CaptK Part 2

The thread was about damage suffered to cars/trucks from kangaroo strikes! Now, I know people overseas and in the cities get all warm and fuzzy about roos, but I tell you they can do bulk damage if you're not careful. Anyway, on to Keith's yarn! Anything in red is my comment on Keith's yarn, or some explanation for those unfamiliar with Oz

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Never mind the roos, what about those brain dead eagles?

Heard a bloke say on the ABC (Indy's comment. ABC is our Gov't owned radio broadcaster) a while back that eagles are on the verge of extinction, so it must be true.Well I've got news for him. There's millions of them between Port Augusta and Darwin, all feasting on freshly tenderised roadkill, courtesy of Camry drivers and Ford drivers and Truck drivers.

There's beef on the menu and sheep and pig and goat and camel and snakes and lizards but most of all....Roo.

You can usually pick them out about 2 Kms (1.5 miles) or more away, 5 or 6 at a time, squabling over a fresh bit of road kill. As you get closer they'l sort of have a look in your direction and I'm sure they only care about their feed.

I've seen Kookaburras catching snakes, Owls catching mice, hawks and kites catching all sorts of stuff, even sparrows catching bugs. I've never seen an eagle catch anything, they're just straight out scavengers and bone lazy bludgers that throw their weight around.

A couple of days ago I was south bound about about 20 Km's north of Erldunda, sure enough, a bunch of eagles on the fog line with a fresh, frisby roo, (they're called a frisby because they're flat). Now I don't like running over road kill because as posted above it spreads all over your truck and trailer, nothing like the smell of burning dead sheep or emu to make you loose your appetite. So generally I give road kill a wide berth, where practicable and the eagles generally hop away a few steps until you pass.

Not so with one of these candidates for the Charles Darwin award for for contribution to the gene pool. This idiot decided to take off and lift the roo at the same time.Well he rose with all the speed of a lump of concrete and gained just enough altitude to smack straight into my windscreen, net result, one busted windscreen and the remains of one dead roo on the bonnet.

On the positive side, KW windscreens must be tougher than Freightliner windscreens, same thing happened to old mate Gabby and the eagle ended up in his bunk, most annoyed and not very happy either.

For all their supposed greatness, eagles leave me cold, give me a bush turkey anytime, much more clever in the brains department.