern hairy nosed wombats are found in QLD too... They can get pretty large as well. The claw certainly looks like a wombat's claw.

Cheers,
Jim (I've been away for a bit...)

Hey Jim

good to have back on board long time time no hear

Hi Jim,

Thanks for letting us know. Never seen a Wombat or their signs in the areas we have spent time in at Qld and Nth NSW over the years.

Having spent a lot of time in Vic also, they are everywhere and very apparent -particuarly as road kill. In fact nobody has ever mentioned them up here. Must not be as numerous as Vic. Some areas in Vic, you can't go 1km without seeing one as a victim and they are regarded as vermin.

When I return from the G/Coast, I will do a comparison between Wombat and the hand above - everyone else feel free to contribute also.

Thanks for the input.

DMH

No worries, Dean.

I appear to have misled you. A colleague told me today that the common wombat is found in QLD (Vombatus ursinus), as is the hairy nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus kreftii), but the latter is only recorded as living in a small isolated pocket in central QLD. So the claw wouldn't likely belong to a Northern Hairynose.

It might still be a common wombat's claw. The common wombat is found in SE-QLD, but it is less frequently seen than in the southern states.

All the best.

Ah yes... I was referring to the common Wombat that lives in Southeastern Australia. Below is a reasonable view of the Hairy Nose Wombats hands/paws. They seem to differ somewhat from picture to picture.

Sharon, according to Joyce, the hand that was found was twice the size of her own - which throws yet another question mark into the pot. I think perhaps the size of the hand 'may' have been one of the contributing factors as to why the CSIRO were so baffled.

DMH

Twice the size of her hand... that's a big wombat.

Ok - case closed, obviously a remnant population of Diprotodon's.