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It's also worth saying that kangaroo in Australia is a bit like deer in the US: city people think the animal is a bit magical, country people think it's a bit o

by vacri 9y ago

It's also worth saying that kangaroo in Australia is a bit like deer in the US: city people think the animal is a bit magical, country people think it's a bit of a pest; some people hunt it for food; you can buy the meat in some butchers but it's not in the diet of most; and occasionally it's culled because of population explosion. The only real difference is that the deer is not a national symbol.

hkmurakami 9y ago
Not sure why you're being downvoted, because as a lifelong resident around deer, afaik everything you've said is reasonable, if not true. I live in a rural'ish area with a decent deer population [1] . Most residents see them as endearing, while a minority see them as pests. Go a bit farther out into more rural (but not boonies) areas where people do more serious (but still personal scale) agriculture on their properties, and the ag-pest attitude becomes much more prevalent. Ask any winemaker and they'll call deer a pest. Fwiw I'm in the "magical" camp (being neighbors with a deer rescuer will do that to you!) but understand the ag perspective. [1] There's a family of deer that walk by my property every evening, and this morning I inadvertently startled a buck that was chilling out in front of the house -- they're very timid animals, which I guess is a big difference vs Kangaroos?
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
  I'm within the city limits of a large city in the northeastern US, and I've seen deer on lawns. And since they spread deer ticks over wide ranges, and those ticks spread Lyme disease, they're definitely more than just an agricultural pest. We killed or drove away all the wolves, so now the deer proliferate.
- glangdale 9y ago
  Kangaroos are also generally timid, although there are exceptions. I'd had some chilling moments happening across big males and getting stared down. "Ok, bye" <slinks away>
King-Aaron 9y ago
As someone who grew up on rural prime production properties and now lives in the city, I find this assessment to be spot on. I know peers who get excited when we go for drives outside of the city limits, so they can see a Kangaroo. I get stressed out driving the car out of the city, because if you see a Kangaroo you're likely to run into it at a hundred k's an hour. They are a bit of a pest in the numbers they've expanded to.

by vacri 9y ago

hkmurakami 9y ago

Not sure why you're being downvoted, because as a lifelong resident around deer, afaik everything you've said is reasonable, if not true. I live in a rural'ish area with a decent deer population [1] . Most residents see them as endearing, while a minority see them as pests. Go a bit farther out into more rural (but not boonies) areas where people do more serious (but still personal scale) agriculture on their properties, and the ag-pest attitude becomes much more prevalent. Ask any winemaker and they'll call deer a pest. Fwiw I'm in the "magical" camp (being neighbors with a deer rescuer will do that to you!) but understand the ag perspective. [1] There's a family of deer that walk by my property every evening, and this morning I inadvertently startled a buck that was chilling out in front of the house -- they're very timid animals, which I guess is a big difference vs Kangaroos?

SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
I'm within the city limits of a large city in the northeastern US, and I've seen deer on lawns. And since they spread deer ticks over wide ranges, and those ticks spread Lyme disease, they're definitely more than just an agricultural pest. We killed or drove away all the wolves, so now the deer proliferate.
glangdale 9y ago
Kangaroos are also generally timid, although there are exceptions. I'd had some chilling moments happening across big males and getting stared down. "Ok, bye" <slinks away>

King-Aaron 9y ago

As someone who grew up on rural prime production properties and now lives in the city, I find this assessment to be spot on. I know peers who get excited when we go for drives outside of the city limits, so they can see a Kangaroo. I get stressed out driving the car out of the city, because if you see a Kangaroo you're likely to run into it at a hundred k's an hour. They are a bit of a pest in the numbers they've expanded to.