Talk about a wake up call

Australian wrestles kangaroo from family home

When a dark intruder smashed through his bedroom window and repeatedly
bounced on his bed, Beat Ettlin at first was relieved to discover it was a
kangaroo.

"My initial thought when I was half awake was, 'It's a lunatic ninja coming
through the window,'" the 42-year-old told The Associated Press on Monday.
"It seems about as likely as a kangaroo breaking in."

But his relief was short-lived. As Ettlin cowered beneath the sheets with
his wife and 9-year-old daughter at 2 a.m. Sunday, the frantic kangaroo
bounded into the bedroom of his 10-year-old son Leighton Beman, who
screamed, "There's a 'roo in my room!"

"I thought, 'This can be really dangerous for the whole family now,'" Ettlin
said.

The ordeal played out over a few minutes in the family's house in Garran, an
upmarket suburb in the leafy national capital of Canberra.

Ettlin, a chef originally from the Swiss city of Stans, said he jumped the
90 pound (40 kilogram) marsupial from behind and pinned it to the floor. He
grabbed it in a headlock and wrestled the trashing and bleeding intruder
into a hallway, toward the front door.

He used a single, fumbling hand to open the front door and shoved the
kangaroo into the night.

"I had just my Bonds undies on. I felt vulnerable," he said, referring to a
popular Australian underwear brand.

The kangaroo, which Ettlin said was around his height, 5 foot 9 inches (176
centimeters), left claw gouges in the wooden frame of the master bed and a
trail of blood through the house. The animal was cut when it came crashing
through the bedroom window.

Ettlin, who had scratch marks on his leg and buttocks and was left wearing
only his shredded underpants, described himself as "lucky."

The kangaroo vanished into a nearby forest from where it likely came.
Wildlife authorities confirmed Monday they had received a phone call saying
an injured kangaroo had entered the caller's home and left.

Greg Baxter, a Queensland University lecturer on Australian native animals,
said kangaroos rarely invade homes but have done so in the past when
panicked.

"It is very unusual, but when kangaroos become panicked, they lose all sense
of caution and just fly for where they think they can get away," Baxter
said.

Eastern gray kangaroos are common around Canberra's forested urban fringe.
They are so numerous at one defense department site in the city that
officials want to cull hundreds of the animals to stop them ruining the
habitat.

Although it had been a harrowing experience, Ettlin's wife could see the
funny side.

"I think he's a hero: a hero in Bonds undies," Verity Beman, 39, said of her
husband.

"Matthew" wrote in message
g.com...
Australian wrestles kangaroo from family home

When a dark intruder smashed through his bedroom window and repeatedly
bounced on his bed, Beat Ettlin at first was relieved to discover it was a
kangaroo.

"My initial thought when I was half awake was, 'It's a lunatic ninja
coming through the window,'" the 42-year-old told The Associated Press on
Monday. "It seems about as likely as a kangaroo breaking in."

But his relief was short-lived. As Ettlin cowered beneath the sheets with
his wife and 9-year-old daughter at 2 a.m. Sunday, the frantic kangaroo
bounded into the bedroom of his 10-year-old son Leighton Beman, who
screamed, "There's a 'roo in my room!"

"I thought, 'This can be really dangerous for the whole family now,'"
Ettlin said.

The ordeal played out over a few minutes in the family's house in Garran,
an upmarket suburb in the leafy national capital of Canberra.

Ettlin, a chef originally from the Swiss city of Stans, said he jumped the
90 pound (40 kilogram) marsupial from behind and pinned it to the floor.
He grabbed it in a headlock and wrestled the trashing and bleeding
intruder into a hallway, toward the front door.

He used a single, fumbling hand to open the front door and shoved the
kangaroo into the night.

"I had just my Bonds undies on. I felt vulnerable," he said, referring to
a popular Australian underwear brand.

The kangaroo, which Ettlin said was around his height, 5 foot 9 inches
(176 centimeters), left claw gouges in the wooden frame of the master bed
and a trail of blood through the house. The animal was cut when it came
crashing through the bedroom window.

Ettlin, who had scratch marks on his leg and buttocks and was left wearing
only his shredded underpants, described himself as "lucky."

The kangaroo vanished into a nearby forest from where it likely came.
Wildlife authorities confirmed Monday they had received a phone call
saying an injured kangaroo had entered the caller's home and left.

