Yowiehunters Forum

i was out fishing lake eildon last week. one morning i pulled up on the bank for a look around for animal tracks and stuff
i started following a well used game trail when i came across this. thought i would share here to see what you all think the culprit could have been.

The bones have been chewed, which is obvious on the rib ends and spine.
Does anyone know if cats chew bones?
I'm leaning toward dog pack or thylacine.

i do recall the area around the kill was clean, no fur or pieces scattered around. the roo still had its rear legs and its tail, front leg/s couldnt see the other one. it was about 2 meters off the track with bracken fern and small saplings all around it. like it had been attacked from side on and pushed or dragged off the track. it couldnt have been that old as it didnt smell much, although it was cold up there so that may have preserved the leftovers for longer. other tracks in the area showed fresh deer prints and fresh tree rubs on the bark from them. even had tracks from a deer within 1 meter of the house boat. i followed them from the scrub to the water where it must have had a drink then wandered right past the boat along the bank for about 40 meters and back into the scrub. heaps of food there for a preadator to live quite happily whatever it was..
i think it would be a good spot to maybe plant some cameras around and see what they catch.
if anyone is intersted in a look around i can give the exact location to you.

Ouch GEEZUS!!
Yes thats big cat.
Foxes may have come for the bones later but yes this is typical big cat kill.

Nearbu Healesille has had alot of sightings & a missing person too who went into paddocks that backed onto national park to take a wee & was never seen again.

Not sure what happened there as i edited what i wrote lol.. it should have read *Nearby Healsville

gday horserider


i thought it looked a bit out of the ordinary, thats why i snapped some pics for you guys here.
yeah your right and the buxton area has had sightings to, which is inbetween healsville and eildon.

That's exactly right

how big was the roo?

not being rude just a suggestion but maybe if you could put something down for a scale in the pictures next time would make it alot easier to assess

gday mate

yeah the pic makes it look small but it was a full sized roo i was comparing it to others that night when i went for a walk with my partner spotting animals and if it was standing upright with its head up as they do when they are not sure of something it would have been to my shoulders and i stand at 6'3"..

yeah sweet Josh well that is quite impressive.

i go shooting a lot and ill sometimes come acroos roos that have been killed and had the meat taken off them by hunters and their bodies look nothing in comparison to the one u have posted so that definitely leads me to believe something quite large has had a big feast on this guy!

It looks like an average sized, dead macropod. Comparing that to the average sized grass around the body.Was it shot first, then predated upon? A picture, without a size comparison item to get some size focus, is hard to really compare.I have seen dead roos, shot a day earlier, which look similar.The culprits, on the hidden camera, are small-average sized feral cats, and foxes. Of cors it could be a large feral, but it is silly to just assume for the sake of it.
But a good find, and a very good place to set a hidden camera. Go for it.
Just my first opinion-as a regular roo shooter-
Remember, my opinion could be wrong, just like yours could be. One day I should learn to install my hidden camera photos onto the website to show you guys some nature shots.

gday hillbilly

yeah you could be right there. maybe a shot roo left for natures cleaners.
not being a hunter myself i dont see things like this much thats why i put it up here
to get some Q+A happening from more knowledgeable folks like yourself.
one day i will get a trail cam, i have a few isolated spots i have come across while fishing the rivers
and lakes that look promising for lots of animal activity..
cheers mate
josh

Don't rule out this fella http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-6YVXN ... e=youtu.be

Please do not get offended, as there appears to be clean knife cuts around the removed flesh, so I am guessing a poacher has removed & filleted portions for his dogs, other vermin would have then been adding to the final shape of the kill. If it was a leopard or a big cat, there would be little to no entrails and the ribs would be fairly chewed up, as a kangaroo's rib structure is pretty fragile compared to large deer and antelope. Pumas may possibly dine differently to leopards, as I can't locate a photo of a cougar eating it's meal, so can't iron that one out.

Sorry to be a spoil sport, and yes, I do believe in Aussie Big Cats.

Rob

no offence taken mate.
this is why i posted the pic up here for some feed back, not being a hunter myself i wouldnt spot what you have described. and yes it does look sliced. having never come across anything like this before i was intrigued with it
and thought it would be good to see what others thought of my find..
cheers mate
josh

mtu mwitu wrote:Please do not get offended, as there appears to be clean knife cuts around the removed flesh, so I am guessing a poacher has removed & filleted portions for his dogs, other vermin would have then been adding to the final shape of the kill. If it was a leopard or a big cat, there would be little to no entrails and the ribs would be fairly chewed up, as a kangaroo's rib structure is pretty fragile compared to large deer and antelope. Pumas may possibly dine differently to leopards, as I can't locate a photo of a cougar eating it's meal, so can't iron that one out.

Sorry to be a spoil sport, and yes, I do believe in Aussie Big Cats.

Rob

Mate ive shot roos for as
Long as i can remember and any bloke worth his weight in salt will just knock the back legs off for
Dog meat maybe the tail aswell but i agree looks very cleanly cut maybe somebody wanted half a roo skin lol