I mentioned when describing the orchard that I had to put a star post and chicken wire fence around it to keep off the kangaroos and the hares . Now the kangaroos and wallabies were not really so much of a problem , as there was plenty of feed for them all over the block . This is not to say that they did not it seems thoroughly enjoy the mown areas of grass around the house .

I never bothered to plant lawns , as once the blady grass ( or what I knew as blady grass-- it may not have been the proper name ) was cut down , the shorter native grasses grew abundantly . This meant that the 'roos would amble up to and around the house , because they soon learned that they were safe from me , and there they would crop the shortened grass which was so much easier for them . Particularly in the early hours of the night I could hear them chomping away in the flat area that was adjacent to the wall of my bedroom , and they got so used to me that they would graze on peacefully even when I came near them .

Not so the pretty face wallabies , and their ( to me ) look alikes , the swamp wallabies . The former were fairly timid , but the latter would take off at the slightest movement from me-- their black backs disappearing down gullies and into the brush with a headlong series of crashing bounds .

One old lady kangaroo was a special favourite of mine . Each time that I went up to the block she would be there , and I believe that each time she had a new joey with her . She would allow me to get within a couple of feet of her , and then she would make a warning throaty gurgle . I stopped at that point , as a 'roo's long toenails are quite capable of disembowelling a dog , and certainly doing a lot of damage to a human . As she grew older and crankier , the warnings came earlier , and towards the end of my years at the block when I enquired of neighbours as to whether she was still around , as I had not seen her , I was told that she she had been shot because she had become dangerous to some children. I personally have my doubts that she would have attacked unless she had been attacked herself .

But 'roos are fascinating to watch, especially when young . I finally despaired of trying to save one particular grevillea I had planted , as from the time it was still small a couple of the young joeys delighted in using it as a punching bag in their mock combats . They were welcome to it though , as they were great fun to watch , rearing up and kicking at it in true boxing kangaroo style.

I am sure that , if any of the 'roos or wallabies had wanted to leap the fence I had built , they could easily have done so , but they never did . The only time a 'roo got into the orchard was when I carelessly left the gate open , and it proved my point by leaping over the fence and out of the orchard . It had done no damage to any of the trees .

Having been well acquainted with wild rabbits since my early years . near my home town and in other country towns , I made sure that the wire of the fence was well buried at its foot , so that no rabbit could burrow under it. I could have saved my efforts , for in all the years at Dondingalong , I saw only one rabbit ,

I did , however , see a lot of hares .

One requisite of being out in the bush is the possession of a rifle , just in case . I owned a .22 calibre with a telescopic sight that I hardly ever used . It simply was not necessary . But I did take it down when I saw a hare up on the cleared patch near the road . I am not a steady shot , but I managed to hit it with a neck shot , leaving the carcase unspoiled. Therefore it came to mind that I might try cooking it -- with memories of jugged hare spinning through my brain . I had to make a few modifications to the recipe to suit the stock of vegetables and condiments I had in , but it was a generally correct one.

I gutted , skinned and jointed the animal , and set it to marinade overnight in some red wine , Next day I added all the other necessary ingredients , and put it to cooking .

Now in Australia there is the old bushman's story that , if you want to cook a galah , you put it in a pot with a stone and cook it . When finished , you throw away the galah and eat the stone . I could easily have applied that to that hare , which was about the toughest piece of game I have ever eaten .

A year or so later , I shot another one. Determined to do better this time , I not only jointed it , but chopped it into quite small pieces to cook .

The result was exactly the same : tough almost to the point of being unchewable .

The third hare I shot , I simply buried in the bush , rather than waste time and other ingredients on it.

I would like to point out without boasting that I am a good cook .

Therefore , my only conclusion is that they breed their hares tough around Dondingalong !