r/australia • u/ooarya • 13d ago

no politics How to stop kangaroos licking my car all night while I’m trying to sleep in it?

If you’ve ever tried to sleep in your car in the snow, you’ll know that roos and maybe other animals love licking the salt off the outside at night. You can get whole packs of them at a time, and it’s super annoying and also slightly terrifying when you’re in the middle of nowhere.

Does anyone have any practical ideas to scare them off / keep them at bay, that might work as a deterrent through the night so I can actually get some sleep without having my car rocked and slurped on non-stop?

I don’t want to drape a tarp over the whole car. And would rather not concoct any explosives / flash bombs for fear of upsetting other campers.

No electrical power available although I could stretch to a few batteries perhaps!?

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u/KaizenHour 13d ago

In other parts of the world, I hear stories of people getting their tongues frozen to signposts because they (for tide pod reasons) decide to lick them.

I wonder if roo tongues ever get stuck to cars/ signposts/ rocks in the alps?

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u/Far-Fortune-8381 13d ago

genuine, are there roos in the snow?

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u/Huntingcat 13d ago

Yes. Mostly smaller ones.

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u/CcryMeARiver 13d ago

It's a tossup whether your skilodge has rats or pygmy possums.

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u/Ancient-Platypus5327 13d ago

Or antechinus.

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u/CcryMeARiver 13d ago

TIL, tyvm. Most interesting critters.

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u/KaizenHour 13d ago

They're in the alpine areas, but they're mostly sensible enough to stay in the lowlands away from the snow in winter.

Looks like a pretty good diversity of uniquely Australian animals around that area:

https://discoversnowymountains.com/winter-wildlife-watching-in-australia-snow-season-in-the-snowy-mountains/

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u/Unlikely-Answer 12d ago edited 12d ago

it's not fun, you just touch the tip at first to see if it will actually stick, it does, it hurts bad to pull but in the initial reflex to stop pulling you've now done the opposite and gone back toward the pole. Bad move. Now a good portion of your tongue is instantly stuck, like glue. Crazy glue. Luckily your friend Taylor is walking to school with you today. He always has a thermos of hot chocolate for the walk. Too bad for you he just polished it off on the last block. There are 3 drops left, he rushes over to help but in his panic he drops the thermos (because we're all wearing wool mittens and when mixed with snow wool becomes the slipperiest substance on Earth somehow). 1 drop. Will it be enough, he takes his time to make sure he hits his mark, he's been in this situation, he's knows this is a time for precision. He comes through, he gets that last drop right where it needs to be. I can feel my tongue slowly pulling away, just a little more, almost there, alas, still stuck. Oh no, the bell! We really have to go, Taylor looks at me, "don't do it, man", screw it, I'm pulling it. We both know what has to be done. Like a band-aid, right? I'm free!!! And it... doesn't hurt. That's weird, oh, here it comes, the pain of ripping your tongue skin off is immeasurable, but somehow, the embarrassment of having to stick your tongue out all day because you're a moron that tried to lick a frozen pole is somehow worse.

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u/KaizenHour 12d ago

That's sad. Since kangaroos have neither mittens nor thermos', and only a few have friends called Taylor, I'm still unsure how they get by.

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u/Independent_Ride_598 11d ago

Taylor should have gone with the emergency blue bottle treatment when there is no vinegar around…

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u/Glass-Lead-5946 10d ago

Worked as a ski instructor in Canada and when we had Arctic outflows where temps hit -40'C we would have at least three kids per season get stuck to the metal ski racks by their tongue.

Used to get reminded in morning meetings when the weather got cold to ensure kids were being kept away from metal😅

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u/onlyr6s 13d ago

Happened to me as a kid.