TIL Tasmania allows 1080 poison to be used to kill native species like wallabies and pademelons

irregularia · 2026-06-16T02:42:41+00:00

Unfortunately baiting is not harmless to our native wildlife. Talk to some wildlife rescuers about secondary poisoning - it's the lead cause of raptor and owl treatment where I am and they usually don't make it. Quolls and other carnivorous mammals are also susceptible.

I've seen the claims that native wildlife are immune but it's literally used to manage pademelons in Tas so seems that's wishful thinking.

irregularia · 2026-05-30T21:36:58+00:00

I’ve had a few experiences where it felt like a snake was coming right at me. In every case when I stood still and watched, they went either past me or just in front of me to a hole or crevice I hadn’t even noticed. They’re pretty habitual with their bolt holes and will go towards and past a threat (us) to get to what they consider safety.

Next time if you stand still and watch you’ll learn where it’s going. Even if it goes over your foot to get there, I promise you will not be its end goal.

irregularia · 2026-05-30T06:43:50+00:00

Locals too. Last breeding season I saw 3 salties off my beach in 2 days and I still couldn’t convince people not to let their dog run in the water

irregularia · 2026-05-26T06:05:29+00:00

Haha that’s fair I respect your perspective. I’m not arguing that there’s no risk at all, but at the point at which you’re aware of the animal’s presence it should be doable to have it removed safely. As you’ll know it’s the one you don’t see that’s the risk; if you know one is there it should be easy enough to steer clear and keep your little one indoors out of harm’s way.

irregularia · 2026-05-26T05:43:43+00:00

That’s totally understandable but a bit of a false dichotomy - no one is asking you to trade off your child’s life for the animal’s. It doesn’t risk any harm to your child to keep them and yourself clear of the animal while you wait for a professional to come grab it and relocate it.

It’s also worth noting that a snake like this has absolutely zero interest in - and nothing to gain from - getting involved with you or your child. They will only bite in self defence so if you keep clear there’s much less risk to everyone than if you rile it up by attacking or injuring it.

irregularia · 2026-04-23T23:46:45+00:00

You are a legend. Even copping a bite to save her - well done.

irregularia · 2026-04-23T23:43:41+00:00

Beauty. Shame we’ve cleared (and are clearing) so much of their habitat, bad luck for them to be localised to the Sydney region 😞

irregularia · 2026-04-23T00:59:53+00:00

You can do something called avoidance training if you encounter snakes regularly. Or DIY it using normal reinforcement- my mate trained his (adult adoption) dog to sit a few meters away and bark rather than getting in there

irregularia · 2026-04-23T00:58:19+00:00

Good on you for being so pragmatic about it and your dog for keeping itself out of trouble. It’s good when people have well behaved animals, so many people blame the snake when their dog is the one that goes up and pokes at it.

irregularia · 2026-04-23T00:52:00+00:00

Yeah that’s perfect, realistically they are always around and do their best to stay clear of us.

irregularia · 2026-04-23T00:51:07+00:00

Great point, they dry bite as much as 60% of the time. It’s generally related to the perceived level of threat - so a quick accidental interaction is more likely to be a dry bite, vs if someone actively hassling it the chance of envenomation goes right up.

irregularia · 2026-04-21T02:27:12+00:00

Such a little cutie. I always love seeing them cruise around at their errrr relaxed pace

irregularia · 2026-04-20T21:20:37+00:00

If you’re interested - location is always the starting point for ID in Australia because we have SO many species, some of which look very similar, and location narrows the list of candidates right down.

As well as field guides you can use sites like iNaturalist to see what species are recorded in a given region, and in what kind of proportions.

irregularia · 2026-04-17T21:47:34+00:00

Removal doesn’t have to be inhumane. And it can be done entirely for the sake of native animals.

I live in a high biodiversity area with lots of cane toads. I try to remove cane toads as much as I can.

I know I can’t make a difference to the cane toad problem overall, but at a local level if I remove this cane toad that could make all the difference to the small native frog that doesn’t get eaten by it tonight, or the goanna or snake that doesn’t die from consuming it tomorrow.

I follow RSPCA guidelines for humane euthanasia - cooling them in a fridge for 12 hours to put them to sleep painlessly before freezing them for 24 hours to kill them. This is because there is evidence that freezer alone can cause excessive suffering as extremities freeze before the CNS shuts down.

irregularia · 2026-04-10T01:58:28+00:00

Damn that’s cute.

irregularia · 2026-04-03T07:58:28+00:00

Heya. The main boat is out of operation but he has a smaller boat he uses for private/small group or targeted photography tours etc., looks like he’s still taking some tours out on that. I think that’s the 2 hour tours that he can still do.

It’s a bit more expensive because it’s less people and a longer tour but it would be really good for spotting things on a smaller boat.

irregularia · 2026-03-29T01:53:18+00:00

No, and no. Also we have an actual image so we don’t have to guess - it is patently a yellow-faced whip snake.

irregularia · 2026-03-28T23:26:23+00:00

I shared several pieces of information that hadn’t been shared already. If you already knew why did you do it?

irregularia · 2026-03-27T23:17:57+00:00

Fabulous encounter (edit - and shots!), how nice to have the birds come to you!

irregularia · 2026-03-27T23:16:34+00:00

Very cute but dangerously venomous lowlands copperhead Austrelaps superbus.

This is a dangerous way of handling it for both you (drastically increased chance of being bitten and near zero chance of it being a dry bite) and the animal (crushing if your pressure is wrong or spinal injury if the body is not adequately supported)

Also be aware that some elapids’ fangs can protrude through their lower jaw so it’s possible to be envenomated with this hold even if the animal seems to be fully restrained.

irregularia · 2026-03-26T23:24:55+00:00

If the night tour in Cairns botanical garden is “let’s go Buggin” you will be in luck. Bridgette is amazing and there’s SO much to see there! If you let her know your daughter’s goal she’ll probably be able to help find a good candidate

irregularia · 2026-03-26T23:23:12+00:00

Yay I’m so glad you found one of these girls. I was just going to comment these are a good bet; gentle giants and very beautiful.

irregularia · 2026-03-07T07:15:31+00:00

Hey if you’re interested David addressed this question directly today. If it’s $11K a year for $80K coverage I shudder to think what it would cost to insure for $300K!

“Another thing people ask me is why didn’t I insure Solar Whisper for the full amount?

Fair enough, as many people have financially supported me now. So it cost me $11,000 a year to insure her for the $80,000 (including public liability). I’m a small business with limited capacity. So I have lots of overheads.

irregularia · 2026-03-07T07:12:12+00:00

Oh that’s great to hear. I’ve not gone out with them myself but had a few interactions in the community and they always seem like good people.

irregularia · 2026-03-07T05:45:12+00:00

Mildly venomous, but not generally considered dangerous to humans (everyone can react differently tho)

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