Yowiehunters Forum

hey,
I spend a lot of time looking for snakes which means im often in remote areas of bushland. Im usually by myself. During summer i go out at night walking along firetrails with a torch...usually by myself.
After my mate tom convinced me that yowies exist i am thinking that maybe the things i hear following me at night are not dogs and they have a pattern while like human footsteps so they arnt roos...lol i am not suffering from paranoia when i here things stalking me. I have never been able to get an eyeshine from whatever it is moving along behind me and i use a 1000000 candle power spotlight.
I am located in silverdale NSW which is about 4km from warragamba and 20km out of penrith.
I doubt ill be snake-hunting by myself for a fair while.
My question is that if i were to come across one of these creatures what should i do? I suppose running might trigger predatory mechanisms? Id probably just freeze and curl up on the ground shivering lol.
cyas,
Brendan.

Hi.
Whatever is following you is just checking up on you, carry on and ignore it.
If it had designs on your well being you would never hear it.
Your light it far too strong, it is dazzling the subject and it looks away. Use an ordinary torch, and carry a red filter such as some red plastic to slip over the light.
You would probably have success then.
Cheers Wally

hey, i walk around that section of bush fairly often. Usually at least once a week and i have for roughly 5-6 years. Would it be likely that if it were a yowie that it would know who i was? I have had a lot of experiences wth things following me or hearing a kinda roar once like a cross between a lion n the T-rex on jarrassic park. Very freaky for me.

Hi brendan,

I get out in our bush everyday. You can go months without noticing anything out of the ordinary and then a couple of things all in a row.
I'm starting to believe that when something is around it's got use to the sight of me and the dog and isn't worried about us.
My hubby took the dog instead the other week and he came back spooked because something started thrashing the bushes near him.
I don't feel threatened like that when I sense something near, though of course I get a bit scared knowing that I'm basically alone in the bush with an unknown creature. I just try to keep calm and listen.

Tish do you think maybe its because your female, and thus, to it, less threatening?

hey brendan,an interesting post to refer back to is feb.4 2005.some good ideas.
something of interest i saw recently.two separate occasions,one was of an adult gorilla charging through the bushes,looking like he was going to rip someones head off.heading straight to a human tv presenter.the presenter stood his ground,and with a few feet to go,the gorilla abruptly stopped,thrashed a few small bushes,then reteated,vocalising his anger.
the next was a grizzly bear,with similar result(but not the thrashing of bushes).those presenters must have nerves of steel,but it is possibly an idea to keep in mind,if we have the guts to stand still and face what sounds like a freight train coming through the aussie bush towards us,rather than run and possibly promote a physical encounter.

Hi Dawn,

That's what I've been thinking.

I had a "Whoop/ Whomp" sound the other day. Just once but knowing it wasn't a native making the sound both the dog and I jumped. The dog reacted in much the same way as my other dog did when we were followed years ago. He led me out of there as quick as possible while also stopping and checking on the ----? position every so often. We were followed the whole way of this track and then along the main track until we got about 50mtrs from the road.

I know the difference to the way the dog acts between wallabies and ?. It's a totally different thing. Whenever there seems to be a ? around he's wary whereas a normal animal he'll take off after straight away. Luckily he's no good at the chase and hunt.

Atleast the dog seems to show a healthy respect and not mindless terror! LOL! Maybe we can condition dogs to alert us when the ? is about and not just react with terror. Your dog sounds sensable! (If thats a term you can use on a dog LOL)

He's actually pretty dopey and wussy, which when a ? is about is probably in his best interests.

If he had of been an aggressive dog and charged in after whatever is there he'd probably be in pieces by now.

hey thanks for your replies. I've been told to take my dog with me next time i go there but iv got a little yappy miniture foxy which has no fear n would be likely to end up in half. I know the bush in my area down to every rock and i feel comfortable in 90% of it. The other day i decided to cut through the bush to get to me destination quicker n as i entered the thicker section on the bush sumthan landed about 10m ahead of me...i think it was a stick. But it was horizontal so i assume it was thrown. I kept hearing something move n at first i was calling out my mates names who also walk through that bushland hoping that one of em was playing a prank. I ended up spooked n grabbed a thick branch n psyched up. Nothing else happened. I have been remembering heaps of things which have spooked me over the years n if yowies exist then i know i can put a lot of things down to them. This is why im posting about a lot of things which have happened and i am not making any of this up to have a joke or gain attention. The stick throwing thing the other day was also in the same area as when iv been stalked. i think its about time i get some mates over and go looking for signs of what ever is intent on spooking me. Whatever it is must be laughing its arse off when it spooks me.

My hubby likes to throw rocks to spook our dog.
The other week the dog seemed to be running into the bushes to something and back out to give me a look while keeping an eye on the bush.

I said to him it's ok I know somethings in there, I'd heard it following us. Next thing a rock was thrown that landed in the bushes on the other side of me. I tossed up continuing and did so like it was a normal walk.

That was the last encounter I've had recently, they seem to come in groups then go again for a while. Though I do have a friend now walking with me at the moment which probably has something to do with it as well.

Sounds like you have something going on there Tish and Brendan - keep at it.

I totally agree with Wally - lose the high powered beam and go low power. Just enough to find your way and you will increase your results. Also, as Wally says, ignore it and never look in the direction of the noises unless nessesary. Play the game and pretend you can't hear it, then it may have to do something even better to get your attention (if it wants to). If you don't over react, it may begin to trust you a little more.

Always have some form of noise (Subtle and not too loud) that you do repeditively that will help it know it is YOU. Never shine a light at them unless your in danger. If in danger - bring out the big beam, as their sensitive eyes can't handle it at night. Last resort.

If you remain honest and not think of capturing it on film each time your there - your chances over time will increase greatly and you may be able to build some form of relationship.

DMH