Try me kangaroo drown, sport: Farmer’s lucky escape after savage roo held him under water and tried to disembowel him

A farmer was slashed across the stomach and almost drowned by a rogue kangroo that was trying to kill his dog.

Chris Rickard is being treated in hospital after being mauled by the 5-foot tall animal.

The 49-year-old only managed to escape its clutches by elbowing it in the throat as it tried to hold him under the water.

Mr Rickard suffered a deep gash in his stomach and scratches to his chest and face during the attack.



Recovering: Chris Rickard, beside partner Liz in hospital, shows the scratches he received from the kangaroo when he dived in a pond in a bid to save his dog



He and his blue heeler cattle dog Rocky had been walking through fields 400 yards from his farmhouse Arthur's Creek north-east of Melbourne, when they inadvertently disturbed the kangaroo sleeping in long grass.

Strong: Two fighting kangaroos show the strength one of their relatives could use to attack Mr Rickard at his farm

The startled animal hopped away - and Rocky playfully gave chase.

But in its panic to escape from the dog it jumped into the pond.

Without a second's hesitation, Rocky jumped in after it - and that was when the kangaroo called on all its natural defences.

It grabbed Rocky between its front paws and held him under the water for about 20 seconds before Mr Rickard jumped in and came to the dog's rescue.

That was when the roo turned on him.

He said: ‘I thought I might take a hit or two dragging the dog out from under his grip, but I didn't expect him to actually attack me.

‘It was a shock at the start because it was a kangaroo, about 5ft high, they don't go around killing people.’

Mr Rickard added: 'I was stuck having to hold onto the dog with both hands because it was half drowned and I couldn’t really see anything because the kangaroo just ripped into me.

'All of a sudden I realised the first hit gave me opened up a wide gash above my eye and left me temporarily blinded.

'I was flailing away underwater carrying a dog with a kangaroo ripping into me.

'I all could do was just keep pushing for the bank and he was trying to push me under the water, so at that point I elbowed him in the throat and that made him back off a little bit.’

Mr Rickard is now in Austin Hospital in Melbourne.

He has suffered numerous scratches bruises on his body, but is likely to make a full recovery.

But he added: ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch Skippy quite the same as I used to - it might bring back a couple of bad memories.’

His confrontation comes a week after two-year-old Susan Hutchins was attacked by a wallaby - a member of the kangaroo family - on a farm in northern Queensland.

She received cuts and bruises when the animal bounded out of bushes and jumped on her.