Macquarie Island

[Bedly 1]

I heard a story on the radio yesterday about a plan to eradicate rabbits and rats on Macquarie Island, which is a speck of land between Australia and Antarctia. They got there off ships and are now a plague, endangering penguins and other wildlife that breeds there. Anyway, the plan is to use dogs. The New Zealanders succeeded with this method on a couple of their islands that had similar trouble.

The bloke talking said it's easy to get the first 95%, but the last 5% is the challenge. He claimed the dogs take 18 months to train (why, one wonders?) and they have to think out what sort to use. They want smallish dogs that are easy to transport and to feed, but which are hardy and have a good coat for the freezing conditions. They are not expected to directly kill the quarry, but to mark the burrows for poisoning, I think. The job is physically finding that last 5%. I suppose they don't want dogs that will go to earth and that they'll always have to be digging out (very rocky, I imagine). A good nose is vital.

What do people think is the dog for this job? I have my ideas, but am interested in those of others. Don't spend too long trying to think of a dog that's stupid enough to need 18 months training for what comes natural.

[rolly 0]

Dogs and poisoning don't tend to mix well. what if a dog marks a hole that's been poisoned already. Gonna need more dogs. Why not use beagles and shotguns. Not like they are going to hit any houses or anything.