back to article Oz bloke in underpants wrestles 'lunatic ninja' roo

An Australian man's missus has branded him a "hero" after he tackled a "lunatic ninja" kangaroo which rampaged through their home on the outskirts of Canberra, the BBC reports. Beat Ettlin, 42, intially sought refuge under the bedcovers with wife Verity Beman and their daughter after the roo crashed through their bedroom …

COMMENTS

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  1. A.A.Hamilton
    Go

    Parental uncertainty....

    I'm a little concerned about the tighness of the Bond underpants implied by this article: the offspring is first referred to as a daughter then as a son. Maybe they don't know the difference in Switzerland, or even (more likely) in Canberra.... if the underpants are too tight.

    The IT angle is obvious: every beserk, ninja-like UK Government IT project needs to be taken in a head-lock and thrown out the door by a foreigner in his underwear. Seems to be at the same level of project/programme management expertise otherwise being demonstrated.

  2. Maliciously Crafted Packet
    Happy

    Sorry I just couldn't help myself...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRQnrY5V-rY

    Makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Eh?

  3. Dan
    Coat

    Hmmm

    "wrestled the animal into a headlock and ejected it through the front door - in the process suffering "scratched buttocks and shredded underpants".

    Some people would pay good money for that!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I wonder if the kangeroo

    ...were attacking its own reflection in the window?

    I mention this as I have a kamikaze blackbird that spends hours attacking its own reflection in the window to my right. (Mrs Blackbird is set up nearby... if I were cleverer, I'm sure there's an "Oi are you staring at my bird" joke nesting in there somewhere)

  5. Eponymous Cowherd
    Coat

    Do PlayMobil do kangaroos?

    'Cos this calls for a reconstruction.

  6. Billy Verreynne
    Alien

    Bahumbug

    And there I was about to welcome our new kickass kamikaze lunatic ninja marsupials overlords (who looks to be a lot kewler than our existing ones)...

    (sigh)

  7. Dave Gregory
    Thumb Up

    First thing I always think

    "My initial thought when I was half awake was, 'it's a lunatic ninja coming through the window'."

    I wake up like that most mornings, dear...

  8. Ivan Trundle

    'Outskirts'?

    Sorry to burst the BBC's bubble, but the suburb in question (Garran) is not on the outskirts of Canberra, and indeed the bloke's home was 'a few blocks' from the bush, putting it mildly. We see kangaroos all the time around here: the drought brings them into the suburbs. Our local roo hasn't invited itself in yet, but then we're not Swiss expats, either...

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    In Switzerland

    This made the front page of the papers this morning in Geneva. i've got odds on him being made a national hero with a statue and maybe even a street named after him. Seems quite common here.

  10. Che Kristo
    IT Angle

    Scary

    Its hard to describe to ppl who haven't seen a buck kangaroo how intimidating they are...when standing they are over 6 foot and built like a brick shithouse. Seriously they look like gym junkies on steroids.

    The man does deserve his hero title if he wrestled one out the front door

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    "Marital bed"

    with his wife _and daughter_?

    Each to their own, I guess...

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    And it's not even Friday!

    Swisstralians are clearly a fighting cross - we should be careful how many we allow to breed!

    Can we please instigate a process where stories like this make it in *every* day's copy and not just on Friday?

    Paris because she knows a little about missing under garments. Allegedly.

  13. Colin Mountford

    No no no that's all wrong

    What a tragedy - if only Mr.Ettlin had understood

    <crash>

    Mr. Ettlin: What's wrong Skippy.

    Roo starts bouncing on the bed

    Mr. Ettlin: Oh, you want the bed sheets? Why's that skippy?

    Roo continues bouncing but nods it's head and points with it's claws

    Mr Ettlin: Mr. Parkin next door has fallen down a mineshaft?

    Roo bounces through to son's room

    Mr. Ettlin: We're going need more sheets are we Skippy?

    Roo stops bouncing and crosses it's "arms"

    Mr. Ettlin: So you want us to tie them together to make a rope to rescue Mr. Parkins. Let's go Skippy - show us the way..

    I thought with Australias immigration policies that Skippy the Bush Kangaroo would be obligatory watching for all foreigners.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    But what about the children...

    stuck down the mine?

  15. Mike Shepherd
    IT Angle

    IT connection...

    Apparently the kangaroo is an expert on XML schemata validation.

  16. Ben Pope
    Coat

    @ A.A> Hamilton

    "I'm a little concerned about the tighness of the Bond underpants implied by this article: the offspring is first referred to as a daughter then as a son"

    Well, more concerning is that the offspring of undetermined gender can co-exist in space and time both under the covers in the parents bedroom, and behind a door in another bedroom.

