Feral lurcher.

[toolebox 1,516]

On 17/01/2022 at 16:37, Aussie Whip said:

I saw a greyhound on the side of the highway in bushland south of Sydney around ten years ago. I pulled up around 100m past and walked back to see if I could catch the dog before it got hit. As I got closer I noticed the dog was a mass of huge black scars from untreated rips. It turned to me and started growling and another dog joined it, a huge hairy stag/ wolfhound type also scarred up and both skinny as. I made a quick retreat back to the car and drove off. These dogs had been living feral for years probably and they were looking at me as lunch, lol. They probably survived off roos and maybe pigs judging by the injuries on them. You could tell they weren't recently lost hunting dogs.

Interesting & reminds of story relayed to me by a close mate who lives in FNQ(Queensland).While he was fixing a fence on his cattle station above Cooktown after the" big wet".He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye that showed a large x bred bitch that showed some dingo blood in her lineage, slowly walking up while growling and showing her teeth .She was then joined by two other big males who all walked up till they were about 10 meters away .At this point they spread out a little and the two males then also  started to glowl,then the bitch moved to within 5 meters .The only thing my mate told me he had hand for a weapon was a pair of fencing pliers .His two wheeler was parked a couple of meters behind him so he decided since the bitch was in charge he would throw the piers at her ,hoping to gain some time to get the hell out of there before they attacked. He threw those pliers as hard as he possibly could ,his aim was good hitting the bitch on the side of the head ,that he said gave him the few seconds to get to his bike ,start it and gun it to escape. I asked what did the dogs do ? he replied they gave chase for about 50 meters then flagged the chase. My mate never stopped till he gain the safety of the farm house where he loaded his .270 ,this he carried every time he left to work anywhere on the station .He said he thought one of the bitches parent may of been a lost pig dog whom then got into pup by a dingo , this resulted in a big strong dog who lacked the fear of humans & the males were he said were lost and pig dogs  . He never sighted any of the 3 until he found a dead horse with dog sign on it a day before I arrived over to visit .It was decided to set up a ambush using the large full moon ,since I was considered a better shot than him I manned the rifle .Nothing came in that night. We returned late the next day, then before dusk , we heard birds sounding off and out of the gloom appeared a small band of dogs.We saw  the two males that had cornered Colin on the fence line 12 months before .There was no sign of the bitch but we knew she would be there hidden ,watching & waiting. We waited as long as we could before we lost the light to approach the feast site. We could tell there were 3 dogs present,both males were tearing at a back leg & one other was inside horse  unidentified. By using hand signals' I gathered my mate wanted me to shoot the dog inside the horse first, then the other two . I worked out which way it was facing via movement ,sent the postman away then took aim as the other two dogs bolted up a cattle pad where the only shot offered was straight up the back side .The hit tipped the dog over ,then it was a very long shot out  to the other fast moving dog, I once again sent the postman & heard the whack of a hit just before the dog disappeared into a hollow on the pad. We raced up the track ,checked the first male quickly (dead as a door nail) and arrived at the place just short of where we saw the dog disappear .I went ahead expecting to find the dog dead in the hollow but was only greeted by a small amount of blood .There was a island of bush and trees to my left where I could see the track of blood leading to, so with the rifle loaded and the safety off  ,I sneaked into the gloom of the trees and bush. I took each step very slowly  expecting & knowing the dog was only wounded and awaiting just ahead.... somewhere .I couldn't see jackshit ,but I thought I heard a noise just ahead ,I stopped and by studying all, I thought I could just make out a pair of ears ,a few seconds later I could make out the head so having worked out there his body should be I shot him nearly pointblank range .The end result was the two males accounted for & unfortunately the dead dog inside the horse wasn't the bitch we had hoped for ,however  as song says ........ "two out of three ain bad"  & I should add I was both scared shitless & strangely excited when I entered the gloom of those trees  ,the rifle at the ready ......

