Travellers are being warned of the potential danger posed by kangaroos after one of the marsupials ‘came back from the dead’ to attack a Good Samaritan.
Billy Willox was left with blood pouring from his eyes after he approached what he thought was a dead eastern grey kangaroo on the side of a road near Canberra to check its pouch for a joey.
“All of a sudden, it just got up, and before I knew it, it had gone for my eyes,” Mr Willcox told the ABC. “It was very, very quick … I just couldn’t move away from it.”
Mr Willox was eventually able to kick the kangaroo away and escape.
He had suffered tears to the ligaments and skin tissue around his eyes and has required plastic surgery to repair his face.
ACT Park Ranger Joel Patterson said it was not unusual for injured animals to appear to rise from the dead.
“They can spring quite quickly into action and cause quite a bit of damage,” he told the ABC. “I’ve seen it often with kangaroos that have sustained quite severe injuries; they have this last surge where they just spring to life a little bit … often that might be their last hurrah.”
Following his attack, Mr Willox warned others to call for help rather than approaching injured or dead wildlife.
“I just think that it’s not worth it,” he told the ABC. “Other people have told me how vicious they can be because they’ve actually been in similar situations and … now I would probably just phone the rangers.
So… does that mean he’s a ‘Silly Billy,’
Very lucky didnt lose an eye…!
Put the roo in the stew..