Clearing Snakes from Waratah Park

[peterjohnson64]

Met a lady from Waratah Park in Terrey HIlls tonight. They have a big problem with venemous snakes. This lady was recently bitten on the boot by a tiger snake whilst at work. They have been given permission from NPWS to clear their public areas of snakes. Mainly death adders, tigers and red bellies.

NPWS says that it has to be done by herp societies.

Anyway, they would like to know if people are interested in helping them to collect and remove these snakes from their park. They anticipate more than a hundred snakes needing to be relocated.

Obviously, you will need to know how to catch them and have a bag and something else to put them in. Maybe more than one even. Liability issues etc I am not sure of. But i'd bet you are on your own.

Someone by the name of Bredan Nally (or similar) from NPWS will be there on the day to supervise and they have also provided a list of people not allowed to attend. (Herpers they don't trust)

PM for details.

 

[junglemad]

how do i get on that list Pete?

 

[peterjohnson64]

You're on it now

 

[pugsly]

Pick me Pick me!

Sounds interesting I have heard Terry Hills is great for red bellies, especially the Golf Course there everywhere! Then again there everywhere at mine too..

 

[Sdaji]

What kind of ridiculous idea is this? "Let's get rid of the snakes". Where are they proposing to dump these animals? Any piece of habitat already has the number of snakes it can handle, dumping more will cause problems there, especially if you're talking about 100 or so! Then there are potential problems with spreading genes, genetics etc etc. If this absurd event is going to take place, the snakes would be better euthenased than relocated. I'd be opposed to wiping out a snake population (I'm amazed no one else here has said anything), but if this was going to happen, I'd suggest that the snakes either be euthenased or brought into captivity. Keep in mind of course that the most likely scenario is that you'll take out a proportion of the population (you're very unlikely to be able to get them all) and you'll be left with a smaller number of animals which will have a heap of food and space to themselves, will breed very successfully over the next two seasons and you'll end up with the population returning to its former level before too long, but with less genetic diversity (because you've removed some of what was previously represented).

This is a completely idiotic idea, I'm astonished anyone with half a brain could think about supporting it, especially anyone claiming to like snakes. To me, a problem with venomous snakes is an area which should have them but doesn't. A healthy population of snakes makes me happy, not sad. If you don't like snakes, stay in the city, don't walk in an area which has them. Is this not a very easy concept to understand?

 

[olivehydra]

Be like that Simpsons episode of "whacking day". Shame Barry White is no longer with us.

 

[Sdaji]

"Don't hurt snakes, leave all the snakes alone."

Do we still need to learn this lesson? Clearly we do

 

[herptrader]

Around our area they handle a situation like this by putting up a sign saying 'Beware - Snakes share this environment"

It is completely rediculous to try and remove them.

A plague on the dingbat officials that came up with this idea.... literally! If they were successful in removing the snakes whatever the snakes were feeding on will now take over. They can expect increased numbers of mice or whatever has been sustaining this population which will probably cause more health and other problems until the snakes repopulate the area and the balance is restored to the ecosystem.

 

[Sdaji]

I don't like koalas, they bite, they scratch, they carry diseases. Can we wipe them out?

I don't like ticks or mosquitoes, along with many other wild creatures. Some plants are poisonous and someone might accidentally eat them. Spiders are pretty dangerous too. Crocodiles kill people. How about we just burn the whole place down and encase the continent in concrete? I like the Australian bush, I absolutely adore it, even though I hate some animals and plants, I'm happier leaving things like ticks, poisonous plants and koalas in there. If I had enough of a problem with them, I'd stay inside shopping centres and wear a space suit. I can't swim in some northern bodies of water, should we kill the crocodiles? No, I should find somewhere else to swim. Australian snakes aren't aggressive anyway, you're not going to be chased down by anything in Sydney. Look where you step and you'll be fine, wear sturdy footwear and trousers and you'll be fine even if you're stupid enough to step on a snake (I'd bite you if you stepped on me!). Someone gets bitten on the shoe (did her shoe die?) and apparently there's a "big problem with snakes!". I'd say they have a big problem with moronic humans. I've been bitten by a wild tiger snake too, I didn't for a moment hold anything against the snake, it was my own stupid fault and I had knowingly taken the risk being there and having too much to do with it. I gave it to a friend so he could take pictures while I was in hospital and told him to immediately release it where we'd found it after taking them. The area still has a healthy tiger snake population and I'd be terribly upset if that ever changed. I dearly hope that snake is still out there living a very happy and productive tiger snake life. If I'd killed the snake I'd expect most people to call me a hero (morons :roll: ) but I'd expect anyone who likes snakes to think of the act as pure evil. Taking it a step further and wanting other snakes in the population to be affected would be utter nonsense.

Peter: I like you and think you're a smart guy, but I'm blown away that you would be supporting this insanity. I hope that since this has to be done by herp societies, it will not be possible for it to happen, because no herp society would be pathetic enough to take part.

