By JESSE GRAHAM
A DIXONS Creek couple are calling for calm on the roads, after a late-right driver ignored caution signs and left a trail of dead wombats along a residential road.
Sue Forrester and Bill Molyneux awoke on Friday 4 April to a grim find along Beachs Lane – two dead male wombats, strewn across the road just metres from each other.
Both bodies, one with a mouth still full of the grass it was grazing, sat on the road directly in front of a sign urging drivers to be cautious of crossing wombats.
Mr Molyneux said that he wasn’t sure who had killed the animals, but said that Sue had been up at 3am that morning, and heard a driver roaring along the small dirt road.
About 15 minutes later, there was another loud roar as a vehicle came down the road in the opposite direction.
In the morning, they were alerted to the two wombats’ bodies by a neighbour, and later buried them.
Mr Molyneux said that there were no brake marks or tyre indentations on the road that would suggest someone had tried to avoid hitting the animals, and that drivers often travelled too quickly on the unsealed road.
“Some people seem to use country roads as if they’re racetracks,” he said.
He says the road, which has numerous bends and is often frequented by animals, has a “continuing problem” of people speeding or driving dangerously.
About a year ago, Ms Forrester was alerted to a particularly tragic wombat killing along the same stretch of road – a mother and her tiny joey were found dead by the roadside.
Mr Molyneux urged drivers to take care when driving at night or driving along dirt roads, to avoid hitting an animal or causing an accident.
“Just drive within the limits or below,” he said.
“Be aware that you’re driving through the bush – animals are out there feeding at night.
“If you drop 10 kilometres an hour, you’re going to do far less damage and have far more chances to respond in a change in conditions.”
