BS: Law of Unintended Consequences

Subject: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: beardedbruce
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 01:27 PM

Removing cats to protect birds backfires on island
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 12:30:48 PM
By MICHAEL CASEY
It seemed like a good idea at the time: Remove all the feral cats from a famous Australian island to save the native seabirds.

But the decision to eradicate the felines from Macquarie island allowed the rabbit population to explode and, in turn, destroy much of its fragile vegetation that birds depend on for cover, researchers said Tuesday.

Removing the cats from Macquarie "caused environmental devastation" that will cost authorities 24 million Australian dollars ($16.2 million) to remedy, Dana Bergstrom of the Australian Antarctic Division and her colleagues wrote in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology.

http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\General-World-News\20090113\AS-Australia-Rabbit-Infestation.xml&cat=world&su

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 01:32 PM

Exploding rabbits huh?

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Bert
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 01:33 PM

that will cost authorities 24 million Australian dollars ($16.2 million) to remedy... surely putting a few cats back wouldn't cost that much.

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 01:35 PM

But they meant well!

;~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Amos
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 01:37 PM

Cats don't multiply as fast as rabbits, but since one cat can deal with multiple rabbits, they would catch up over time.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: beardedbruce
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 02:33 PM

Cats will eat baby birds.
Cats will eat baby rabbits.

Baby birds eventually fly.
Baby rabbits do not fly.
Cats do not fly.

conclusion:
Cats reduce the rabbit population more than the bird population.

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 02:37 PM

Mixymatosis?

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 03:02 PM

So the ecology of the island changes. Things like that have been happening since life started on the planet. It's part of the deal.

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Stu
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 03:03 PM

Y'know rabbits.

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: vectis
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 06:48 PM

SHOOT THE RABBITS AND MAKE LOADS OF STEW.

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 06:52 PM

But the rabbit isn't indigenous to the island either, so perhaps they should have taken both the rabbits and the cats? Surely catching the rabbits would have been easier - ever seen a feral cat being stuffed into a carrier? Worse than any pet moggie in the starfish position!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Amos
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 07:02 PM

Rabbits leap and zigzag faster than hunting cats.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 07:57 PM

Liz,
Have you never seen videos of the rabbit population in Australia? Picture Maribunta rabbit style. Millions of them.

One film showed a silo of grain heaving with rabbits.

YUK!

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Barry Finn
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 08:55 PM

Have you even seen the Jack rabit scene in the Southwestern US?
Cat transportation & feral penal colonies, rabit overpopulation of a non-indigenous furriers, this has the making of a whole new genre of song.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 09:18 PM

Make 'em all jackalopes and turn a profit.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Alice
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 09:37 PM

If you sneaks up on dem in disguise...

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Amos
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 10:59 PM

LOL!

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: raredance
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 12:34 AM

Bring back the Thylacine

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 04:10 AM

why we have rabbits in Australia & whose grave to kick

The early UK-born settlers wanted to make Australia like Home (notice the capital letter - even in the 1980's when I met my father's cousins, they asked if I'd been Home - No, I said, I've never been to the UK, and they were the Australian-born grand-daughters of Irish & Scottish grandmothers.) A primrose from England, 1856

The settlers carefully planted European plants & naturally imported plants take over! & as some idiot decided to import animals mentioned by Shakespeare, eventually sparrows take over eastern Australia but are stopped at West Australian border!

A few feral animals

Here's something pretty to look at Jeannie Baker's Story of Rosy Dock

sandra

Trivia - do you know why rabbits breed like rabbits? - according to a rabbit owning colleague, newborn bunnies don't have external sexual characteristics, so by the time (just days!) he noticed that one was a male, it had impregnated all the females, which is why he ended up with over 80 rabbits in a very short time. I had told him to put them in individual cages, but ...

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: akenaton
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 03:06 PM

Thanks Sandra, really interesting.

I'm going to enjoy looking though these...Ake

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Amos
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 03:18 PM

The Thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian Wolf.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 10:30 PM

Shoot, Sandra in Sydney, your colleague just wasn't paying attention. I used to raise rabbits and it is not difficult to 'sex' them. One pulls the flap of skin back and if it's an 'outie' instead of an 'innie' it's a male.

Not only that - a male rabbit is more than six months old before it is of breeding age.

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Janie
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 10:42 PM

Wahhh!, Sandra, I get error or access denied codes on the first two links. Any advice?

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 12:37 AM

Picture Australia http://www.pictureaustralia.org/index.html enquiry on the print "Primrose from England" timed out so here it is again (I hope - I just completed a reply then searched for the next bookmark before saving it!)

here tis again

Primrose from England

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 01:58 AM

forgot to say the pic was drawn by JR Dicksee

next, the rabbit search again - http://search.dpi.vic.gov.au/ dunno why I can't find it, so here's another good timeline & Thomas Austin is the bloke whose grave needs a good kick. Tho as it's probably an large ornately decorated monument in some hard stone, maybe it's not a good idea.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 02:04 AM

Eddie, whatever tale he told, he did end up with 80+ bunnies at one stage, & even after that incident he kept reporting new litters & offering rabbits to colleagues, & also supplying pet shops!

sandra (disillusioned at being fed a fib!)

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 08:35 AM

The ones in the grain silo, are you sure they weren't Tribbles?

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Little Hawk
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 08:44 AM

It's not easy to remove all the cats from an island. The Australians should be applauded for even having the guts to attempt it, let alone actually succeeding!

But it's even harder to remove all the rabbits.

Suppose they did remove all the rabbits? Would this result in a new ecological disaster for the island, one as yet unforeseen?

The only way to find out is to do it, and see what happens, so let's call up Elmer Fudd and tell him we have a "vewy big job for you"...

Subject: RE: BS: Law of Unintended Consequences
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 01:10 PM

Sandra in Sydney, maybe he secretly enjoyed rabbits.

Eddie *G*