At Noosa Landcare's Pomona office, we are very lucky. We have a lease on five acres just north of the town, and it has some really wonderful trees on it, and a lot of grass. It is in the grounds of the Noosa District High School [Pomona campus]

Some  things about having a lot of grass is that you have to do a lot of mowing, and we have a lot of kangaroos. We see them all the time, lounging around on the school oval, or bounding from one place to another. We get on well. We have got to know them over the years. We have one extremely large male, who is the boss. I call him Keith.

Keith is a male Eastern Grey Kangaroo [Macropus giganteus]. Male Eastern greys can live for 18-20 years. They can be up to 2.8 metres tall, and weigh up to 70 kilos [one source says up to 95 kilos!!!] The grey kangaroos live in a mob, with a dominant male [Keith] ruling the roost. He maintains this dominance by force. With his powerful build, and strong hind legs Keith can lean back on his tail [which can be up to 4 feet long!] and 'box' would be successors into submission. The males also have been known to use their sharp claws, and to bite in combat [bit like rugby league].

Kangaroos move around by hopping on their hind legs. They use their tail for steering and balance. They can reach speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour...and they can keep going over very long distances. They can cover an astonishing 8 metres in a single bound... and easily clear any fence I have seen. Indeed a look at their locomotion in slow motion is really amazing...they just look effortless.

Anyway, I was wondering down the back of our office this morning. It was hot..close to 30 degrees already at it was only 10.00am. I was actually looking for seed on a Bribie Island Pine, when I saw a nasty weed [Climbing asparagus] that we don't usually have here. So I went over to it and was bending down to rip it out by the roots, when I heard this really loud GROWL...It was deep, guttural and full of meaning. I looked up and lying on the ground, less than two metres away, with his head raised, and nostrils flaring was Keith. Keith was asking that I back off...no problem. I retreated, apologised and then waited for my heart rate to return to normal. But, what a sight, and sound!

And this is Keith....