There are heaps of things which cartoons taught us would threaten our lives on a daily basis, only to turn out as rare occurrences in adulthood. That includes stray banana peels, dynamite and, of course, quicksand.
Not so for Tasmanians, who apparently have to deal with quicksand all along the state’s west coast as if it’s a totally normal occurrence, or something.
According to an ABC report, quicksand has been tormenting the locals from Pieman Heads to Arthur River for decades, swallowing up horses, cows and even cars.
Locals’ testimonies of live animals being swallowed whole by the sandy abyss are frankly horrifying.
“The horse went down, up to its ear … in one hit, it just went ‘whump’ and disappeared,” local Eunice Atkins told the ABC.
Whump, indeed.
In fact, nobody knows exactly how many dead cows there are beneath the beaches, because it’s just such a common occurrence for cattle to graze on the beach and then suddenly get ‘whumped’ into depths beneath.
“When I was younger, it was nothing to go along the beach and see where a cow had been caught in the quicksand,” retired police commander Lachlan Avery said.
Nowadays, the quicksand has become something of a local legend.
When outsiders – often 4WD clubs – visit the area, locals are quick to warn them about going on the sand. Those drongos who do not heed the warning await a grim and sandy fate.
A Tasmanian 4WD club even advises people never to drive on the quick sand alone, and to always bring extra supplies, just in case something goes wrong.
“There’s no room down there for bloody idiots,” Ian ‘Snow’ Nielson, a retired paramedic, told the ABC.
Too right, Snow. Too right.
