What is a ‘Dingo Tree’? - Uncovering a Disturbing Australian Tradition
This month, production took us down to the Victorian high country; a part of the world that I had never explored before. I had seen online that there was a very prominent dingo tree in Victoria that I knew I wanted to capture while I was there. I don’t think I will be going back down to Victoria until the second half of the year and I had a free day between shoots that I needed to fill so on Sunday afternoon, I packed everything into the car and drove 5 hours east to find this tree.
All I had seen was a handful of photos online and a vague location but I thought I would be able to figure it out with those few pieces of information. I arrived in the town around 5pm and drove around for a while trying to find it. Having no success, I began talking to some of the locals and their reactions to my questions surprised me. I was either completely shut down and told it is a lie and that no such tree exists, or I am told intentionally conflicting information. I was told by one man to head south for 45 minutes and I would eventually run into it. I was told by a woman walking her dog that she had never heard of such a thing. The owner of the caravan park told me he had never seen one but believed that he had seen some dingoes hung on fences a few years ago. It quickly became clear that people either didn’t want to help me, or didn't want me finding it.
The Victorian High Country.
So I did the next logical thing and began to use my phone to get some answers. I emailed a website that had a “field recording” from the area explaining my situation. His post was 5 years old now but I still thought it was promising and sure enough, he got back to me within 5 minutes with the two towns the tree was between and approximately where I could find it. I try my best to not work in approximations so I took to Instagram and scrolled through #dingotree and #dogtree until I found a photo that looked similar to the blog post. I sent that account a message saying I was hoping he could help me find it and again, within 5 minutes he had sent me a pin on google maps of its exact location. I settled into my campsite for the night and felt confident that I would be able to find this tree in the morning. But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.
A dingos leg that had been hung for so long that the body had completely detached from it.
I followed the maps to the location and sure enough, my reliable sources were correct. I was met with what looked like a crime scene. There were at least 50 carcases in or underneath the tree. They had their limbs or their heads removed, hung up by their feet on the tree for passers-by to see. Underneath the tree lay a graveyard of bones, teeth and fur. The smell was something I would struggle to put words to. I had never experienced anything like it and I hope to never again.
A dingo with its head that had been removed to claim the Victorian Government's “Wild Dog” bounty of $120.
This is not my first time seeing a dingo tree nor will it be my last. But this one was a particularly barbaric and confronting sight. The tree is adjacent to a fairly busy road between two small towns. It was an extremely quite morning so every vehicle that was approaching could be heard well before it came into sight. For the first half hour, whenever I heard a vehicle, I stood behind my car to avoid being seen. I did not want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself or my camera. As time went on, I began to become a bit more relaxed with this. I heard a bus approaching and I was walking back to my car when I realised it was a school bus full of primary aged children. Naturally, they were all looking out the windows at the world going by and saw me as the bus was getting closer. I looked up and smiled at the bus not knowing what their reactions would be but I was met with a group of smiling and waving kids. I couldn't help but shake this feeling of unease as I saw the bus full of smiling kids continue down the road between multiple rotting animal carcasses that had their heads removed. It felt like something out of a Stephen King novel yet the unbelievably potent smell snapped me out of my daydream and I quickly realised that this was no story; this was as real as it gets.
