Roos
A couple of years ago my brother Alan and his wife Sue bought a property in the Hunter Valley. It is a lovely piece of land, clear and open grassland, but with forest at the bottom of a slope. Lots of species of kangaroos and wallabies come out into the grass to sun themselves, and graze right up to the house.
They are very charming. When lying down they look like deer, but when standing up, very formal. They have clearly evolved in a world of short range projectiles, because when they see a person they stand up and observe them closely. Approach them closer than about 50 metres and they will lope off, but sometimes they will stand no more than 10-20 metres away. They don't seem to know they can be killed at a distance, and as they are still hunted as vermin in some areas, I felt extremely sorry for them. I think they are beautiful animals. Sometimes they seem awkward and clumsy, sometimes very graceful, but always they seem weird, otherworldly, like inhabitants of a dream realm.
Photos at
Roos