So there IS a silver lining to everything!
:)
if them ice are cannibals, wouldn’t it be a self limiting problem then?
Looks like they are expanding the definition of plague.
That’s one of the reasons Thais don’t kill snakes (also because they are Buddhist). A king cobra can clear out several rai of land of mice and rats in a relatively short time.
It isn’t Australia if the land isn’t trying to kill you.
I got your snake plague right here.
KENT: Our top story, the population of parasitic tree lizards has exploded, and local citizens couldn’t be happier! It seems the rapacious reptiles have developed a taste for the common pigeon, also known as the ‘feathered rat’, or the ‘gutter bird’. For the first time, citizens need not fear harassment by flocks of chattering disease-bags.
...
LISA: But isn’t that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we’re overrun by lizards?
SKINNER: No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They’ll wipe out the lizards.
LISA: But aren’t the snakes even worse?
SKINNER: Yes, but we’re prepared for that. We’ve lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
LISA: But then we’re stuck with gorillas!
SKINNER: No, that’s the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
COVID, MICE, SNAKES???
End Times?
Hawaii has no snakes because of the population of mongooses brought there to eat the snakes.
I don’t think that the population of snakes is going to spike that much.
The reproduction rate of snakes is not that high.
Yes there will be growth but not to the point that you will have the ground covered with snakes.
I also don’t see the snakes being a solution to the mouse problem.
Snakes are cold blooded animals with a low metabolism. They don’t eat every day.
Predator populations take time to rise to the supply of prey.
I don’t know what kind of raptors Australia has but owls would do a better job than snakes.
Is the plaque of the coneys even over with yet! Sheesh, rats, mice, snakes, coneys... Australia even has a camel problem.
followed by a mongoose plague?
This is nature. Animal populations tend to ebb and flow, expanding when food is plentiful, often expanding too much, outstripping the food supply and causing a great die-off.
This is why many species benefit from a managed hunting program. Because game limits can be increased in response to surges in game population, keeping their numbers in check and preventing overpopulation and serving to dampen wild swings in numbers (and the environmental damage that causes).
Oz’s problem is it’s almost 1/3-rd larger than the continental US but has fewer people than the state of Texas. And they’re mostly clustered along the coast, particularly at the far eastern and western ends. 90% of the continent is completely uninhabited by humans. Which affords them little to no opportunity to influence the natural “sinus rhythm” fluctuations of wildlife population. Made all the more problematic because Australia has so many invasive species (mice, rats, rabbits, hares, house cats, camels, goats, horses, donkeys, toads, deer, foxes, squirrels, et al), and many of them have found Oz’s hot, dry climate and general lack of humans much to their liking.
Australia also has a plague of US celebs moving here.