Canberra being the bush capital offers us residents a virtual smorgasbord of animals that we will encounter in our lives at some point. For some its the sight of Kangaroos grazing on the sides of our roads, for others the wonderful array of bird life in our backyards. These interactions can sometimes cause problems or uncertainty in the correct way to deal with situations such as swooping magpies and resident rooftop possums...

So with that in mind I'd like to help promote a local Canberra naturalist and wildlife conservationist with a very kind heart named Carly Wilson. Carly is in the process of establishing a series of wildlife videos aimed at educating people about our native fauna and offer practical solutions to some of the situations we may find ourselves in when interacting with our wildlife.

The videos presented below are the beginning of the series with more currently being produced. Please take the time to see what Carly is working towards on her website or on her direct Wildlife Solutions page. I think what she is attempting will become a valuable Canberra wildlife resource...

"The first initiative of Conservation Hearts is a project called “Wildlife Solutions”. For this project we will be creating a set of web-based videos that we hope will be able to provide guidance to people struggling with “problem wildlife”. We understand that when humans and animals mix, things can sometimes get a bit hairy but with a little creativity and the right information, it’s almost always possible to arrive at a solution with a happy ending for everybody – humans and animals, alike." Carly Wilson.

Swooping magpies - what you need to know



Help! there's a possum in my roof



Feed lettuce to ducks instead of bread


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I found this buried away in an old country news section of the original Australian newspaper. It involves a Mr William Klensendorlffe (1789-1861) who owned the Canberra section of land that included Kurrajong Hill (Capital Hill) today the home of Australia's Parliament. Convicts, bushrangers, theft and burglary 1839 style...




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Hello, I’m not back yet to regular posting but after a lovely morning on Red Hill I thought I would post this update. Paul, a friend and reader of this blog, and I went in search of a 19th century quarry on the western slopes of Red Hill. Paul, his wife Christine and myself walked from the lookout west down towards the trig point at first coming across a gaggle of Cunningham’s Skinks basking on what I thought at first may have been the old quarry, dismissed, but now I am left wondering. Cunningham's Skink image Wikipedia.

Paul has an amazing knowledge of the reptiles of the area which I know is attributable to it being his childhood playground eon’s ago and after a brief search of their habitat quickly pointed out the ‘colony’ of Cunninghams. One particularly friendly Blue Tongue Lizard was photogenic enough to say hello but the others were too well camouflaged to be seen on the video I shot. I still haven't found the old quarry...


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As I am beginning to discover Canberra has a long history of Yowie sightings. A little difficult to read but well worth the effort I think.

Lets not beat around the bush these articles are about the mythical Yowie. There has been records of sightings in the ACT region I have found going back 150 years and as recent in the Tharwa/Orroral area as 2003 and 2006.

Thanks to keywords such as yowie, yahoo, 'hairy man' 'Australian gorilla' and a fully digitised archive of old newspapers at Trove. It is amazing how many historical reports there were of what we would today call yowies and evident that people in the area actually believed there was a bi-pedal hominid of some form living in the surrounding bushland and mountains.

So common were the bush reports of contact that one night time church meeting at Weetangera referred to the 'becoming too common Australian Gorilla' outside as an annoyance...




The next article is a good representation of the sort of report I am finding. The scene in this one is set between Pierces Creek and Tidbinbilla Mountain. The witness was from Uriarra. The article is also interesting I thought as it further reports of Aboriginals hunting down and killing a suspected yowie not far away at the junction of the Yass and Murrumbidgee rivers...




Anyway a bit more trivia but just in case the next time your in Namadgi make sure to take a camera.

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