Les on alert for yowies
MICHAEL THOMPSON YOWIES may be hiding away in the rainforests and scrubland of North Queensland, says Les Hiddins – otherwise known as The Bush Tucker Man.
The much-loved Australian survival expert, whose series The Bush Tucker Man was a favourite with Australian audiences during the 1980s and ’90s, says a recent spate of yowie sighting claims from Cairns to the Gold Coast should not be dismissed out of hand as cases of mistaken identity or tall tales.
A woman living on the Atherton Tablelands this week said she was gifted macadamia nuts by a family of mysterious beings she believed to be yowies.
Two teens in the Gold Coast hinterland last week claimed they captured the first sounds of a yowie long believed to inhabit the area.
And a southeast Queensland family say they are living in terror after months of being stalked by what they claim is a yowie.
“I suppose it could be out there, and if it was, I really think it would be living in rainforest areas,” Mr Hiddins said.
“I believe some Aboriginal people talk about it as being the hairyman.
“I haven’t seen it myself, but the closest I guess I came to seeing one was when I took an expedition to the Russell River near Babinda.
“We camped out with a group of academics, including anthropologists.
“We camped in the rainforest overnight and when we woke the next morning, we saw a bed had been made on the open ground overnight.
“It was made up of fronds … they looked like they had been chewed off, not cut. One of the academics told us if he was anywhere but Australia, he’d say a primate had made it.”
The yowie is believed to have its origins in Aboriginal oral history, and started becoming part of Australian folklore in the 19th century.
One of the more famous yowie stories took place near Tully in the mid-1970s, which resulted in a furry drawing and the reported discovery of a footprint said to be as wide as it was long.
Mr Hiddins said the vast Australian landscape, which was one of the least populated areas in the world, was likely to yield more discoveries and surprises – whether it be new plants or the elusive yowie.
“We’re still exploring it and finding out more things about it,” he said.
“We still will be for another 100 years.”
Mr Hiddins has launched a website that includes a digital version of his popular Bush Tucker Field Guide.
“It took a lot of work and a lot of people have been involved who I can’t thank enough,” Mr Hiddins said. “You can do so much more these days with the digital platforms, and it’s great to know that someone can access the guide from the other side of the world.”
Mr Hiddins will also be featured in an episode of Landline on the ABC on August 4. Mr Hiddins’ website can be accessed at bushtuckerman.com.au