    Mines the one with the flux capacitor on the pocket.

  17. amanfromMars Silver badge

    Sorry I just couldn't help myself... #2 Maliciously Crafted Packet *:-)

    I hear this one scores a 10 in Down under Street too ..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxIuIxqo2So

    * Or Spot On Parallel for Hubristic Cabinet/Closet Denial?

    Crikey, it must be a Slow News Day, El Reg ....... or there's Something in the Air ..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JAXKIKehbc?

  18. Winkypop Silver badge
    Alert

    @Che Kristo

    Exactly!

    A full grown 6 foot + 'roo ain't no cuddly animal.

    Those back feet and claws have the power to disembowel a man.

    I'd rather take on a starving attack dog than a rampaging 'roo!

    What's that Skip?

    Gerry's in trouble?

    ........

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Slow News Day in Canberra

    This was a slow news day beat-up in Canberra. A 'roo accidently jumps through a (barely visible) plate glass window, then staggers about, stunned, injured and disoriented. There's a family in the house, which has an unwelcome interruption to its Canberra Day weekend. The man of the house wasn't aware of how dangerous a 'roo in this condition can be, and dragged it outside. Risky situation? yes. Attack? no, or yes if you're a desperate journo.

    Canberra is not known as the "Bush Capital" for nothing- there are bush corridors that penetrate into the middle of town. Unfortunately, dead 'roos are a common sight along the main roads, even within a few hundred metres of Parliament House.

  20. Cameron Colley

    Should have kicked it in the balls.

    Surely everyone knows that's how you get to kill a roo?

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hopping mad?

    What? All these comments and no one seems to have noted that the bloke must have been hoping mad?

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nature was a bit stingy ....

    ... with the brains when it made Kangaroos. Behind that seemingly vacant stare is ... absolutely nothing. Marsupials aren't the smartest in the animal kingdom, and 'roos would have to be at the bottom of the marsupial ladder. For example, when a 'roo gets it into its head that it's going to keep bounding in a straight line, then it will - straight through your car window if you'll let it. It doesn't surprise me that a 'roo might get distracted and bound straight through a plate glass window.

    I've seen 'roos get panicked and stick their heads through a wire fence and just keep bounding away - pushing against the immovable fence - cutting themselves horribly in the process.

    So, basically, they spook easily, thrash around madly, are as dumb as batshit. Nature's own blondes.

  23. Steve Swann
    Joke

    Gotta watch them Kangaroo's....

    ...they can break your arm, they can.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Bonds Roo (Skippy not James?)

    The makers of Bonds undies have just sacked their workforce and are moving their manufacturing to China. Has someone succeeded in training roos?

    Paris because she knows about undies.

  25. Eponymous Cowherd
    Thumb Down

    Re:Gotta watch them Kangaroo's....

    ***"...they can break your arm, they can."***

    No, that's swans.

    A big 'roo can rip your guts out.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Yanks for the Memories

    Before any of our American friends ask, yes Switzerland does border Austria. But no, it's not the same...

  27. Blubster
    Unhappy

    I don't suppose..

    The real reason that the roo attacked him was because he was trying to shag it and it took the huff?

  28. Roland
    Happy

    Re: Gotta watch them Kangaroos

    Better that than stuck in a hole, on your own, in the middle of the night! With an Owl!

    But of course, i'm a fully experienced rambling hiker.

  29. kain preacher

    Am I the only one ?

    That would of used a 12ga shot gun on it, then cooked the damn thing. I hear roo burgers are good .

  30. Kev K
    Thumb Down

    roo burgers

    are very gamey - I had one - didnt eat it all

  31. Big Pete
    Coat

    Back in the good ol days

    Annoying neighbourhood ninja roo's were dispatched under rule 303.

  32. Eric Hood

    Possums

    Possums are plain nasty too. Don't muck about with them,.

  33. Tim Bates

    Bonds ain't popular here no more!

    As mentioned by an anonymous coward, Bonds is moving to China... And along with the manufacturing facilities and jobs, they appear to be taking their popularity away too.

  34. Dr Patrick J R Harkin

    I so glad I live in the UK.

    We had a mouse in the living room once. That's about as exciting as it gets.

  35. Mike Hocker
    Coat

    Marsupial Outrage

    Livetrapped a opossum once (they are carriers of EPM), put the cage in the bed of the truck, drove to work and opened the cage door (trap was a bit bloodied from trying to chew its way out), dropped the tailgate and the critter was gone 12hr later when I left work.

    What is the problem with the story? Well, the working 12hr a day part!! Mines the one with a fanny pack full of provigil....

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