“I reckon you better watch out for the kangaroos,” warned our caravan park neighbor. “They’ll be around later this arvo.” After last week’s disappointing zoo experience, we had driven further up the Sunshine Motorway to the slightly remote and fairly secluded, north shore of Noosa Heads for a little beach camping. This good ‘ole bloke had set up camp next to us and was as stereotypically Aussie as one could imagine, with his thick accent, monstrous ute, and well-worn Crocodile Dundee style hat. Americans may have red-necks, but Aussies have bogens; and this guy was as bogen as they come.
“Seriously?” I asked, searching for anything in his face to suggest he was messing with me. I’m learning some locals like to do that – scare me or screw with me simply because I’m a Yank. I hadn’t had time to decide whether our bogen neighbor was one of those Aussies, or just someone offering sound advice. Besides, my experiences with kangaroos thus far had proven them to be quite calm and docile, certainly nothing to worry about. “Are you sure you’re not just messing with me?”
He smiled. “Nah, mate. I’m serious. The female ‘roos are OK; it’s the big bucks you have to worry about. It’s nearing mating season and something about the perfumes you ladies wear make ‘em crazy. They’ve been known get up on their hind legs and attack. You hear about it every year…”
Wow. He was serious. Great. Now, besides worrying about the snakes, spiders, and gargantuan lizards, I also have to keep an eye out for horny kangaroos. Only in Australia…
**I would like to note that we had a glorious time at the beach, free from any kangaroo attacks, spider bites, or snake sightings. We did have a slight run-in with a 5-foot lizard, but no harm came to us or the lizard.
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