Greg Baxter, a Queensland University lecturer on Australian native
animals, said kangaroos rarely invade homes but have done so in the past
when panicked.

"It is very unusual, but when kangaroos become panicked, they lose all
sense of caution and just fly for where they think they can get away,"
Baxter said.

Eastern gray kangaroos are common around Canberra's forested urban fringe.
They are so numerous at one defense department site in the city that
officials want to cull hundreds of the animals to stop them ruining the
habitat.

Although it had been a harrowing experience, Ettlin's wife could see the
funny side.

"I think he's a hero: a hero in Bonds undies," Verity Beman, 39, said of
her husband.

What a story! He should get a lot of mileage out of that at the local pub.
;-)

Joy

Australian wrestles kangaroo from family home

When a dark intruder smashed through his bedroom window and repeatedly
bounced on his bed, Beat Ettlin at first was relieved to discover it was
a kangaroo.

They seem to make a habit of that. A few decades ago a woman in
Edinburgh woke up in the middle of the night to find that the spare
bed in her room was occupied by a kangaroo. She lived near the zoo
and it had hopped over the fence and in through her window. I can't
remember what the denouement was.

The kangaroos in Edinburgh Zoo are in a field next to the tiger
enclosure, so she was lucky in which bit of fence was the problem.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

"Joy" wrote in message
...
"Matthew" wrote in message
g.com...

"I thought, 'This can be really dangerous for the whole family now,'"
Ettlin said.

The ordeal played out over a few minutes in the family's house in Garran,
an upmarket suburb in the leafy national capital of Canberra.

Ettlin, a chef originally from the Swiss city of Stans, said he jumped
the 90 pound (40 kilogram) marsupial from behind and pinned it to the
floor. He grabbed it in a headlock and wrestled the trashing and bleeding
intruder into a hallway, toward the front door.

He used a single, fumbling hand to open the front door and shoved the
kangaroo into the night.

"I had just my Bonds undies on. I felt vulnerable," he said, referring to
a popular Australian underwear brand.

The kangaroo, which Ettlin said was around his height, 5 foot 9 inches
(176 centimeters), left claw gouges in the wooden frame of the master bed
and a trail of blood through the house. The animal was cut when it came
crashing through the bedroom window.

Ettlin, who had scratch marks on his leg and buttocks and was left
wearing only his shredded underpants, described himself as "lucky."

The kangaroo vanished into a nearby forest from where it likely came.
Wildlife authorities confirmed Monday they had received a phone call
saying an injured kangaroo had entered the caller's home and left.

Greg Baxter, a Queensland University lecturer on Australian native
animals, said kangaroos rarely invade homes but have done so in the past
when panicked.

"It is very unusual, but when kangaroos become panicked, they lose all
sense of caution and just fly for where they think they can get away,"
Baxter said.

Eastern gray kangaroos are common around Canberra's forested urban
fringe. They are so numerous at one defense department site in the city
that officials want to cull hundreds of the animals to stop them ruining
the habitat.

Although it had been a harrowing experience, Ettlin's wife could see the
funny side.

"I think he's a hero: a hero in Bonds undies," Verity Beman, 39, said of
her husband.

What a story! He should get a lot of mileage out of that at the local
pub. ;-)


Yeah. It's an interesting story but a kangaroo is not exactly life
threatening is it? I'd like to know how many people have been killed by
kangaroos (excluding road accidents)
I mean head to head. None, probably.
The poor animal had been injured and panicked.

Tweed

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...
Australian wrestles kangaroo from family home

When a dark intruder smashed through his bedroom window and repeatedly
bounced on his bed, Beat Ettlin at first was relieved to discover it was
a kangaroo.

They seem to make a habit of that. A few decades ago a woman in
Edinburgh woke up in the middle of the night to find that the spare
bed in her room was occupied by a kangaroo. She lived near the zoo
and it had hopped over the fence and in through her window. I can't
remember what the denouement was.

The kangaroos in Edinburgh Zoo are in a field next to the tiger
enclosure, so she was lucky in which bit of fence was the problem.


LOL! I stayed in a hotel near Edinburgh Zoo a few years ago when I was
accompanying my friend June who was judging at the championship dog show
there.
We hadn't realised the hotel was close to the zoo. We were kept awake most
of the night, by the gibbons whooping. All bloody night they whooped..

