Hi Alia, you don't know me but your article was sent to me by your Uncle Jeff McMullen. My name is Sonya Takau I set up Dingo Culture in 2021 to bring the Aboriginal voice/perspective to the dingo debate in this country. I initiated the movement in getting traction for First Nations people and was pivotal in bringing the National Inaugural First Nations Dingo Forum together last year. Over 20 Aboriginal nations signed a National First Nations Dingo Declaration which the Wotjabalik people used to support their case for having the big desert dingoes from that area protected.
I just wanted to reach out and say that I loved your article, so beautifully written. I hope that one day soon you get to hear that beautiful howl of our much-beloved Dingoes on country.
Hello Sonya, thank you for your lovely email. But more importantly, thank you for the amazing work you've been doing to save the dingo and for bringing my attention to it. It must have been a wonderful feeling to see that unprotection order removed. I feel that when Bundjil dropped that little dingo pup from the sky, he woke everyone up down here as to what's been going on. People seem to be listening now. Here's hoping that the unprotection order is removed statewide before this year is out, and that other states begin to follow suit.
I live in the Snowy Mountains in NSW, south of Jindabyne. A couple of years ago I heard howling and thought we had a lost dog, but following the sound down the property found it was a dingo circling our dam in which one kangaroo was swimming, another wading. We set up the trailcam and eventually got the video (night) below. The following summer while weedspraying down-valley from a gully across came a group song of dingoes, a haunting, ice in the spine sound. I’ve found on my walks large paw prints since (with smaller alongside), in other parts of the property… could be “wild dogs”, could be dingoes. You never forget that howl.
What a terrific capture. Look at those pups! Thanks for sharing that Marc. Do you run livestock?
I find the howl so beautiful, but yes, I wouldn't want to be standing alone in the bush on a dark night surrounded by a pack.
I was once camped on the Larapinta when, what sounded like, two packs of dingoes had a territory war right outside our tent. They must have all come down to check us out and a rather long fight erupted. As much as I would have loved to look, we didn't dare stick our heads out. We'd been sleeping under the stars the night before, so we were glad to have a piece of flimsy material 'protecting' us that night.
When I’m weedspraying (or on my afternoon or morning walks) down in the valley I very quickly realise how far away I am from anything (2km to nearest neighbour, no mobile coverage). We have a satellite PLB, which I always take, but I sometimes (as when the dingoes howled) wonder if it’s more of a Body Locator Beacon than a Personal Locator Beacon.🙂
Hi Alia, you don't know me but your article was sent to me by your Uncle Jeff McMullen. My name is Sonya Takau I set up Dingo Culture in 2021 to bring the Aboriginal voice/perspective to the dingo debate in this country. I initiated the movement in getting traction for First Nations people and was pivotal in bringing the National Inaugural First Nations Dingo Forum together last year. Over 20 Aboriginal nations signed a National First Nations Dingo Declaration which the Wotjabalik people used to support their case for having the big desert dingoes from that area protected.
I just wanted to reach out and say that I loved your article, so beautifully written. I hope that one day soon you get to hear that beautiful howl of our much-beloved Dingoes on country.
Sincere Regards
Sonya Takau
Hello Sonya, thank you for your lovely email. But more importantly, thank you for the amazing work you've been doing to save the dingo and for bringing my attention to it. It must have been a wonderful feeling to see that unprotection order removed. I feel that when Bundjil dropped that little dingo pup from the sky, he woke everyone up down here as to what's been going on. People seem to be listening now. Here's hoping that the unprotection order is removed statewide before this year is out, and that other states begin to follow suit.
I live in the Snowy Mountains in NSW, south of Jindabyne. A couple of years ago I heard howling and thought we had a lost dog, but following the sound down the property found it was a dingo circling our dam in which one kangaroo was swimming, another wading. We set up the trailcam and eventually got the video (night) below. The following summer while weedspraying down-valley from a gully across came a group song of dingoes, a haunting, ice in the spine sound. I’ve found on my walks large paw prints since (with smaller alongside), in other parts of the property… could be “wild dogs”, could be dingoes. You never forget that howl.
https://youtu.be/ovyWbXlVfyY?feature=shared
What a terrific capture. Look at those pups! Thanks for sharing that Marc. Do you run livestock?
I find the howl so beautiful, but yes, I wouldn't want to be standing alone in the bush on a dark night surrounded by a pack.
I was once camped on the Larapinta when, what sounded like, two packs of dingoes had a territory war right outside our tent. They must have all come down to check us out and a rather long fight erupted. As much as I would have loved to look, we didn't dare stick our heads out. We'd been sleeping under the stars the night before, so we were glad to have a piece of flimsy material 'protecting' us that night.
When I’m weedspraying (or on my afternoon or morning walks) down in the valley I very quickly realise how far away I am from anything (2km to nearest neighbour, no mobile coverage). We have a satellite PLB, which I always take, but I sometimes (as when the dingoes howled) wonder if it’s more of a Body Locator Beacon than a Personal Locator Beacon.🙂
Oh that made me laugh. But yes, I know the feeling.
*Ngarigo / Snowy Mountains
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your dingoes, Alia.
Thanks Steve! Hopefully they're just all up the mountain and will edge their way down as the thermostat drops.