WILD / FERAL DOG ALERT

cobberdog · Senior Member

WILD / FERAL DOG ALERT

Moose2 · Senior Member

cobberdog wrote:
hi all, when camping a few weeks ago in vic high country about 45 mins from jamieson we became a little worried after we had finished dinner and sitting by our small fire when we heard what seemed to be a brief but ferocious dog fight across the river in the thick bush, late that night we heard them briefly howl then another brief dog fight but this seemed closer to our camp , we went to bed in swags and found it hard to get to sleep as about 2 am we heard them again. this was enough for us to pack up and head home the next day. THINKING WE MAY TAKE THE VAN FOR FUTURE TRIPS.

Yep I can well imagine that it would be a bit concerning in a swag. Maybe keep a can of say fly spray handy. A bit of that in the eyes would surely be a deterrent. And wouldn't be illegal to carry with you.

Possum3 · Guru

This is what you should always carry - trigger pack accurate at 6 meters for all "Animal" attacks www.bunnings.com.au/pestxpert-400g-wasp-jet-long-reach-spray_p3010422

watsea · Guru

Bear Spray is available in the USA. I haven't bothered to check in Aussie.

cobberdog · Senior Member

going to bunnings tomorro, trigger pack could be handy for a few types of un-wanted pests. cheers.

oldbloke · Guru

They all through the high country

STRETCH ARMSTRONG · Senior Member

Mmm when l was a kid we had a farm at Healesville and often went bush fishing in the creeks towards Eildon. One day while working my way along a creek l was attacked by a dog. I was around 10 years old and my dad was ahead of me somewhere. Luckly l though to pick up a big stick and smacked the c@$p out of it. Eventually it retreated into the bush. My dad saw and heard nothing and l sure he never quite believed me.

cobberdog · Senior Member

now you getting me worried about my grandkids when they go camping

STRETCH ARMSTRONG · Senior Member

Hey cobberdog, it never stopped me doing the same fishing pretty much every weekend. I loved my trout fishing and never had another dog encounter. What did scare the stuffing out of me were the pigs. Wild black pigs, now they made me climb a tree pretty quick and there were lots of them around back then.

bilbo · Senior Member

Laying in your swag in the Top End under a full moon and you are startled by a feral buffalo snorting and tossing his head from side to side...bear spray.....wasp spray at 6 metres ,,,,or fly spray wont help.

But a cannon will,

cheers Bilbo

Dougwe · Chief one feather

I remember when I was 20, so many moons back now, a mate and I often went to a farm that belonged to a family friend of his. We both had ex army 303's and used them for wild pig shooting.

One day I shot at a pig and wounded it, first time I didn't get my target successfully. The pig about faced and made a charge at us. We both got up a tree that quick. The pig just stood there looking up at us grunting away. I went for the 303 and, ooops, the pig was sitting on the both.

That mongrel pig had us up that tree for hours. Finally the owner of the farm came looking for us and there we were still up the tree. The pig didn't live to tell his mates but we did. For some reason the farmer thought it was funny.

We went out the next day rabbit shooting instead wit our .22's.

Sadly my mate has ridden on ahead leaving me to tell the story.

landy · Guru

Never under estimate a big feral pig. The brother and I were out hunting pigs on a property in NSW many many years ago it was normal when we hunted pigs together for one of us to take a shotgun loaded with Sg which is normally considered more than adequate for pigs at close range and the other to carry a 303 just to make sure, but on this particular day we both ended up with 12 gauge shotguns. Well to cut along story short we came across a huge old sow asleep in a mud hole, and decided we would wake her up take a couple of photos, but as I lined up the camera she woke up, her little beady eye focused on me and she charged sending me diving out of the way before I could drop the shutter on the camera. after 2 charges 9 loads of SG finally her to piggy heaven but neither of us ever took a shotgun pig hunting again , and we gained huge respect the feral pig.

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-- Edited by landy on Thursday 4th of February 2021 10:22:41 PM

Cupie · Guru

I must have been just lucky.... In my youth I would often go off alone, hunting wild pigs with just my dog and a long knife most times. Sometimes had an old ex WW2 45 automatic. Only real risk was when I couldn't keep the dog off really big pigs or if he let go of the pig's ear when I had hold of a rear leg holding it off the ground ready to slide the knife into the throat.

