THE WILD LIFE By Rick O’Brien, 1 RAR
My final posting was to the then DSU at Western Street, Rockhampton as the Tpt Spv. Half a dozen Yanks were waiting at the gate for a taxi and were asking me about SWBTA. I was asked if there were any animals to steer clear of, so I mentioned the Taipans, Black Snakes, King Browns, Swampies and the wild bulls. I then mentioned the Koala bear. One Yank said he’d seen photos of people holding them and said they seemed gentle, cuddly animals. I pointed out that they were the domestic ones and that, in the bush, if you got too close to their “nest” in their tree during mating season, they were known to jump on you and claw the fuck out of you. I often wonder how often they fell arse over turkey because they were looking into the trees instead of watching where they put their feet.
