UWOL#60 Urban Surprise

[Bob Safay]

This was one of those fun videos. I was very lucky capturing the footage for this one. I really was SURPRISED at the results of my video. I would appreciate comments and feedback. Enjoy! Bob

Surprise.mov on Vimeo

[Trond Saetre]

Hi Bob,

This was cool! Looks like the food you set out, is popular for the local wildlife too. Mister possum (spelling ?) even looked surprised when caught on camera.

Again you show that we don't have to go far to make outdoors and wildlife films. The small things in our backyard is often overlooked.

Thanks for sharing!

[LeRoy Gunderson]

Nice! It looks like your neighborhood is the center of attraction for the local wildlife. Certain times of the year we also have opossums and raccoons roaming the backyard. It drives the dog nuts with all the smells to investigate.

I enjoyed your film very much.

[Tony McGuire]

Nice catch and looks like wild life likes you and the food you put out.

[Phil Murray]

As always, the way you create a story out of something that doesn't look so interesting at first is really amazing. Seriously, I wish I had a tiny bit of your ability to develop a story so well that holds my attention to the end.

I miss seeing all the urban wildlife that would grace my yard during the night -- especially when I loved in a small west Texas town for a year. Animals are so good at keeping hid. Was that raccoon a big surprise where you live? In many urban places in Texas they aren't all that common, but they are well-adapted to living among people. I lived 14 years near a big river corridor and we saw them all the time, but not in any of the other city places where I lived. (When I loved near the Texas coast on the edge of a small town you could ALWAYS see a family at the trash dumpsters in the late evening.) They are such fascinating animals.

Thanks for this great film!

[Bob Hart]

I should motivate myself and do something more constructive than video happysnaps. These little guys break in through the catflap and box the dodgey rear door. Sometimes they strike lucky and it swings open.

They are variously called bandicoots, boodierats or quendas, the last being their correct name. Around this place, they cannot abide rats and will go them. Unfortunately for them and our raptors, crows and magpies, people use ratpoison. The creatures carry halfmoon scars from flap injuries caused by being rubbed over and rolled by low-slung cars.

These little guys and the birds will open deadfound rats up where they are softest and get poisoned themselves. If bandicoots eat a rat, they scoff the lot but for some reason won't touch the tail. They will demolish a whole chickenframe overnight and leave nothing, not even bones, just a few splinters.

If a dog grabs them, they will turn in their skin and boot a dog in the face with those powerful backfeet and solid toeclaw. The dog looks most surprised. They are no match for terrier dogs though. They will dominate most cats except competent toms but a catbite is like a snakebite to them as the cats carry a pathogen lethal to them.

If I was to throw a coronary or a stroke and go down in the backyard, I am sure they would strip my carcass bare in about a week and then move on with their lives.

BANDICOOT BARRIO PART TRE - YouTube