Edited January 18, 2022 by toolebox

[jukel123 7,957]

23 minutes ago, toolebox said:

Interesting & reminds of story relayed to me by a close mate who lives in FNQ(Queensland).While he was fixing a fence on his cattle station above Cooktown after the" big wet".He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye that showed a large x bred bitch that showed some dingo blood in her lineage, slowly walking up while growling and showing her teeth .She was then joined by two other big males who all walked up till they were about 10 meters away .At this point they spread out a little and the two males then also  started to glowl,then the bitch moved to within 5 meters .The only thing my mate told me he had hand for a weapon was a pair of fencing pliers .His two wheeler was parked a couple of meters behind him so he decided since the bitch was in charge he would throw the piers at her ,hoping to gain some time to get the hell out of there before they attacked. He threw those pliers as hard as he possibly could ,his aim was good hitting the bitch on the side of the head ,that he said gave him the few seconds to get to his bike ,start it and gun it to escape. I asked what did the dogs do ? he replied they gave chase for about 50 meters then flagged the chase. My mate never stopped till he gain the safety of the farm house where he loaded his .270 ,this he carried every time he left to work anywhere on the station .He said he thought one of the bitches parent may of been a lost pig dog whom then got into pup by a dingo , this resulted in a big strong dog who lacked the fear of humans & the males were he said were lost and pig dogs  . He never sighted any of the 3 until he found a dead horse with dog sign on it a day before I arrived over to visit .It was decided to set up a ambush using the large full moon ,since I was considered a better shot than him I manned the rifle .Nothing came in that night. We returned late the next day, then before dusk , we heard birds sounding off and out of the gloom appeared a small band of dogs.We saw  the two males that had cornered Colin on the fence line 12 months before .There was no sign of the bitch but we knew she would be there hidden ,watching & waiting. We waited as long as we could before we lost the light to approach the feast site. We could tell there were 3 dogs present,both males were tearing at a back leg & one other was inside horse  unidentified. By using hand signals' I gathered my mate wanted me to shoot the dog inside the horse first, then the other two . I worked out which way it was facing via movement ,sent the postman away then took aim as the other two dogs bolted up a cattle pad where the only shot offered was straight up the back side .The hit tipped the dog over ,then it was a long shot to the other fast moving dog, I once again sent the postman & having heard the whack  just before the dog disappeared into a hollow on the pad. We raced up the track ,checked the first male quickly (dead as a door nail) and arrived at the place just short of where we saw the dog disappear .I went ahead expecting to find the dog dead in the hollow but was only greeted by a small amount of blood .Where was a island of bush and trees to my left where I could see the track of blood leading to, so with the rifle loaded and the safety off  ,I sneaked into the gloom of the trees and bush. I took each step very slowly  expecting & knowing the dog was only wounded and awaiting just ahead.... somewhere .I couldn't see jackshit ,but I thought I heard a noise just ahead ,I stopped and by studying all, I thought I could just make out a pair of ears ,a few seconds later I could make out the head so having worked out there his body should be I shot him nearly pointblank range .The end result was the two males accounted for & unfortunately the dead dog inside the horse wasn't the bitch we had hoped for ,however  as song says ........ "two out of three ain bad"  

Very interesting. All wild dogs seem to end up pretty much wolf shaped and catch prey in packs and by wearing prey down or simply scavenging. I don't know of any wild dogs which only rely on speed like a cheetah. The dingo crossbreeds quickly revert to a wolfish form within a generation. I guess a greyhound shaped feral dog would be too prone to injury if it had to run flat out several times a day and wouldn't be sustainable long term.

There's some good videos on YouTube of trapping  and shooting feral dogs in Oz.

I'm sure Charts ran saluki on feral dogs in middle east. Why did your salukis recognise them as prey and  not their own species? CP

Edited January 17, 2022 by jukel123

[chartpolski 23,043]

48 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

Very interesting. All wild dogs seem to end up pretty much wolf shaped and catch prey in packs and by wearing prey down or simply scavenging. I don't know of any wild dogs which only rely on speed like a cheetah. The dingo crossbreeds quickly revert to a wolfish form within a generation. I guess a greyhound shaped feral dog would be too prone to injury if it had to run flat out several times a day and wouldn't be sustainable long term.

There's some good videos on YouTube of trapping  and shooting feral dogs in Oz.

I'm sure Charts ran saluki on feral dogs in middle east. Why did your salukis recognise them as prey and  not their own species? CP

Yeah, I had one saluki that had a hatred for pariahs, feral dogs, and killed a couple, but they were pretty weak, scabby specimens, to be honest.

He once tried to take on three, and they made a mess of him, over 100 stitches.

Havent a clue why he hated them, he was fine with other dogs.

Cheers.

[Aussie Whip 4,083]

28 minutes ago, chartpolski said:

Havent a clue why he hated them, he was fine with other dogs.

I went pig hunting in the pines with a mate and his pack of mastiff crosses. They never bothered domestic dogs but we ran into a pack of feral dogs and the pigdogs killed three adults and a litter of pups. I'll never forget the noise of this, horrible stuff.

[Aussie Whip 4,083]

I was surprised to see the running dogs feral on the highway that time, I didn't think a grey would survive long wild. There was a fox terrier living wild in the forest near Lithgow that survived and was sighted for more than ten years. I can see how it lived so long being smart, tough and small, probably getting enough food from lizards, rabbits and other small prey.

[Black neck 15,840]

Penda off here is classed as a feral human  they tried get him in a big net but he growled and ran off 

[Penda 3,341]

51 minutes ago, Black neck said:

Penda off here is classed as a feral human  they tried get him in a big net but he growled and ran off 

Yep but I had eaten alot of mushrooms at the time and I was naked and confused some what any way less of my life I've heard your signing a contract for the NBA is this true come on spill the beans

[Black neck 15,840]

3 minutes ago, Penda said:

Yep but I had eaten alot of mushrooms at the time and I was naked and confused some what any way less of my life I've heard your signing a contract for the NBA is this true come on spill the beans

You dun messed up balarky

[jukel123 7,957]

Anybody read Finn the Wolfhound? It's a good yarn about a  feral wolfhound running with dingoes.  Read it when I was a kid and just re- read it. It's like Call of the Wild set in Oz. 

[Maximus Ferret 2,063]

2 hours ago, jukel123 said:

Anybody read Finn the Wolfhound? It's a good yarn about a  feral wolfhound running with dingoes.  Read it when I was a kid and just re- read it. It's like Call of the Wild set in Oz. 

I have a copy of that somewhere. If you like that you'll like a book....."Jukel" I think it was called, possibly by Frank something??? Years since I read it. It's about a lurcher that goes feral on north york moors, I think Helmsley area. I've tried to google it for you but no luck. Copy I read was borrowed from Malton library in 1987.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Maximus Ferret
spelling

[Maximus Ferret 2,063]

Got it!!!!! It's called "The Lurcher", by Frank Walker. Jukel was the dog's name.

The Lurcher by Frank Walker - AbeBooks

WWW.ABEBOOKS.CO.UK

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[Gypsydog94 4,557]

Uncle told me a story about a feral collie. Killed a few sheep here and there till local farmers got together and shot it. In midge todhunters book about Johnny Richardson recalls the story of a feral greyhound

[Aussie Whip 4,083]

A story over here of a giant feral dog, what they think was a wolfhound cross  that was killing calves on the North coast NSW. A few blokes went after it with two bullmastiff crosses and a Rotty. The dogs bailed it in a pile of logs dozed up by the forestry, by the time the hunters got there both mastiffs were dead and the Rotty was still bailing it. It was shot and was said to be bigger than any dog they'd seen, a freak sized stock killer. I doubted the story but was talking recently to guys up the coast who verified it.

[whitefeet4190 1,725]

We had a hound at a kennels I worked at she escaped in pup and she was seen around the kennels for couple of weeks before she started coming back and we followed her and she had had her pups in a dug out rabbit warren, but she would sneak back for food when know one was there 

[Black neck 15,840]

20 hours ago, Penda said:

My dogs would be sweet if they ever went feral bin bags would be the menu of the day 

I don't want 2 talk about it