kangaroo dreaming

[backdated]

Our first Christmas in Cattai National Park, 2004, Drew and I were walking around the hill on which the old farmstead stands, following a wire fenceline between the cropped grass of the hill and the waist-high wilderness of the abandoned farmland beyond. Suddenly we both had a sense we were being watched, and looked up to see two big grey kangaroos, young males, perhaps 10 metres away over the wire fence, posed in picture postcard perfection, facing each other but with their heads turned towards us, dead still and utterly alert. Reflexively we raised our cameras and took the shot they almost seemed to be expecting.

As we lowered our cameras they seemed to relax. (On reflection, I realised their genetic memory probably knows that moment of encounter as a high chance of instant death for one of them.) We moved slowly on along the path we’d been following, a bush obscured our view of them but now we saw a couple more, lifting their heads from grazing as we came into view, not quite as close as the first two. We looked back and could now see that pair again; they had turned away and were hopping slowly over a slight rise, apparently herding a small crowd of females and young ones ahead of them. The next two young males followed and as we kept walking the last three came up tall in the grass as we passed them, three enormous mature males who gazed gravely at us from perhaps 12-15 metres away. In all their intelligent eyes, all their level, sensitive, wary gazes, all their alert, relaxed-but-ready body language, was the same unmistakeable message: don’t come any closer; we have no quarrel with you; just leave us be.

We did, of course. You don’t argue with Spirit of Kangaroo.

I came away from this encounter profoundly moved. I felt like I’d wandered into some psychic borderland – they were like centaurs guarding the last remnants of places not overrun by humans. I thought, being the mystic/romantic I am, that perhaps I was anthropomorphising unduly but Drew – who is neither mystic nor romantic and has great contempt for anthropomorphic sentimentality – confirmed the clarity of the message communicated. Later I did a little research on kangaroo social patterns and communication.

The information below comes from zinkle.com
“Think of a roo’s swift, double-footed kick as a phrase in kangaroo body language. Behavioral scientists who study the creatures say the kick is one element in a vocabulary of visual glances, avoidance hops, hisses, jabs, pun- ches, gentle touches and grooming.

That much has been long known. But one study published just four years ago has brought new appreciation for the complexities of kangaroo communication. Researcher Udo Ganslosser, of Zoologisches Institut der Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg in Germany, found that pairs of unfamiliar tree-kangaroos in German zoos got to know each other in six steps, or “stages.” Surprisingly, the steps mirror the development of friendship among baboons. Two unfamiliar tree-kangaroos first avoid each other in a way that suggests they are playing it cool. That stage is followed by tenuous contact, including various approaches and sniffing.

The aggressive stage, which includes kicks and punches, is next. Young males sometimes linger at this stage or advance to a higher stage only to regress later to fighting. Females, on the contrary, often skip the fighting stage altogether.

A hallmark of friendship appears next–unilateral grooming. Finally, mutual grooming is the height of kangaroo social harmony and etiquette.”

I also found Roo Gully, a working wildlife sanctuary and Wildlife Education Centre, situated in the south-west of Western Australia and specialising in the care of injured, sick and orphaned marsupials. Here they’re doing an ongoing study of mob behaviour through the return of fostered joeys raised after road rescues. Read highlights of the story of George, a joey found motherless on the roadside, below, &/or go to their website for more. George, raised by humans, apparently developed a sense of humour, which caused him some problems adapting to the very serious, rather Zen, trad roo attitude…

“The day came when it was time for George to join the mob, but he found this more difficult than his good mate Splodge who, being better behaved, merged in with the mob very easily. There are rules within kangaroo mobs, and mob members do not tolerate unacceptable behaviour. George is very boisterous and when he did not show the due respect to his elders he often got his butt kicked.

Fortunately George might have been cheeky young roo, but he is also quite smart, and he soon worked out who he could be naughty with and which roos he had to behave with. Once he obeyed a few of the rules it was not long before some of the older boys took George under their wing, and he began bush school, learning the skills needed to become a successful mob member. George’s favourite lesson was, of course, boxing!

As the boys got older we quite expected George to assume the role of sentry or maybe even teacher, helping the new boys join the mob. George did neither! In fact it was Splodge who became the sentry, and George was quite happy to continue grazing while his mate kept watch.

George is one of the most mischievous joeys we have ever raised, and if there is ever a camera around then he puts on a show. Sadly for George there are times when the other roos are not so kind with regard to his continuous mischievous behaviour. Many times we see they think he is just annoying. And the older roos quickly let him know when enough is enough! Thankfully he still has the love of the one roo he really loves too. Splodge. Which is a little more than just ‘good mates.’ [ED: photo here of Splodge mounting George – at least I think it was that way round, but definite homosexual play]

For many years we have been observing and documenting the behaviour of the young males, as part of our study into mob behaviour, and our findings are fascinating. Because only one male in the mob will rise through the ranking to become dominant male, it has been amazing to see which roles the others undertake, and how vital these roles are to the other members of a kangaroo mob. Some become teachers, others assume the role of sentry, while a few will become scouts passing on information to the mob.

For some time it looked as if young George thought he was destined for the top job, because there is no doubt he is an impressive boxer. However not all of George’s tactics are covered by the rules! But it soon became obvious that he preferred fun and games to the responsibilities of high rank. Then as the young boys began to mature we saw that Splodge was a sentry, but George was nothing. Or so we thought! It was only when we began the pilot study for our work into kangaroo communication that we realised that George did in fact have a role within the mob. He is a scout! A roo that conveys information to the other mob members. And so he is very important – even if he does not appear to be.

Of course George’s relationship with Splodge is of vital importance to our studies.
Never before have we seen such a close friendship grow to what theirs has become, and we know it will further the understanding and the love of these unique creatures.”

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