Throatsremovis; (latin) DropBears vary from 3 to 5 feet in hight, but are extremely strong. They are covered in a dense fur, which can range from almost black to the Alpine Drop Bear's snowy white coat. They have broad shoulders and razor sharp claws on all four limbs. They are able to walk for short distances on two legs, but are much faster on all four, being capable of bursts of speed approaching 60 km/h at full gallop. Their heads are similar to those of koalas, but with pointed ears an enlarged canine teeth, not unlike those of bears or other carnivorous animals, DNA samples taken from victims show they are a step away from the evolution chain of Koalas, Wombats and Quolls ( native tiger cats). They’re not big enough to eat a whole human, though, and most victims of dropbear attacks survive, albeit so disfigured that they retreat from public view. There is speculation that Ned Kelly, the bushranger who always wore a bucket-like iron helmet, was a victim of a dropbear attack. Dropbears are a menace to campers, bushwalkers and cross-country skiers, but thankfully Vegemite repels them, if smeared thickly all over the body (under the clothes, if you are wearing clothes). That’s why Australians always carry a jar of Vegemite when we go abroad. It has nothing to do with wanting to eat the stuff, tasty though it is; we just don’t feel safe without it. That is the truth about dropbears.
As in the USA it is illegal to advertise the health benefits of a non-drug product, in Oz it is illegal to market protection products against "Creatures of plausible deniability". Go figure. So buy big jars and use it generously when u hunt here. especially applied liberally to the neck/throat area. Apparently aeroguard also works but the safety of the vitamin B content of vegemite is well documented.
The existence of several species of the Terrestrial Australian Dropbear are well known. However, some reports circulate of a recently evolved genus, the "Aquatic Dropbear". Australia loses a large number of citizens and visitors in our waters, which are well populated with crocodiles, blue-ringed octopi, deadly stonefish, sea snakes, box jellyfish and of course, many species of shark. Not to mention dangerous surf conditions, rip-tides and poorly managed dive trips. ....Shark nets have been erected at popular beaches, ostensibly to protect swimmers from sharks but the real reason is to prevent aquatic dropbears from mauling sharks which have become an endangered species since the recent evolution of this creature. The Aquatic Drop Bear, as its name suggests, feeds in and around bodies of water. Lakes, rivers, dams and the Australian coastal waters are home to this variety of Drop Bear. With webbed feet and an water-resistant coat similar to a seal, they are ideally suited to marine life, though still retain the unmistakable Drop Bear physique of four legs, broad shoulders and sharp claws and teeth. Aquatic Drop Bears have attacked canoeists, rafters, fisherman on the bank and in boats, sunbathers and swimmers. Cases such as these are often falsely reported by the media as crocodile or shark attacks, in an effort to avoid the mass hysteria which would almost definitely result from an admission that we have a Drop Bear problem. As a diver, hypoxic anomalies/visions (lack of oxygen to the brain) when deep diving can play havoc with the senses so I cannot swear to what menace I have seen but one cannot logically place the blame of those fatalities each year, associated with diving and or shallow water black out, to misadventure. I still have bad dreams!
There is much more information available from the following web site.
http://www.cfr.com.au/dropbears/index.html Interestingly as Spotted Quoll I have noted goannas of exceptional size in the Eastern Kimberlies spring country also large sand mound burrows and have seen them wandering their obvious territory very well fed.
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