 

[soulweaver]

i think covering the place in concrete has already been done, its called greece j/k

nah i agree with sdaji, hate to admit that but he's right, can't believe npws is even supporting the idea, yeah its tragic when ppl get bitten, but thats not the snakes problem. We insist on going into their habitats so we should expect to get bitten when doing so.

but no instead, man thinks it has the right to remove animals as they feel fit, because they don't fit into our plans........for every snake removed, we should remove two humans, the ones who support this crap

 

[herptrader]

Ok this is how another juristiction handles the situation. This is from the commonwealth games web site for the Mountain Bike event:

Venue restrictions: Access to the course and designated spectator areas will involve walking distances over varying moderate to difficult terrain and of up to two kilometres. Spectators should come prepared for changeable weather conditions and with suitable footwear, clothing, sunscreen and water. No seating or shading structures are available, and no chairs, picnic and BBQ equipment will be permitted in the venue. The course is also home to Copperhead, Brown and Tiger snakes, along with European wasps and bees, and caution is urged.

Link: http://www.melbourne2006.com.au/Spo...tate+Mountain+Bike+Course+(Lysterfield+Park)/

Peter, I respectfully suggest that you pull out all stops and come up with a more sensible way of handling this situation.

 

[Guest]

Be like that Simpsons episode of "whacking day". Shame Barry White is no longer with us. :lol: PMSL :lol: .

Maybe the NPWS whacking day man and Terry Hills Wildlife Sanctuary (what a misnomer) could play some Barry White CD"s (with the bass cranked right up full) and drive these deadly serpents away from the "wildlife sanctuary" :roll:

Someone by the name of Bredan Nally (or similar) from NPWS will be there on the day to supervise and they have also provided a list of people not allowed to attend. (Herpers they don't trust)

A list of people not allowed to attend (whacking day) = "herpers they don't trust" :roll:


I agree with what Sdaji said...

 

[Fuscus]

I agree 100% with Sdaji.
And it is safe to assume that if an area is good for snakes then the area is good for snake food. Mouse plague anyone?

 

[zulu]

re Clearing

Yeh hard to believe,but you just dont know,they dont normally worry themseves about catching reptiles in areas like estates that are being bulldozed,you know letting herpers remove some before they are covered up,sounds odd this one.Like they might as well say we will remove all the elapids from various parks and reserves that public have access to :?

 

[ErisKSC]

That Lady and her boot must have some friends somewhere, i've never heard about anything like this before, i'm with Sdaji 100%, can't we email NPWS and alert them to our concerns? Since we are the Herpers they want to do the dirty work for them?

 

[Retic]

This is absurd even by the standards we have become accustomed to. People go to a wild area with wild snakes and then complain there are snakes. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE, WE AREN'T. It's the same with crocodiles, people swim where there are crocodiles, get attacked and then we shoot the crocodile. :roll:

 

[peterescue]

There appears to be a bit of a misunderstanding as to what this place actually is.
Its the old Waratah Pk aka Home of Skippy .Its not a wild area. Its been acquired by John Walmsly(he of cat hat fame) Obviously snakes dont fit into his ethos of the environment but the park now operates as a type of free range animal viewing night-tme picnic park. Its privately owned and run. As a business they are granted licenses to remove or destroy problem wildlife. I guess this is seen as an alternative to that. It happens all the time, farmers are given quotas on how many wombats they can cull each year. Yabby farmers kill turtles that get intotheir ponds(whats wrong with a fence) blah blah blah.

There are a number of questions arising from this.
Why is Walmsly unhappy about the presence of these snakes? Why are ther so many? If adequate fencing is put in place to keep predators out of the park cant this be expanded upon to include snakes. Then removal would equate to popping them over the fence. Obviously there is an abundant food source available in the park. is it solely native mammals and birds that are breeding in excess numbers due to a lack of natural predators thus requiring support feeding thus attracting large numbers of feral rodents.

Herp societies will support it Sdaji, because they arent about conservation, they are about keeping reptiles.

 

[steve6610]

This is a completely idiotic idea, I'm astonished anyone with half a brain could think about supporting it, especially anyone claiming to like snakes.

hi sdaji,
lol, should have waited a bit longer to see how many other herpers wanted to whack a snake or 2, lol,
i agree with you, leave them alone, hell we can't even take a pic of a wild snake and they are going to bag them and dump them somewhere they don't belong,

come on jeff, i'm interested in hearing if you have any opinions on this,

cheers,
steve..........

 

[Guest]

maybe a boycott of this place by all concerned herpers and their families would be a start. Also wondering if its possible to alert some television show (eg today tonight etc) that may be intrested in the draconian anti-conservation methods of this place, as some negative publicity may just well change the minds of the the parks owners about this "whacking day" fiasco.

Whether this place is privately owned or not... iIs'nt it still supposed to be some sort of "wildlife park" and the original home of skippy?
Whats next on their agenda, the culling of kangaroos, wallabys, koalas in the park?

 

[Retic]

Have you see the damage a kangaroo can do to a car ? I reckon get rid of all the big ones and just leave the little cute ones.