The following is an account of various incidents that have occurred to me when I have been out surveying waterways and photographing plants.
About 10 years ago I was down in the south-west of WA catching fish from the Goodga River near Albany. I had started downstream and was working my way up to the dam that separated the upper and lower reaches of the river. About half way along my net got caught on something near the bottom. I use a rectangular net about 2ft square and it was stuck on something. I pulled the net back and it came free but felt heavy so I lifted it out of the water. The water in the Goodga River is heavily stained with tannins and looks like dark tea or weak coffee in colour.
As the net got near the surface I saw a long white thing in it. Turned out to be a leg bone about 2ft long. I though gross and threw it on the bank before continuing my collecting.
I caught a couple of small Galaxias truttaceus before I caught a couple more bones resembling arm & leg bones. I’m not sure what they were because I never studied human biology. If they were fish I could have id them but I have no idea when it comes to identifying mammals from their skeletons.
That was it for the bones that day but I did manage to work my way up to the dam and found a bunch of Galaxias swimming around the base of the dam.
A few years later I went to the same river to survey it again. Again I started downstream and was working my way up to the dam. As I approached a bridge that runs over the river I could smell something interesting. It turned out to be a dead cow that was resting against the bridge support posts. I am glad I had my waders on that day because it was pretty gross and made everything smell quite awful.
I squeezed past the carcass trying not to touch it or dislodge it from the post it was stuck on. Once I was past the body I continued scooping my net into the water in an attempt to see what was living in it.
At the dam I found hundreds of young Galaxias truttaceus milling around the base. Some were jumping into a rock that had a shallow pool of water in it. From here they were hopping up onto the dam wall and shimmying their way up. Unfortunately the wall was too high and they couldn’t get up to the top so I used my hat and scooped them up and placed them in the top part of the river above the dam wall.
I filmed these fish and took some photos but they didn’t turn out very well due to the colour of the water and the fish being just as dark. It was really interesting to watch tho and I spent a good hour sitting there mesmerised by these valiant little fish trying to scale a huge stone wall.
I left the river and was back in my car. I had driven about 100 metres along the road when a ranger pulled me over. He had been called out to the area because of a suspicious looking vehicle parked on the side of the road. Apparently my little old car is suspicious
. The ranger asked what I had been doing and I told him about fish club and the survey work I was doing for them. I showed him some of the video footage of the fish trying to scale the dam wall and we had a chat about this and that. Eventually he asked if I had been collecting marron. These are a large freshwater crayfish that occurs in the rivers, creeks and dams of the south west and people like the taste of them. I told the ranger I don’t like marron and he was free to search my car for illegally obtained stock.
He didn’t find anything and said I was free to go. I thanked him for his time and suggested he have a look in the river below the bridge. He asked why and I said there has been a bit of an incident with a moo cow. He snickered and said what. I said there was a dead cow in the river and we went over to have a look. He said there had been reports of cattle rustling in the area over the last few years but had never found a body like this. It was pretty much complete with the notable exception of a couple of pan size rump steaks that had been removed. It was a real waste killing the cow for a couple of steaks but people do strange things.
I left the ranger to contemplate what he was going to do with half a tonne of rotting cow flesh sitting in a river.
About a year after this incident I was surveying the Fernhook Falls near Walpole in the south west of WA. I was wading around in 5feet of dark tea stained water when I scooped up a white plastic shopping bag. There was another bag inside and a round white coloured object inside that. The bags were tied at the top and I just grabbed it and threw it onto the bank. A friend went over and pushed it with his foot. He said whatever was in the bag was hard and round. I said he could open it if he wanted. He didn’t oblige and left it for me.
I went over to the bank and grabbed the bag. I felt it and it was an odd shape. I held it up to the light and could make out a shape resembling a human skull. I said it was a skull and threw it into the bushes. I then went back in the water and continued collecting fish. Nothing gets in my way when I'm chasing fish.
A year or so ago I was walking around the bush just out of Perth, (in the Armadale hills) photographing the native orchids (Caladenia sp). When I was walking along a track I found a heap of women's and children's clothing that had been dumped in the bush. I kept walking around photographing plants and then I smelt a horrible decomposing body smell. I made a mental note of the spot and looked for a body or grave (disturbed soil) but couldn't find one. So I continued on my way. A little bit further down the track and I smelt another one, and again couldn't find anything resembling a shallow bush grave. I kept walking around taking pictures but didn’t stumble across any more odd smells.
It was in the same area that I found a body in a car late last year. A car was parked on a track in the bush and the windows were all fogged up. A dark shape was slumped over the steering wheel and a slight acrid smell came from the vehicle. It wasn't too bad tho because the windows were all up and the smell was trapped inside. I continued walking around taking photos of plants before heading home. When I got home I phoned the Police and informed them of the vehicle and its contents.
Oh and in the same area with the car and the 2 decomp smells I found part of a spine with a bit of meat on. There were about 6 vertebrates joined together with some rotting flesh on. I didn't bother reporting that as I wasn't sure what sort of animal/ person it came off.
But it goes to show that fish collecting and bush walking can have its highlights and often leads to a little more than was expected.
