ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Hi Marty
As I stated in my post, I also am not against culling where it is necessary. It is the methods employed that I am against. And I dont believe horses or cattle need to be banned in the high country, just controlled.

Catchy
Irene

YES IRENE you said the magic word every living thing on this earth need to be controlled and that includes humans proberly the worst offenders of them all

bill the old battler

Some people are repulsed, and very emotive, by the 'notion' of shooting, particularly when feral horses are the subject. Romantic notions of "Wild Brumbies" get in the way of pragmatism.

'Controlled' destruction is preferable to random destruction? Cattle don't belong in the high country, why should there be horses? Their hooves do damage, There are deer up there and there are pigs. Should they all stay? Pigs, deer, cattle, horses and any other hooved animals don't belong up there. Even humans (bushwalkers) are controlled as to what is accessible to them - and generally comply. Hooved animals don't

"Believing" that a hunter can't accurately shoot a moving target from a helicopter or any other moving vehicle implies a limited understanding of the professional hunter's "craft".

Objections to shooting as a means of culling appear to come mostly from people who generally object to 'shooting'. As yet, I don't hear any viable alternatives for a solution.

Cute little furry bunnies would be running rampant and that tasty prickly pear would cover the land if they weren't 'culled'. BTW alternatives to hunting seemed to work there.

I agree with you Irene, that an animal should not be shot in ANY manner just because it is 'feral'! "One shot one kill" is a common mantra in the Military as well as hunting circles.

" ... 'you can tell a lot about man by the way he treats his animals'... "
I would suggest that I'm not the only hunter (ex or current) with animals. You're welcome to come over anytime to talk to my dog and my cat about the way I treat (or mistreat) them ...

With respect,

Manny ...

Since we are smart enough to manage contraception of breeding humans and then solve the other end of the scale by IVF to help those unable to breed I find it odd that we are unable to find some similar method of preventing animals in the wild from breeding up to numbers that then we have to cull. If we can clone animals, and artificially inseminate animals one would have to think this could not be to hard.

Surely there is some smart person who has come up with a method of stopping animals coming. into season or sterilizing them completely without the need of castrating them.

A hormone pellet perhaps dart injected. Doctored hay that could be aerially dropped into an area that the stock naturally congregate . Perhaps in areas where it was feasible to do so, fencing off the waterholes bar one or two and putting the fodder there. Or is it all $$$ controlled and a bullet is cheaper?

... dunno Mausie, it's been years since I've picked up a fire-arm; I don't really like killing things.
There have been alternative solutions to the feral problem.
Myxo for rabbits, cactoblasta for the prickly pear, and cane toads for the cane beetle. Maybe the bullets should have been saved for the bright sparks of solution three?? ....

Sambar deer like the deep thick scrub and survive very well there and pigs don't mind the deep scrub either. So hunters go in there after them. There's more pigs and deer in the high country than there are horses and cattle. (and harder to extract) Horses and cattle are grazing animals and (relatively) easier to 'pick' off in the open. Once a herd is located, choppers make it easier, and quicker to get in where trail bikes would be heard for miles.

I believe that NPWS try rounding them up from time to time, so it's not all about shooting them out.

Manny and Maureen of those three that you mentioned manny only one has done its job properly and that was the cactoblastis moth no problems and no after affects.
Myxo good for a while but now not much use but then why inflict a horrible death like that to rabbits because it is only syphilis ( VD ) that cause rabbits to go blind and starve before the disease kills them mind you it did a wonderful job over the years it functioned.
The cane toad did it’s job well on the beetle but now it is quite a problem.
Almost with out exception white man has created more problem than you would ever imagine.
Wild pigs often called captain corker and far more savage than our wild domestic pigs and they were here in Australia long before white man ever came here.
They were bought into this country by the Indonesians and Malays also the Bantan Cattle nether were any sort of a problem Ticks and natives kept them in check and their death was fairly sudden in those days with the means they had.
Hormonal means and viral methods are very successful in controlled circumstances.
Poison is not selective birds and native animals die just the same as the targeted species and all feral animals roam over many many miles.
In one night an example of this is that a mob of wild pigs races across the road at Kylite in NSW near the Murray river as a result the Ambulance was badly damaged and several pigs were killed there were three in the mob that had tracking collars on them but one of those killed was one of them 40 hours later they were found 170 miles away north of where they were involved.
Believe it or not I was a conservationist even in those days gone by and now I don’t have a fire arm any more.
A bullet is the most effective means of eradication when in the right hands
But alas not every shot is perfect just look at the scores in the Olympic game and they are experts in controlled conditions.
There is in my honest belief there is no solution to this problem even wars disease and famine does what nature intends (the thinning of surplus) you may call me a cruel, ruthless, mongrel
but I have learnt to face just what must be done It may be disgusting to many of you city or fringe dweller distastefull it may be but it must be done

Bill Williams the old battler

...you are pretty much on the money there Bill!

Evening boys and girls,

Gee I'm glad I have been busy with other things lately. I don't like hearing heated argument that is futile.
I don't think I have any chance of influencing anyone to act other than the way they wish.
I try not to complain about things I can't fix. (and can't see how anyone else can either)
I've been told I have an 'ostrich' view of the world. (ignoring the problems around me)
Is so I guess it must be sand in my eyes that makes me tear up when I see mistreated children.
As for the animals I leave them to someone else. (how much can one rather small girl do?)

Maureen K Clifford wrote:Since we are smart enough to manage contraception of breeding humans

Yeah but unfortunatly only those smart enough to use it . . . the brain-dead dolts are still breeding out of control

You leave my bloody family out of this Marty


Bob