Wildlife

Zambia

While driving in Australia you will see signs warning of animals crossing.

No if you see the animal and you reckon you can stop safely stop , slow down etc.

However if you are ambushed by skippy , cow, wombat, rabbit etc jumping straight out of the side of the road.

If you wont make the stop it is its best to just hit them straight on. The thinking behind this is when you brake hard the front of the car dips. You still hit skippy however you send him straight up the bonnet of the car towards the windscreen.

This is an outback road



However as soon as you swerve to avoid skippy you could loose control and find the one tree in 100km. A tree at outback speeds will ruin your day.

Has anyone heard this before or a different variant.

I once also hit a roo bouncing through my estate I admit I slammed on and went for a skid. Lucky it was a good road. Skippy and I lived to tell the tale.

Traq

Yep, I've heard the "don't swerve" rule before alright, especially if you're travelling in a camper van as it's pretty easy to roll them if you swerve violently so best bet (for you obviously, not for Skippy) is to hit them straight on!

The Aussie

There will normally be more grass on the edges of roads out west in normal conditions (when Australia is in drought for 7 years out of every 10) if you see any Roos on the side of the road eating grass i always take my foot off the speed button a few hundred meters away from them, keep an eye on them and as soon as the first one flinches start braking because if one goes they all go.

As for hitting them if your not driving behind a Bullbar, its going to cost you money either way, ive always just knocked them, would rather one of them end up inside sitting beside me than a tree, what ever you do always stop and check if they are carrying a Joey, if so its kinder to either (a) contact the nearest animal shelter or your last option is (b) put it out of its misery, not the best option.

Goes with everything, if i can avoid them in a safe manner by driving defensively i will, it saves money in the long run.

catbear

Also make sure you have some tin foil and a skinning knife so you can cook some Roo on your engine. Yum.

ellaq

Never swerve, you will probably roll especially at speed. It is not worth risking your life. Kangaroos get stunned by headlights so they are not going to move out of the way. We encountered a family once in the dark, it was awful but the bullbar did its job.

A bit more unusual is eagles dive bombing cars in the outback.

mel.b

Yep, i nearly wasn't here as my parents before they were married were driving home on night and dad swerved to miss a wombat and hit a tree. I also remeber coming home from my grandparents one night and dad hit a fox and my sister went mental at him and dad simply said "it's either the fox or us'.

Noo

ellaq wrote: »

A bit more unusual is eagles dive bombing cars in the outback.

Yeah I've had them playing chicken with my windscreen, it pretty terrifying.