And no, none of the bodies or parts were from people I have dumped in the bush
About 10 years ago I was down in the south-west of WA catching fish from the Goodga River near Albany. I had started downstream and was working my way up to the dam that separated the upper and lower reaches of the river. About half way along my net got caught on something near the bottom. I use a rectangular net about 2ft square and it was stuck on something. I pulled the net back and it came free but felt heavy so I lifted it out of the water. The water in the Goodga River is heavily stained with tannins and looks like dark tea or weak coffee in colour.
As the net got near the surface I saw a long white thing in it. Turned out to be a leg bone about 2ft long. I though gross and threw it on the bank before continuing my collecting.
I caught a couple of small Galaxias truttaceus before I caught a couple more bones resembling arm & leg bones. I’m not sure what they were because I never studied human biology. If they were fish I could have id them but I have no idea when it comes to identifying mammals from their skeletons.
That was it for the bones that day but I did manage to work my way up to the dam and found a bunch of Galaxias swimming around the base of the dam.
A few years later I went to the same river to survey it again. Again I started downstream and was working my way up to the dam. As I approached a bridge that runs over the river I could smell something interesting. It turned out to be a dead cow that was resting against the bridge support posts. I am glad I had my waders on that day because it was pretty gross and made everything smell quite awful.
I squeezed past the carcass trying not to touch it or dislodge it from the post it was stuck on. Once I was past the body I continued scooping my net into the water in an attempt to see what was living in it.
At the dam I found hundreds of young Galaxias truttaceus milling around the base. Some were jumping into a rock that had a shallow pool of water in it. From here they were hopping up onto the dam wall and shimmying their way up. Unfortunately the wall was too high and they couldn’t get up to the top so I used my hat and scooped them up and placed them in the top part of the river above the dam wall.
I filmed these fish and took some photos but they didn’t turn out very well due to the colour of the water and the fish being just as dark. It was really interesting to watch tho and I spent a good hour sitting there mesmerised by these valiant little fish trying to scale a huge stone wall.
I left the river and was back in my car. I had driven about 100 metres along the road when a ranger pulled me over. He had been called out to the area because of a suspicious looking vehicle parked on the side of the road. Apparently my little old car is suspicious
. The ranger asked what I had been doing and I told him about fish club and the survey work I was doing for them. I showed him some of the video footage of the fish trying to scale the dam wall and we had a chat about this and that. Eventually he asked if I had been collecting marron. These are a large freshwater crayfish that occurs in the rivers, creeks and dams of the south west and people like the taste of them. I told the ranger I don’t like marron and he was free to search my car for illegally obtained stock.He didn’t find anything and said I was free to go. I thanked him for his time and suggested he have a look in the river below the bridge. He asked why and I said there has been a bit of an incident with a moo cow. He snickered and said what. I said there was a dead cow in the river and we went over to have a look. He said there had been reports of cattle rustling in the area over the last few years but had never found a body like this. It was pretty much complete with the notable exception of a couple of pan size rump steaks that had been removed. It was a real waste killing the cow for a couple of steaks but people do strange things.
I left the ranger to contemplate what he was going to do with half a tonne of rotting cow flesh sitting in a river.
About a year after this incident I was surveying the Fernhook Falls near Walpole in the south west of WA. I was wading around in 5feet of dark tea stained water when I scooped up a white plastic shopping bag. There was another bag inside and a round white coloured object inside that. The bags were tied at the top and I just grabbed it and threw it onto the bank. A friend went over and pushed it with his foot. He said whatever was in the bag was hard and round. I said he could open it if he wanted. He didn’t oblige and left it for me.
I went over to the bank and grabbed the bag. I felt it and it was an odd shape. I held it up to the light and could make out a shape resembling a human skull. I said it was a skull and threw it into the bushes. I then went back in the water and continued collecting fish. Nothing gets in my way when I'm chasing fish.
A year or so ago I was walking around the bush just out of Perth, (in the Armadale hills) photographing the native orchids (Caladenia sp). When I was walking along a track I found a heap of women's and children's clothing that had been dumped in the bush. I kept walking around photographing plants and then I smelt a horrible decomposing body smell. I made a mental note of the spot and looked for a body or grave (disturbed soil) but couldn't find one. So I continued on my way. A little bit further down the track and I smelt another one, and again couldn't find anything resembling a shallow bush grave. I kept walking around taking pictures but didn’t stumble across any more odd smells.
It was in the same area that I found a body in a car late last year. A car was parked on a track in the bush and the windows were all fogged up. A dark shape was slumped over the steering wheel and a slight acrid smell came from the vehicle. It wasn't too bad tho because the windows were all up and the smell was trapped inside. I continued walking around taking photos of plants before heading home. When I got home I phoned the Police and informed them of the vehicle and its contents.
Oh and in the same area with the car and the 2 decomp smells I found part of a spine with a bit of meat on. There were about 6 vertebrates joined together with some rotting flesh on. I didn't bother reporting that as I wasn't sure what sort of animal/ person it came off.
But it goes to show that fish collecting and bush walking can have its highlights and often leads to a little more than was expected.
And no, none of the bodies or parts were from people I have dumped in the bush
.
