Hunter survives Outback hell by eating ants

A HUNTER ate ants to survive after getting lost in the Australian outback.

Reg Foggerdy, 62, vanished after chasing a camel in the desert Down Under while on a trip with family.

With no food or water supplies, he wandered in the searing heat before settling down in the shade of a tree, eating only the insects he found there.

Police say Reg had only his T-shirt, shorts, cap and flip-flops as he battled to survive in temperatures of up to 37C (99F) on his six-day ordeal in central Western Australia.

Reg ate black ants to survive Alamy

Experienced bushman Reg had taken a rifle to hunt Australia’s wild camels. Police found a camel’s body and used that as the starting point for their search.

Trackers found him on Tuesday morning after following his footprints for nine miles.

Superintendent Andy Greatwood, said: “He was eating black ants, that’s how he survived, so fantastic survival skills by him, and fantastic skills by our trackers who found him in an extremely remote location.

“He was extremely dehydrated and a bit delusional, but we’ve administered first aid and rehydrated him and it’s pleasing to say he is now sitting up and talking.

“It was extremely hot, extremely remote, and most people probably wouldn’t have survived.

“It was probably good will and a miracle that he survived as long as he did under those conditions with no water.”

The remote outback where Reg vanished EPA

Reg went missing in the remote Goldfields region of Western Australia while on a trip with his brothers.
The group were staying 110 miles east of the nearest town of Laverton.

When he was found he was treated by paramedics who put him on a drip and airlifted him to hospital.

His sister Christine Ogden, said Reg was an experienced bushman but added: “I’m going to get him to get a satellite phone.”