I"ve been startled by a deer. It was walking toward my house while I was leaving for work. Being a large wild animal, they’re pretty scary up close and especially when unexpected. My heart rate certainly jumped.
To this day, I have no idea where it came from. My Chicago neighborhood is mostly single family homes and to say deer are uncommon is an understatement. It had to have walked for miles.
And there’s your answer. We can only assume that Deer, exposed to the environment of Australia, have mutated to develop explosive poison projectile antlers, or a 6 foot-long garroting tongue or something like that to fit in with the rest of the fauna.
What exact act was it that got them cited? Being outside at all during lockdown? Being on that particular beach? Being naked on that particular beach? (Was it a designated “clothing optional” beach? Or are all beaches in Aus clothing optional?) Being in the forest? Being naked in the forest?
If you’ve heard anything about the wildlife in the oceans around Australia you’ll know why they didn’t head for the water: box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, cone snails, sharks… The woods are safer, even with the highly combustible eucalyptus and gympie-gympie trees.
Outdoor space was an issue during the US lock down. It was usually OK to go for a walk, bicycle ride or visit a local park if social distancing is practiced.
Apparently they expect you to stay in your house full time in Australia.
So here’s what we have moderately objectively - they were spotted by a police helicopter, breaking lockdown, naked on a beach. They were then found lost in the bush some time after.
The stories aren’t quite clear but as I understand it, only the men in question say they saw a deer.
Let assume the men know they were spotted. Police helicopters are not subtle. Let’s assume they would have been concerned about being caught breaking lockdown. Let’s assume that if they scarpered into the forest suddenly - too quickly to put their clothes on - and then had to be rescued, saying “we scarpered suddenly in the forest because we had been caught breaking lockdown” might not have been a great option. In the alternative, let’s consider that if they - two naked men - were doing something else in the forest they may not want to admit that.
… “ran away and had to be rescued” sounds an awful lot like "ran away and when they caught us, we said we’d been lost – certainly not committing the crime of ‘resisting arrest’ ".
complete tangent: I shared a guy who had a record of ‘resisting arrest’ by playing chase around a bush in the middle of a deserted road while slightly drunk. After that, every cop who interacted with him assumed that he was some kind of crazed violent offender
Nor were they exercising.
It does seem odd though. I can go to the shopping center near by that will be full of masked shoppers. I can go to the park around the corner and do calisthenics. But if I go there and sit reading a book, as I often do, I will be committing an offence even though the park, as usual, will be deserted.
My suburban neighborhood is also mostly single family homes, and we get deer all the time. They do come from miles away, and forget how to get back to their dwindling natural habitat. None of them are scary. The worst thing they do is eat our flowers.
This was my immediate thought. I’ve been naked in the woods with another naked man, and no deer was involved.
Last year I went out in the back yard and came face-to-face with a 6-point buck at the back of the driveway. I asked, “What are you doing here?” He was at a loss for words, ran left and right a few times and finally hurdled the fence into the neighbor’s yard. They do not come around here much, but every so often we see one.