Tweed

Christina Websell wrote:

Yeah. It's an interesting story but a kangaroo is not exactly life
threatening is it? I'd like to know how many people have been killed by
kangaroos (excluding road accidents)
I mean head to head. None, probably.
The poor animal had been injured and panicked.

Actually, I think they can do a lot of damage. They can pack a mighty
kick which could really hurt a person. I don't know if anyone's been
killed by one, but I'm sure an Australian can speak to this a little
more knowledgeably.

--
Joyce ^..^

To email me, remove the XXX from my user name.

kirjoitti:
Christina Websell wrote:

Yeah. It's an interesting story but a kangaroo is not exactly life
threatening is it? I'd like to know how many people have been killed by
kangaroos (excluding road accidents)
I mean head to head. None, probably.
The poor animal had been injured and panicked.

Actually, I think they can do a lot of damage. They can pack a mighty
kick which could really hurt a person. I don't know if anyone's been
killed by one, but I'm sure an Australian can speak to this a little
more knowledgeably.


From Wikipedia:

Kangaroos are shy and retiring by nature, and in normal circumstances
present no threat to humans. Male kangaroos often "box" amongst each
other, playfully, for dominance, or in competition for mates. The
dexterity of their forepaws is utilised in both punching and grappling
with the foe, but the real danger lies in a serious kick with the
hindleg. The sharpened toenails can disembowel an opponent.

There are very few records of kangaroos attacking humans without
provocation; however, several such unprovoked attacks in 2004 spurred
fears of a rabies-like disease possibly affecting the marsupials. The
only reliably documented case of a fatality from a kangaroo attack
occurred in New South Wales, in 1936. A hunter was killed when he tried
to rescue his two dogs from a heated fray. Other suggested causes for
erratic and dangerous kangaroo behaviour include extreme thirst and hunger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaro...on_with_humans

--
Christine in Finland
christal63 (at) gmail (dot) com

On Mar 13, 3:25*pm, wrote:


Actually, I think they can do a lot of damage. They can pack a mighty
kick which could really hurt a person. I don't know if anyone's been
killed by one,

A friend of mine was down under and there was a friend of his who went
near a kangaroo, one can only assume the kangaroo was thirsty because
he/she suddenly snatched the open water bottle from the guy and
started to drink from it- when the guy tried to take it back the
kangaroo suddenly grabbed his arm between his teeth and bit down then
proceeded to wee over the guy in quite copious amounts! The guy
wasn't seriously harmed- the bite left his arm bruised but as he had
just been trying to impress some girls it could be said the roo did a
lot of damage to his street cred

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

On Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:41:30 +0200, Christine BA wrote:

kirjoitti:
Christina Websell wrote:

Yeah. It's an interesting story but a kangaroo is not exactly life
threatening is it? I'd like to know how many people have been
killed by kangaroos (excluding road accidents)
I mean head to head. None, probably. The poor animal had been
injured and panicked.

Actually, I think they can do a lot of damage. They can pack a mighty
kick which could really hurt a person. I don't know if anyone's been
killed by one, but I'm sure an Australian can speak to this a little
more knowledgeably.


From Wikipedia:

Kangaroos are shy and retiring by nature, and in normal circumstances
present no threat to humans. Male kangaroos often "box" amongst each
other, playfully, for dominance, or in competition for mates. The
dexterity of their forepaws is utilised in both punching and grappling
with the foe, but the real danger lies in a serious kick with the
hindleg. The sharpened toenails can disembowel an opponent.

There are very few records of kangaroos attacking humans without
provocation; however, several such unprovoked attacks in 2004 spurred
fears of a rabies-like disease possibly affecting the marsupials. The
only reliably documented case of a fatality from a kangaroo attack
occurred in New South Wales, in 1936. A hunter was killed when he tried
to rescue his two dogs from a heated fray. Other suggested causes for
erratic and dangerous kangaroo behaviour include extreme thirst and
hunger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaro...on_with_humans

Just about any animal can be dangerous if it panics and feels that it
needs to defend itself. Every year here in the USA, there are reports of
deer that have blundered into buildings, particularly in mating season
when the males sometimes attack their own reflections in a window,
thinking it is a rival. A kick from a deer's hoof, or a slash from its
antlers, can be deadly to a human. Even when they are successfully
captured, the deer often die from the stress.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria