The Dingoes of Cripple Creek

[Terry]

I’m back from my first stint a little earlier than anticipated, I won’t bother you with all the reasons, but thought this little story might be of interest to some - Terry

THE DINGOES OF CRIPPLE CREEK
It was a balmy night just made for sitting around the campfire. The camp oven slowly simmered with that evening’s meal, and a tiny spiral of steam rose lazily from the billy. It was one of those perfectly still nights with the only sound an odd cricket calling its mates. I had switched off the wireless by now as I was fed up with the arguments over the Carbon Tax; it was all thankfully far away from here on the upper Ashburton at this place we call Cripple Creek
Then I had this strange feeling that someone or something was watching me. I looked around but at first saw nothing, then suddenly a small movement in the shadows that rose and fell to the flickering flames of the campfire caught my eye. I was sure by now that there was something skulking close by and picked up my Dolphin torch and searched among the trees nearest camp. And then I saw it, a Dingo, as it quickly moved into the deeper shadows out of sight again. Although I only caught a glimpse I was sure that it was only a young one about two thirds grown, and I had no sense that it was a threat in any way.
I had my meal and was sipping a mug of tea when it suddenly appeared again, this time laying down in full sight of me, about 20 feet away. If I got up and moved it would also move a bit further away but would come back and lay down again when I sat down. You could easily think it was partly domesticated, but this is a remote place and looking at the overgrown track coming in, I was sure no one had been here since my last visit nearly a year ago. More likely it had recently been kicked out by its mother and was looking for a bit of company as young dingoes sometimes do, eventually it disappeared and I thought no more about it.
A couple of days later I was getting my motorbike loaded to head off prospecting when I turned around to find him standing about two metres away, I hadn’t heard a thing. I soon recovered from the initial shock and realising once again, that he was not a threat, and I started talking to him.
Over the coming days he would appear as though out of thin air, I never heard him, he would just suddenly be there. I sometimes sensed his presence and turn around and see him watching me. As time went by he became increasingly confident often lying a couple of meters away watching me detect , If I dug up anything he would come and inspect the area when I move on. Once when I was digging a signal he started trying to remove a rock from the earth with his mouth. In the early days he would snarl and growl and occasionally snap at the chain I dragged to show what area had been worked, I wondered if he thought it was a snake, now and again he’d start howling, going on and on at times.
When the day came to move on he suddenly appeared after having not been seen for a couple of days, I’m sure he sensed I was leaving and hung around my camp and showed no sign of leaving. By the time I was packed up to go he was (this might be my imagination) looking quite sad and as I drove off he followed for quite awhile, the last I saw of him was standing in the middle of the track watching me drive off. I never fed him realising he was a wild animal and had to learn to fend for himself. But I must admit I felt a tinge of sadness myself as I drove away.

Cheers Terry

[Bob Pacey]

Beautiful Story Terry.


Not only humans get a little bit lonely in the bush it would seem.


Bob

[r.magnay]

G'day Terry,
Good yarn mate, I too have had a few similar experiencecs with dingoes, I was working out at Oak Valley on the Nullabor just up a bit from Maralinga, I got up one morning and my boots had been taken from next to my swag, after the other bloke finally convinced me that they hadn't touched them I went looking for them, I found them a couple of chain away from the camp, not together but no too far apart, I looked up and saw a dingo sitting in the scrub watching me, he wasn't all that far away and just sat and watched me retrieve my boots. We also have had them come into the edge of the fire light in other camps as well. We obviously frequent the same sort of country hey mate?

[william williams]

Hi Terry and welcome home.
Well written with lots of feelings

The old dingo has a character all of his own. Smart, quiet, aloft but unsure of himself, a shadow in the misty light, a mystery all of it’s own yet he has problems and we are most likely the worst of them.

Bill The old Bushie

[Neville Briggs]

Great yarn Terry.

I don't know why it is, maybe my old eyes, but I find it easier to read and grasp the overall picture of the story if it is spaced out a bit, say; double spacing between paragraphs.

[Bob Pacey]

It's that bloody dictionary getting in the road Nev


I did loose my place a couple of times so maybe that would help.


Bob

[Terry]

G/day Bob,
Thanks mate, there is a little more to this story that I'll try to address a bit later including photo's taken on a mobile phone as both myself and my mate forgot to take a camera.
I've sort of only told part of the story here, my mate ran into what we think was this dingo's brother about three ks, away. We never saw them together but the one at the camp had a big scar on it back just above the tail while the other one was perfect, but both behaved the same way but otherwise were identical, there was something magical about the whole experience.
Does anyone know how to download photo's from a camera to a computer?

G/day Ross,
Brothers of the outback mate.
I have had similar experiences as you with boots, well to be honest my mates boots (his feet stink more than mine).
The camp dingo was a bit like a pup in ways, it would break of twigs from dead timber when in a playful mood, and you could see that it was highly intelligent just looking at its eyes that were were yellowish and looked cruel wolf like, I became quite attached to him.


Thanks Neville
I think you're right
In the unlikely event of me ever putting out a book I will keep it in mind because If I ever do it will be a mixture of short stories with a few poems, mind you at this stage I'm still trying to learn how to write poetry

Thanks Bill
You have described the dingo well, there are lots of them up in that country I have had many encounter with full grown ones in the past but these young ones hadn't fully learned to fear man which makes them very vulnerable. That's why I never fed him but was still worried that any familiarity with humans was a danger to him, but it was hard not to like him he was just like an overgrown pup really.

Cheers Terry

[warooa]

Welcome back Terry. Maybe that dingo was more intelligent than you give him credit for and was listening to the carbon tax debate on the radio?

Great yarn, mate . . . I got a soft spot for the dingo. One of my dogs is a dingo/black kelpie cross and she is irresistable.

Cheers, Marty

[Bob Pacey]

Terry I've been thinking again !!! Yeah I reckon you would have heaps of stories tucked away just like this which on their own might not mean much but as a collective read would be really good subject matter.


I would go for it with a book if I were you. Got your first customer here.

Thanks mate Bob

[Maureen K Clifford]

What a wonderful experience Terry - how privileged you must feel and obviously no ill intent was meant. My ex's Mum told a wonderful story of dingoes when she was a girl at Yuleba well over 80 years ago she used to travel through the bush to a neighbours property to work as a dairymaid. Coming home her horse threw her and ran off and she had broken her leg so crawled to some shelter beneath a bush. She spent the night out there as she was not found till the next morning but she said there were dingoes all around her that night and yet she felt comforted rather than fearful of their presence as they stayed near her just as a domestic dog would do and never once threatened to harm her. She was around 13 at that time.