As I left a meeting in Duffy Street, Ainslie, at 10pm Monday just before Australia Day, I noticed there were two kangaroos standing silently on the front lawn of the house next door.
You see them quite often up in Ainslie, especially when there hasn't been much rain; they come down from Mt Ainslie & Mt Majura looking for food and water. One of my friends even saw a kangaroo drinking from a bird bath this week.
So for international readers, it is true that in Australia, kangaroos can be seen hopping down the main street. Not all that often; they are more often seen out in the fields in the early morning or late at night, dozens at a time, and during the day would normally be sleeping up in forested areas.
Culling of kangaroos is carried out occasionally and is really no big deal, as kangaroos such as the Eastern Grey species pictured above abound in large numbers. But culling is only a temporary measure; they breed so prolifically their numbers bounce back very quickly. So there's not much point.
Kangaroo meat has a wide range of health benefits compared with beef, for example, being low in fat, and includes anti-carcinogenic and anti-diabetes properties, in addition to reducing obesity and atherosclerosis. Kangaroos are better for the environment too, as kangaroos produce almost no methane. Why we cannot phase out our sheep and cattle farming and phase in kangaroo farming, I do not know. It would be a great environmental and climate change measure and an example to the rest of the world.
Evermore
Rather than attending a meeting on Monday night, kangaroos and all, I would have sooner been watching Evermore at the Australia Day concert in Canberra. That's the second time I have missed them. Nevermind there will always be a next time.
Thursday track: THIS IS A COME & TRY IT NIGHT. HOP DOWN TO BRUCE, BRING A FRIEND, NEIGHBOUR, RELATIVE AND INTRODUCE THEM TO THE BENEFITS AND JOYS OF VETERAN ATHLETICS!! THEY WILL NOT HAVE TO PAY THE ENTRY FEE. And just a reminder that "Athletes Check In" is in the Commonwealth Room.
January handicap
The next Vets Run/Walk Handicap will be held on Sunday 31st January at Campbell Park. Please note that there is an early start for this Handicap – it will commence at 8.30am. Long Course 6K. Short Course 3K
To get there, turn off Fairbairn Ave at Northcott Drive and follow the road to the right around the outside of the car park to the far northeast corner (Map 60 G3).
We will see many kangaroos on Sunday morning at Campbell Park. Mainly on our warm-up run before the herds of racing runners frighten them away. I wish I had the same fast twitch muscle fibres that kangaroos have!
