Let me set the scene for you. It is the day after the twelve boys and their coach have been rescued from the cave in Thailand. It is a winter morning and -3C (26F) outside. I prevaricate over my usual morning walk. Will I? Won’t I? Gee it is cold. Those 12 children and their young coach got through 16 days trapped in a cave, surely I can put on my nice warm clothes and walk for 50 minutes.
I jogged up the hill near my house, walked 30 metres or so to catch my breath and then decided more jogging must happen to warm up. As I jog down the other side of the hill, still trying to get my blood pumping, I see some scavenger birds circling a distant, dark shape on the fairway of the fourth hole (we live on a golf course). A few more metres and I realise the shape is a Dingo feeding…on a dead kangaroo. I pull my camera (which is my iPhone) from my pocket and open it up, hoping that my cold fingers can still get the touch controls to work. I take a photo that I know will show very little, but it is just to get the settings right and make sure the touch control is working. As is my usual practice with wild life, I slow down. As I approach, every few metres, I take another photo, and another, refocusing and getting closer each time.
The birds of prey begin to scatter. The Dingo eyes me nervously but he is hungry, so he continues. Finally, he thinks I am too close and he reluctantly begins to head toward the taller grasses at the edge of the course, looking back over his shoulder all the while. He still doesn’t want to leave his meal behind so he stops…and watches me. I’m relieved that he is somewhat afraid of me since I am walking alone and have no means of fending off an attack. He has what he wants anyway, and that is not me.
I quietly walk on and soon am getting farther away. He decides I mean him no harm and he approaches the carcass again. Now I can see the bloody bare bones of the rib cage but I know if I stop it will spook him so I continue on. I don’t want a graphic photo of the corpse in any case. I know this is Mother Nature and all part of the survival of the fittest.
And what about those boys and their coach, and their rescuers? If that isn’t also a tale of survival, I must have missed something. The world is a marvel and a mystery, revealing itself every day.
Dingo and dead kangaroo in the middle ground of the fairway
ardysez 
“The most surprising thing about life is that life is so full of surprises.”–C. B. DeMille
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Ain’t it the truth!
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Yes, the Thai boy survival story was so wonderful- at last some good news, and not only that, but good news in an Asian setting, showing good will from all nations. If only our stories were always so. I love that photo you included Ardys, and admire your level of fitness, – I’m talking about the word ‘jogging’ here- something I don’t do.
That dingo would be have been hungry too in the freezing cold mornings of the centre.
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The story of the Thai boys and their coach comes at a time when the world needed something like that. I don’t do a lot of jogging, Francesca, but have surprised myself this winter by steadily doing a little more each week. Am working toward being fit for our next trip in September to Spain, Wales and the USA.
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Food for thought looking at the local and global juxtaposition of events. Fascinating that some species, some not, some animals, others not, some people but not all… evolve, survive, thrive in the best and the worst of times. Makes life interesting. As always, love your work ☆
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Thank you Dale, I’m sorry for this slow reply, somehow missed your comment. I agree, it is interesting to watch how species survive in an evolving ecosystem. It’s interesting to watch the Dingoes, but all things being equal, I’d just as soon they went into the bush a bit farther! x
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I could feel myself mentally pushing for you to get that closer photo. But then I wonder if I would be so courageous? I have not witnessed a predator feasting on a large carcass, so I guess until I do someday, I won’t know what action I would take.
I once read a book called, “Deep Survival – Who Lives, Who Dies and Why” by Laurence Gonzales. It made me wonder if I would be courageous enough to survive some of those scenarios.
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Getting the closer photo wasn’t just about being too close to the Dingo, which seemed more frightened of me than I was of him/her. When I got closer, it started to run away, which defeated the purpose of getting closer. The iPhone is not good for photographing wildlife because it makes things look farther away than they are, but also that morning the light wasn’t very good because the sun wasn’t up over the ranges yet. With my naked eye I could see the blood on the face of the Dingo, and I could see the details of the carcass but the iPhone just couldn’t get those details. To be honest, it feels courageous to me to walk down the back of the course with no one else around at that early hour! This morning as I was washing my face at 5.30 I could hear the Dingoes howling–a bit like coyotes. If I was faced with a pack of them, I would be quite worried, but one at a time is not usually a problem for a human. I’m a little bit brave, but not stupid!
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