Well they have certainly poisoned a lot of Tassie Devils and no foxes.
Score: Devils 000’s foxes 0.
WHY are there 1080 fox bait signs plastered over the FT and state forest?
In 2005 our great leader Lennon said “1080 will not be used in state forest or on public land after 2005”
However there was a sunset clause in the legislation at the time to allow fox baiting on public land until October 2006…it is now March 2009.
There were five very healthy Tasmanian Devils near my home; they fox baited and the devils have now gone.
One thing that has saddened me through this whole saga is the pathetic apathy of most Tasmanians.
Where are the so called wildlife experts, vets, doctors, professors and conservationists on this one.
Most of them are sitting on the fence having two bob each way.
I have been personally attacked recently,mainly by cowards but least all through I have had the courage to say what I think and state the bloody obvious.
Sitting on the fence has never been my style.
Posted by Ian Rist on 02/03/09 at 07:58 AM
How distressing it is to see animals poisoned by these inhuman practices.I would one day like to see the tables turned back upon those who practice this abomination, may their lives be contaminated by the same chemicles!!!
Posted by Jim Welsh on 02/03/09 at 04:33 PM
I think I can understand how you feel Ian. The fox scare is a very convenient excuse to continue using 1080. I hope you can get this investigated. Have you tried the Greens?
Posted by Maddie on 02/03/09 at 05:04 PM
Another pearler from the warped twisted and hilariously dark Dave Groves. Well done Dave. You show us the truth !
Posted by Richard the governator on 02/03/09 at 06:27 PM
Just a guess, but our leaders probably woudn’t mind clearing out some local species, namely threatened ones, that might inconvenience them down the track. Quolls spring to mind,particularly after our Gov cut the bait burial depth to something like that of a golf divot.
John Hayward
Posted by john hayward on 02/03/09 at 08:12 PM
I have been told that 1080 is a poison that works on Northern hemisphere animals very effectively - foxes, cats, dogs.
Our native animals are supposed to need several times the dose, to be made sick let alone die. Admittedly devils eat carcasses, putting them more at risk. But if our other native animals are relatively immune, which animals are killed by the baits for the deivls to feed on?
Posted by salamander on 02/03/09 at 08:15 PM
Salamander re # 6. Actually our Tasmanian native animals are poisoned with just a 0.14% solution of 1080 mixed with carrot, apple or grain.
Australia and New Zealand use 94% of the world production of 1080. Tasmania is the only state that uses 1080 to poison it’s native animals.
Incidentally Tiger Quolls (Spotted Tailed Quolls)have a lethal dose of only 1.85 m/g of 1080 per 1 kilogram of their bodyweight.
In the early days the “expert” told us Quolls would need to consume eight baits (at 3m/g of 1080 per bait) and Devils would need to consume 16 baits.
Hope this has been a help for you Salamander.
Posted by Ian Rist on 03/03/09 at 12:33 AM
Yes maddie (re # 3) I have spoken at length to Nick McKim. Also in the early days to Peg Putt.
I assure you the best inquiry will be the Legislative Council Parliamentary Accounts Committee inquiry.
This inquiry is why the ones with so much to lose have squealed so loudly just lately.
Posted by Ian Rist on 03/03/09 at 07:37 AM
The Tasmanian endemic species to be very concerned about eating these golf divot-covered, 1080-fox baits is the TASMANIA BETTONG!
Bettongs should be nominated as Tasmania’s NEXT threatened species, as these commercial FOXOFF 1080 baits pose a direct threat to them.
Posted by David Obendorf on 03/03/09 at 08:21 AM
The fox scare is nothing more than a bargaining chip for the state govt to get federal funding to bait FT’s and Gunns’ tree plantations against wild animals.
Paying a trapper would be preferable, in my view.
Posted by Tindog on 03/03/09 at 08:22 AM
I think 1080 baiting is a vile and inhumane way to “control” wildlife. When plantations were marching across Gunns Plains in the NW we saw many suffering wallabies - no doubt there were other species. Why wouldn’t there be? We also used to have regular sightings of wedgetailed eagles prior to the intensive baiting campaign. They disappeared although I was assured that 1080 didn’t go down the food chain (dogs being the exception which is why we were made aware of baiting programmes). Still have doubts about that. Even before the plantations, it wasn’t unusual for a farmer to use 1080. Fencing too expensive apparently. While living there I got the distinct impression that wildlife were viewed as “vermin”. I was glad to leave, especially when the poisoning escalated to accommodate plantations.
Posted by Maddie on 03/03/09 at 04:05 PM
11: FT do classify native animals as vermin. And John Gay says there’s too many of them anyway, and they need controlling. That is the mentality that is controlling so much of Tasmania - yet there are still people(including all Labor and Liberal pollywafflers) who want us to believe they are the great benefactors to this state.
What will have been destroyed by the time this part of Tasmania’s history is written?
During his studies on captive foxes, Dr Osterholm concluded that his subjects couldn’t find the pieces of meat that he’d buried in a 10cm (4 in.) deep hole from more than half a metre (2ft), while meat sitting on the ground could only be detected at distances of no more than two metres (7ft). Dry meat makes no sound and has not hot blood scent.
From RED FOX (Vulpes vulpes)
extract from Natural history of the red fox.
Can not the Fox Eradication Programs advising scientists read.
Tasmanian native animals have never ever been exposed to plants containing 1080 so all data must be suspect regarding dosage.
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