I read an interesting story on this website the other week about a yowie hunter from down Caboolture way.
He has started a Facebook site that has thousands of contributors who are certain there are yowies out there – even to the point where he was talking about big ones and little ones, not just vagaries about whether they are out there or not.
My take is a bit similar to agent Fox Mulder, of TV’s X Files: “We must ask ourselves … are they truly a hoax? Are we truly alone or are we being lied to?”.
So in my view, it doesn’t make much difference whether it’s an alien or a hairy big foot, they could be out there.
I loved the X Files, possibly because I could relate to Mulder, but more likely I was in love with Dana Scully.
She did challenge Fox with reality checks.
One of her most famous quotes would resonate in today’s landscape: “There is a lot of money to be made scaring people.”
All this talk of Yowies and things reminds me of growing up in Eudlo when there used to be big cat sightings.
It was a black panther, apparently.
The story goes that a circus came through town and one of its trucks rolled over.
A couple of big cats got away and were living and breeding in the scrub around Eudlo.
That was the theory anyway and as a kid, I was forever looking for the big cat in the bush.
I was sure I saw one a couple of times, plus some footprints as well.
In reality, I probably saw a really big feral cat with unusually large feet, but I was happy to go with the big cat theory.
I am not sure what would have happened if it was true and I actually found a panther lurking in the bush.
A change of underwear definitely would have been required.
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There was actually another folklore story when I was a kid, surrounding the man who owned the farm before Dad.
The man apparently had buried all his cash on the farm somewhere before he died.
I spent a lot of time digging holes to no avail.
So I’m happy to believe the big cat and the yowie are out there somewhere and probably agree with Fox: “When conversation and science offer us no answers, might we not finally turn to the fantastic as a plausibility?”.
Amen to that.
Ashley Robinson is a columnist with Sunshine Coast News and My Weekly Preview. His views are his own.
