Upsurge of kangaroo numbers.

[Deleted]

I was talking to a nephew in Central Vic the other day and he told me that he had 3 mobs of kangaroos in a 600 hectare paddock, and each mob was of about 50.
In the past any roos would bolt for the bush but these just stayed put.
I wonder why, are they just getting used to human presence or is there a cat present in that vicinity of nearby bush?.
My other neffy has roo proofed his garden, orchard area with a 2.75 m fence with a trip wire around the outside. When the roo faces up to the fence to jump, it trips and lands. on its nose.
More roo proof fencing is becoming necessary, to keep the pests out.
Two market lambs were killed there a month ago. Necks were broken, normal, but the bodies were entered through the back, not normal, So has a new cat given the old resident cat the choof and taken over.
Sometimes the dogs are disturbed at night but so far no big-cat vocalizing.
BC

[dennisw]

Roos are plentiful because we have had a wet year and plenty of growth, we have had good rains over the last couple of years giving them a chance to produce lots of joeys. Mobs that were previously of a dozen or so are now up to fifty or more.

[Ian Thomas]

whatever has roos for lunch should be breeding up too.

[dennisw]

Kangaroos have the ability to put their offspring "on hold" and a mother may sometimes have a tiny joey as well as a larger one in the pouch and as soon as conditions improve the joeys begin to develop rapidly and the mother starts another one. Roos have the ability to produce large numbers of offspring very rapidly in good conditions, the development of predators will always lag behind this sort of population explosion. When the next drought hits there will be a lot of food for the carrion eaters. The 'roos will breed rapidly until they have eaten all the food available then their competitors (sheep, cattle, people) will starve along with the kangaroos but in the next good season the kangaroos will bounce back quicker than the competition. These traits have made them successful in Australia's harsh climate.

[DP]

I snapped a picture on my phone recently, thought I would post it here for the entertainment of some of our overseas friends.

This photo was taken in Melbourne, in the outer suburb of Lysterfield South, the residents there have on going problems with the very high numbers of Eastern Grey Kangaroos.

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[dennisw]

Darned things are worse than rabbits - and eat a whole lot more.

[saggitarius]

Not too many kilometres from where I live there is a roadside paddock that has about 400 eastern grey roos come out every late afternoon. Interestingly they are all small, nothing more than half grown. They are also road savvy as there are never any dead ones there. But go a few kilometres down the road and there are always roadkill roos, but mainly big ones.