It was a great adrenalyn rush guaranteed to suck the gonads up like a Japanese wrestler.

Back to the OP. Had an interesting few nights when camped on a property just below the Burdekin dam wall, listening to dingoes howling in the hills just over the river from our camp. No risk really but rather scary. My 13 YO son bagged one that had managed to swim across the river, avoiding the salties (yes salties 200km up from the coast).

Mike Harding · Guru

cobberdog wrote:
now you getting me worried about my grandkids when they go camping

I have spent years (decades) rough camping with a swag/tent alone all over the High Country and have hardly ever seen a feral dog although I have heard them many times.

In general dogs are only dangerous when in a pack and even then will normally avoid humans except perhaps small children alone.

I would have no concerns about taking young children camping in the HC but, for many reasons, common sense says you don't let them wander off into the bush alone.

landy · Guru

Cupie wrote:

I must have been just lucky.... In my youth I would often go off alone, hunting wild pigs with just my dog and a long knife most times. Sometimes had an old ex WW2 45 automatic. Only real risk was when I couldn't keep the dog off really big pigs or if he let go of the pig's ear when I had hold of a rear leg holding it off the ground ready to slide the knife into the throat.
It was a great adrenalyn rush guaranteed to suck the gonads up like a Japanese wrestler.

Back to the OP. Had an interesting few nights when camped on a property just below the Burdekin dam wall, listening to dingoes howling in the hills just over the river from our camp. No risk really but rather scary. My 13 YO son bagged one that had managed to swim across the river, avoiding the salties (yes salties 200km up from the coast).

Not sure whether it was lucky or not Cupie biggrin

but I can ashore you that around the chest and shoulder area SG were just bouncing off. no way in the world this little black duck would of been grabbing it by the leg and and trying to cut its throat. but there again I never was particularly courageous. when we told the ****y later in camp his comments were keep your shotguns for ducks as he had found 303 rounds buried in pigs hides that had never penetrated. Sorry OP noting to do with wild dogs.
-- Edited by landy on Friday 5th of February 2021 09:15:02 PM

cobberdog · Senior Member

ive camped all my life ( at least 55 years) ,have heard many types of noises at night but none so loud,close and such ferocity as these dogs sounded, its really got us a little concerned. CHEERS ALL

-- Edited by cobberdog on Friday 5th of February 2021 10:24:32 AM

bgt · Guru

Daughter lives at the back of Noosa up in the hills. Plenty of wild dogs up there.

Brodie Allen · Guru

Kill everything. Oh what fun!
Bloody heroes.

miroku12g · Senior Member

Hi Landy,

Just an observation, is that you in the image ? 2 x Shotguns un-broken & pointing directly at you ? how would you know if they are / were loaded ?

Miroku12g

landy · Guru

Hi Miroku. Good comment . But I can ashore you both guns were cleared and checked before being placed there and they were not actually pointing at either of us its just the angel the photo was taken from. No its me in the second Photo.

Detecta · Member

Brodie Allen wrote:
Kill everything. Oh what fun!
Bloody heroes.

Until a wild dog ambushes you and try's to rip your throat out or a wild pig with sucker's in tow instinctively charges you and gouges you to death while on your bush walk. Your going to wish someone did kill them.

Brodie Allen · Guru

Detecta wrote:
Brodie Allen wrote:
Kill everything. Oh what fun!
Bloody heroes.
Until a wild dog ambushes you and try's to rip your throat out or a wild pig with sucker's in tow instinctively charges you and gouges you to death while on your bush walk. Your going to wish someone did kill them.

We did the same with tigers, hippos, crocodiles etc, etc.

You don't kill animals for self edification and entertainment - you cull where necessary and with expert shots.

There's no glory in using massive firepower in amateur hands that as often as not results in damaged

animals left to eventually die in agony.

I've been there and done that and now seriously regret every minute of it.

landy · Guru

Brodie Allen wrote:

Detecta wrote:
Brodie Allen wrote:
Kill everything. Oh what fun!
Bloody heroes.
Until a wild dog ambushes you and try's to rip your throat out or a wild pig with sucker's in tow instinctively charges you and gouges you to death while on your bush walk. Your going to wish someone did kill them.
We did the same with tigers, hippos, crocodiles etc, etc.

