Lace Monitor GPS Research Part 2 -UPDATE

[hazzard]

Hey folks,
Just got back from another brief University of Western Sydney feild trip into the Warragamba catchment area. The purpose of this trip was to track the previously tagged Lace Monitors and to check on level of activity (due to the onset of winter) and a few that appeared to be shedding on our last visit (in the hope to retrieve any dropped units).

It was a beautiful 2 days with fantastic weather conditions.

The area is littered with wild dogs and dingo packs. A short way in we came across 3 dogs hunting, just managed to grab a few snapshots of a black one. It's not uncommon to see a pack picking off an Eastern Grey. The University of Western Sydney is extensively studying these in a similar GPS tracking study.

The scenery put on a fine display and conditions were a treat for a sometimes hostile environment. Pictured is the Wollondilly river (arm of the Warragamba dam)






Part 1 of this project can be found here!
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...e-studies/lace-monitor-research-project-80170

 

[JasonL]

OMG! The Black Panther!!!!

 

[hazzard]

Our first tracked animal was one that appeared to be shedding or just that the edges of the unit pouch had lifted. They blend in so well to the landscape that we nearly trod on this fella!

This big male was soon spooked, pouch and GPS unit still sturdy and scooted up into a hollow dead trunk!

Lucky for me there was a crack i could sneak a pic from.

That wasn't good enough for our student Laura, who proceeded to climb the trunk and sneak a snap shot inside.

 

[Australis]

It looks like real amazing country out here, lucky mongrel you are.

Does anyone go out and shoot these wild dogs at all that you know of?

 

[hazzard]

Our next animal to be tracked caused us a great deal of pain. The VHF signal was bouncing all over the surrounding rock escarpments and finding this guy would be difficult. Alicia waved the magic wand and came up trumps on the location. However were not going to see this one.

Not until after climbing up and down ridiculous terrain that had us all exhausted and covered in farmers friends and blackberry scars!

The find was fantastic. A suspected congregation mating area. A serious of burrows under the sandstone. Many containing animal fur reminents and scratch marks.

We figure this as an untagged specimen scuttled away up a nearby tree. We did not capture this animal as the objective of this trip was just tracking (the real reason, we forgot the tagging equipment forehead slap for someone).

This is now a place of interest for us for future investigations!

 

[Luke1]

that looks like awsome fun!!! i was gonna say that photo of the river looks like its somewhere in NZ

thanks for the pics!!! wish i could come LOL!!!

Luke

 

[hazzard]

The next candidate was a similar story to the first. What was now noted on this trip was the Lacey's activity has slowed, although not stopped. In 2 months all animals are still within 2Km's of their capture sites. Although on this trip they have only moved within 200 metres of their last VHF tracked location.

Once we download the GPS information when the tags are finally collected, the information will be very informative.

This guy was also nearly walked on. The 8kg male dashed down a small nearby wombat digging. It was noted that this animals gps unit was almost detatched. Deciding that 8 weeks data was a good start we captured this animal and removed the pouch and unit.

Some quick work by Jason soon had the monitor out of the whole and on a nearby fallen tree.

 

[888lowndes888]

Hey its awesome out Yerranderie isn't it. Out of interest do you have to go through Taralga or Oberon or do you get the keys to come in through oakdale. I was supposed to be out there on Tues night but didnt end up going. The boss stayed at the Cop Shop on tues night i think. Its such an awesome area, people say im lucky at being able to go out there but I think your the lucky one being able to go out and AND study herps.:evil: lol.

 

[hazzard]

Hi mate, we ran into Steve (your welding mate) and said you said hi! Oh and we get the keys of course!

 

[hazzard]

Some more pics of this capture, and some posing shots of course. We are interested in features such as tail and claw markings. Also the after effects of the tagging. As you can see in the next few shots, little damage is done. The reminent glue will be gone after shedding is completed!

 

[hazzard]

And of course the release of this guy. A big thankyou for letting us into your world for a brief glimpse!

Now to take the unit home download, reformat and back out again in spring. It is hoped that we will have between 10-20 monitors tagged at any one time.

 

[cris]

awesome thanks for sharing, keep up the good work

 

[Just_Joshin]

Your a lucky bugger Michael!!! It looks like amazing country out there. Can anyone say jealous much??? Has the GPS data been downloaded yet?? Interesting data?

 

[hazzard]

The next guy was also a challenge to track. When you get close the signal can bounce like crazy in this country. Jason using his well practiced skills adjusting gain and looking for likely places to hide, pinpointed the fellow to here. After a ridiculous up-hill clamber that took 45mins to go 200 metres and back, this was the result.

Laura wasn't as keen to scale this tree!

 

[Just_Joshin]

The next guy was also a challenge to track. When you get close the signal can bounce like crazy in this country. Jason using his well practiced skills adjusting gain and looking for likely places to hide, pinpointed the fellow to here. After a ridiculous up-hill clamber that took 45mins to go 200 metres and back, this was the result.

Laura wasn't as keen to scale this tree!

I'll scale the tree for you!!!

 

[hazzard]

And of course you hate to leave this country! Until the next time!

Better than a day in the office for Alicia and Laura!

The famous Bonham Pick makes a good wall shot!

Until next time!

 

[smacdonald]

It sounds like a great project. I've just gone back and had a look at the first instalment. In it, you say:

This data gives us information such as location and elevation tracked by SIRTRACK sattelites

Just to clarify... Are the GPS devices you're using loggers, or do they beam data back to satellites in realtime? Reading the entire thread I think they're loggers, but the quote above made me unsure.

Is this a student's research project (like honours or PhD)?

I was involved in a project where we put a GPS logger on a crocodile. We retrieved it a month later and looked at the data, only to find our crocodile had been to Antarctica. I think some water got into the device.

I look forward to reading more updates!


Stewart

 

[serpenttongue]

My favourite reptile!! Awesome stuff hazzard. The best thread to come along in ages. How was that male like to handle? Did he remain calm or did he struggle a lot?

Also, strange looking nostrils on that male. They look too far forward and sit too high up compared to my Lacies:? Maybe an individual thing?:?

 

[hazzard]

Firstly,

Yes you a right these ones are loggers, i'm jumping the gun. The dog project has the real time GPS collars so far. It is anticipated that out new trackers may be real time as long as we get the appropriate funding. As can be invisaged, they are not cheap! At this stage it's not a student project but a pet research project of Jason's and myself and a few others are part of it. It may become a studen't project in the future. Aleesha pictured is doing her PHD on the South Creek catchment area and came on this trip for experience. Laura has also done the research on our "feeding trials of childrens pythons" experiment that was presented at the recent CARA conference (which the results of will be outlined shortly).

And serpenttongue,

The temperament of these guys is variable. So far we have big males all over 7kg. If it's hot they can be scary. Some just sit like puppydogs, it's an individual thing. One things for sure you must make sure you don't stuff up. Generally we will use the kevlar gloves for precaution being in a remote area. Just on this particular walk we did not take them, and it was a last minute decision to remove the unit! They are also usually placed in a bag which helps them settle quickly!

Cheers

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

gloves a re gay LOL

wild laceys are awsome animals

keep us posted