> From: Kevin Colver <>
> Reply-To:
> Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 14:34:50 -0700
> To:
> Subject: [Nature Recordists] Danger in the wild
>
> Bernie, in addition to the jaguar story you should have told them
> about your face to face with the polar bear and the night the black
> bear chewed on your microphone. I'd love to hear some other stories
> from the group.
(Snip)
>
> Let's hear some of your stories while we pass the cold winter months.
>
> Kevin Colver
--------------------------
Here in Australia, we lost all our megafauna long ago. We do have snakes
with lethal venom. But we kill more people in a week with motor-vehicles
than our snakes kill in a year. Several years, in fact.
Mine is a snake story: but it's a confrontation that didn't actually
happen. Just for amusement, then:
Some decades ago, a VIP committee of Australian Members of Parliament was
investigating wildlife conservation in Australia. Held public meetings to
take evidence in various cities around Australia. It seems that a number of
submissions stressed the importance of the Iron Range area on Cape York
Peninsula - the Peninsula is that pointy bit of Australia that sticks up in
the north-east on a map. They decided they should inspect it.
As a Queensland National Parks officer with some experience of the Iron
Range area, I had the delightful privilege of acting as official guide.
Iron Range was an important area during WW II. I think I'm right in saying
that U S planes based at the Iron Range airstrip played a major role in the
Battle of the Coral Sea. And I know it was the site of "Operation Blowdown"
where an attempt was made (co-operatively by American and Australian armed
forces?) to assess the probable effect of an atomic bomb on tropical
rainforest, by exploding an appropriate number of tons of TNT on top of a
steel tower in the rainforest. I saw the twisted remains of the tower in
several acres of open space resulting from the explosion, but I suspect that
a real atomic bomb would have vaporised the tower. That by the way.
The Committee travelled by chartered light aircraft from Cairns - about 300
miles. I was to meet them for dinner at their hotel the night before. One
of them asked me about what clothes to wear for the inspection. Would
shorts and shirt be OK? I said, yes, that would be OK, but then foolishly
added that I'd be wearing my usual bush clothes - long trousers and boots,
explaining that we do have venomous snakes, and although it's very rare to
encounter one, if one is regularly working in the bush, it's prudent to wear
long trousers.
There was no settlement of any kind at Iron Range. Just the air-strip. But
there was some major maintenance work on the strip, and the authorities had
earth-moving equipment. A large truck was available, and with a load of
pollies instead of earth, we set off for the Claudie River and the lowland
rainforest which was of especial importance for wildlife conservation.
Pull up, and I say, "Right let's take a walk in the forest so you can see
what it's about." Great reluctance on the part of our brave
parliamentarians - eventually two go with me. We walk about 100 yards into
the forest and one says, "Right. We've seen enough." And back to the road
they go. Nothing more was said, but I reckon they imagined a Taipan behind
every tree.
Cheers
Syd Curtis in Brisbane, Australia.
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