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G'day All,
Here in SA's Riverland we have some unique country,
400,000Ha of Mallee scrub, which includes Taylorville and Calperum Stations and
Gluepot Reserve, we conduct a huge 1080 fox baiting program which I and others
believe is a huge success, we use dried fish,roo and goat baits which to
our knowledge does little ( or no ) harm to other animals, I can't comment on
the use of 1080 used in grain for rabbits, we do not use it, and I do have
reservations. On the floodplains of Calperum a group of us have conducted
Bush Stone-curlew surveys in Jan for the last four years and have found an
increase in numbers....a big fox baiting program is continuing...the Curlews
were on the verge of extinction.
Four years ago while I was on a Bat survey on
Calperum we hit and killed a half grown fox, next morning I looked in its'
stomach and found 1..300mm Coral Snake (Simoselaps
australis ) 1... 350 mm Ringed Brown snake (
Pseudonaja modesta ) 1...150mm Centipede 3...50mm
Christmas beetles.....one nights hunting by a small fox ?? It took
two years to get a Landcarer system going...we now have 11 Landcare Groups
looking after their "own patch"... I look after Hideaway
Paddock...about 17 Km square.....29000 Ha and I think it is working
OK...have a look athttp://www.iyv2001.gov.au/storybook/March/d_holly.htm for
a couple of stories about Black-eared Miners and Malleefowl.
During our bat surveys, one night, we
had four Harp Traps randomly placed 2Km apart along a track...next morning we
had 15 to 20 bats in the first two...44 in the next and 97 in the
last.....so !....a lot of bats in the area, considering that a Harp
Trap consists of a 2m square of vertical fishing line suspended over a catching
bag and placed among the trees.
We have conducted a couple of mammal surveys and
the list...along with a list of 40 reptiles is.....
Bolam's Mouse.....Pseudomys bolami
Common Dunnart...Sminthopsis murina
- Fat-tailed Dunnart.......Sminthopsis
crassicaudata
Southern Ningaui....Ningaui yvonneae
So, we have a lot of little creatures that need a
bit of " outside help"
Doug Holly
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