Kangapoos

Kangaroos poop. A lot. I know this because I stayed in Halls Gap, a great country town in the Grampian Mountains of Victoria, and one that is inundated with kangaroos. Aussies think that Americans believe all Australian cities, towns, streets & yards have kangaroos hopping through them (like the polar bars that run through ALL Canadian towns), but this just isn’t true (Ex: my current French dorm-mates have been in Australia for two months and have yet to see one). Except in Halls Gap, where there are ‘roos everywhere you look: chomping away in the woods in the morning; along the hiking trail in the afternoon; in the backyard of the hostel during the evening happy hour.

Now, granted, they don’t actually jump through the streets here (though they do jump in to roads and get themselves killed), but they can be found everywhere else. This pic is of the local cricket field, and you can see that this mob is just chilling there on hot, lazy afternoon. There are some colorful parakeets in the foreground (and oodles of other birdlife in town), and, if you look closely, lots of nuggets everywhere. Kangaroos look kinda like bizarro deer, their poop looks like bizarro deer crap, and it conveniently doesn’t squish when you step in it (which is unavoidable). I guess the locals are used to it, though, as I watched a cricket match (speaking of bizarro…) here and they played as if the poop wasn’t there. But, it is there, and it’s in every other place in town there’s a hint of grass. Kangaroos really are a perfect example for the “we are all just one big tube” philosophy – they bend over to eat and always keep their butt sticking out so they can just poop, poop, poop away while they eat. Alternate title of post: Halls Crap.