You don't kill animals for self edification and entertainment - you cull where necessary and with expert shots.
There's no glory in using massive firepower in amateur hands that as often as not results in damaged
animals left to eventually die in agony.

I've been there and done that and now seriously regret every minute of it.

Brodie I do realize that hunting feral pigs may not be for every body and I respect your right to your opinions, but comparing the hunting of tigers and hippos is not a fair comparison. The feral pig population is estimated as high as 23.5 million and spread over a third of Australia often living in hard to access places A sow can produce and ween up to twelve young a year. Where would you find the huge army of expert marksmen it would take to control this problem.The logistics would be mind blowing, let alone the money to pay them. The most effective method to control the problem at the moment is poison baits but as I am sure you are aware poisons are not selective in what they kill and are often very slow acting. I believe the next most effective method used at the moment is shooting from a helicopter, no matter how good a shot you are shooting moving pigs from a moving platform is always going to end up with wounded animals escaping into the scrub for a slow painful death, where as any ethical hunter on the ground will always do their best to dispatch their prey as quickly and humanely as possible as well as making every effort to track down any wounded beasts. Landy

Craig1 · Guru

There appears to be a new poison for pigs only, animalcontrol.com.au/products/pigout~:text=PIGOUT%C2%AE%20baits%20have%20proven,the%20centre%20of%20each%20bait.
Apparently only affects pigs because of the way they are "constructed", almost harmless to anything else

Possum3 · Guru

Pigs coming out of National Parks cause us a lot of grief - One pig can root-up one to two hectare a night destroying perfect pasture left suitable only for weeds and wattle.

Craig, I have found "Pig only" baits also can wipe out wombat colonies.

I prefer to shoot them- leave the carcass as bait for the rest of the drift/mob and hopefully spare my paddocks for a few months.

It's about time we were allowed into National Parks to eradicate this pest. Similar to what we need to do to feral cats and dogs.

oldbloke · Guru

Possum3 wrote:
Pigs coming out of National Parks cause us a lot of grief - One pig can root-up one to two hectare a night destroying perfect pasture left suitable only for weeds and wattle.

Craig, I have found "Pig only" baits also can wipe out wombat colonies.

I prefer to shoot them- leave the carcass as bait for the rest of the drift/mob and hopefully spare my paddocks for a few months.

It's about time we were allowed into National Parks to eradicate this pest. Similar to what we need to do to feral cats and dogs.

Agree. In Vic the NPs seem to be growing, locking hunters out. Believe it or not, in some, hunting deer for a few months of the year is legal, but it against the law to shoot dog, pigs or foxes. Work that out.

Then the greenies wing about the numbers of, deer, dogs, pigs, goats and vermin in general.

cobberdog · Senior Member

i got the jet spray wasp can that reaches up to 6 mtrs today, hope i never see these dogs that close to us though. happy travells everyone.

Mike Harding · Guru

Possum3 wrote:
It's about time we were allowed into National Parks to eradicate this pest. Similar to what we need to do to feral cats and dogs.

The national parks in east Gippsland (of which there are many) have become a haven for feral dogs which feed on the sheep of the farms which adjoin them - Parks Victoria do little to nothing to control them (do Parks Victoria do *anything*?) and we may not enter a NP with a firearm.

The hunting of pest animals in prescribed national parks should be made legal - how does this differ from hunting pest animals in State Forests, which is legal?

The National Parks in EG are not full of children skipping through grassy glades and families having picnics on colourful rugs whilst koalas and fawns look on smilingly - they are rough wild places often too dense to walk in with steep gullies and sub tropical rain forest which is wet and full of leeches. Walt Disney has a lot to answer for.

bgt · Guru

Let's not kill any cute feral animals such as dogs, cats, pigs, cane toads etc. Those inner city folks who preach from the pulpit have no idea. What would they do when they see a feral dog ripping apart a koala? Or a feral cat chewing on a yellow bellied parrot. Or a pig ripping up a bilby's home.

I'm an animal lover but there's a double standard here somewhere.

dogbox · Guru

shooting the feral animals, is much better way to control them, then to use indiscriminate poison baits and or traps that maim