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2 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS
I grew up in a relatively remote rural area. It seems like everything we did for entertainment as kids is now illegal or frowned upon as anti-social.
Rabbit trapping with steel jaw traps - illegal
All the kids had slug guns or .22 rifles by age 12. no registration, no licences. We used to shoot cans and paddy melons and maybe the occasional sparrow or rat. - now illegal & frowned upon.
As teenagers we used to ride clapped out, unregistered old motor cycles in the scrub on weekends, exploring bush tracks and desolute fallen down homesteads - OK it wasnt quite legal then, but the cops left us alone as long as we stayed away from the towns - Now the scrub is all national parks and riding old unregistered motor cycles is a hanging offence.
Bird nesting ( climbing to the top of tall trees and collecting rare birds eggs ) - now another hanging offence
After heavy rain we would take old bomb cars out to the remote clay roads and slide them around on the greasy mud....
At least we learnt how to handle a car when it slips on the road.
Bonnet sliding - get an old FJ Holden bonnet, tie it to a long rope, hooked to an old bomby car and slide it on the wet grass of a paddock - OK it may not be illegal but where are you going to find an FJ bonnet now ? AND kids today are that wrapped in cotton wool that mummy and daddy would never allow it.
Spot lighting for Kangaroos rabbits & foxes- the roos where in plague proportions in dry seasons, coming out of the scrub looking for water. They used to smash up the fences and allow stock to escape into the scrub to turn into ferals. - teenagers with guns, driving unregistered spottlighting, beach buggies with no lights up the roads and shooting roos & foxes - It almost makes your head hurt thinking about it doesnt it ???
Bushies ( giant bonfires ) made by using front end loaders to heap up complete dead trees, accompanied by fireworks - Fireworks now illegal, bonfires -never in the town and not without a council permit & CFS notification in the bush with fire appliance on standby
RIDING ON UTES - one of our favorite passtimes was to put a few bales of hay on an old truck as seats or pile a group of young teenagers in the back of a couple of utes and go " bunny chasing ". The idea was to dazzle the bunny with a spot light and all of the kids would jump off the ute or truck and try to run the rabbit down on foot. It used to work and the occasional hapless bunny did actually get caught. - Now the health and safety officers would require the kids to wear fluro vests and ride in a bus with seatbelts. They would need to exit the truck in single file and walk not run.
And we wonder why kids sit in their bedrooms on their phone or computer screen all night.
