Feral Future - Tim Low
May. 15th, 2009 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gemfyreIt's the book I'm reading at the moment. Another book that is very interesting, critically important and rather depressing. It pretty much details the issues Australia has with it's hundreds of feral species, and also goes over how some Aussie species have become serious pests elsewhere in the world.
It was published in 1999. I'd love to see an updated edition. When he wrote it Cane Toads were just starting to get into Kakadu and Western Australia had no Starlings (both species are now in W.A.)
I don't really know what the story is with Phythophthora (dieback) around the country now. I know we're doing our darndest to halt in in the south-west and have come up with a few potential ways to manage it, but still it creeps on into our woodlands.
I liked his chapter on how cats are probably more maligned than they should be. They're an easy, visible scapegoat. There is no evidence that cats have caused any recent extinctions (but foxes sure have) and there are literally dozens of feral species (most you've probably never heard of) that do a lot more ecological damage.
Just one thing that kind of amused me (what I asked to be reminded about a few days ago) is a comment Tim Low makes about how many books don't mention introduced/feral species. He specifically mentions that Slater's Field Guide doesn't mention pheasants or ostriches. Most people would just be like, "yeah okay" over that, but being a birdo I know something.
1. The Slater Field guide sucks. I have bought all of the "Big 4" field guides except for Slater. His info is outdated, his maps suck, I don't like his pictures much. Some birdos do swear by it but I hate it. Some other field guides DO mention ostrich and pheasant and peacock.
2. Being part of the Birding-Aus e-mail list I know how much controversey introduced birds cause. A general rule is that to list a bird it has to be wild and in a breeding colony, unless it's some one-off vagrant that all the rich birdos in the country have flown miles to see. If someone claims they saw say, a peacock and it was near a farm everyone will say, "Yeah, but that's obviously a domestic bird." and dismiss the sighting. Sightings of ostriches are contentious, they're usually regarded as mere escapees from a nearby farm and not a breeding colony. I don't know what the truth is, apparently ostrich farming was big in South Australia for a while and when the venture fell through farmers turned their birds loose, but I don't know how many of those birds survive in the wild, or how many farms still exist. For Tim Low to reference a field guide is a bit silly. If he'd looked at a book like say HANZAB (the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds) I'm sure he'd find mention of the small colonies of ostrich, peacock and pheasant he finds lacking in the field guides, this is because HANZAB documents everything, it's a massive tome that costs a few hundred dollars each volume (and there are 7 volumes).
I guess if I was heavily into snails, or pasture grasses or something I could make similar statements about what he says about those things. But I guess that's the peril of having to write a book that encompasses the whole picture and still have it remain in the popular science section.
Anyway, read the book. Interesting and important. It will open your eyes, and make you check your shoes for mud a lot.
NEXT : The first edition of my birding lessons.
It was published in 1999. I'd love to see an updated edition. When he wrote it Cane Toads were just starting to get into Kakadu and Western Australia had no Starlings (both species are now in W.A.)
I don't really know what the story is with Phythophthora (dieback) around the country now. I know we're doing our darndest to halt in in the south-west and have come up with a few potential ways to manage it, but still it creeps on into our woodlands.
I liked his chapter on how cats are probably more maligned than they should be. They're an easy, visible scapegoat. There is no evidence that cats have caused any recent extinctions (but foxes sure have) and there are literally dozens of feral species (most you've probably never heard of) that do a lot more ecological damage.
Just one thing that kind of amused me (what I asked to be reminded about a few days ago) is a comment Tim Low makes about how many books don't mention introduced/feral species. He specifically mentions that Slater's Field Guide doesn't mention pheasants or ostriches. Most people would just be like, "yeah okay" over that, but being a birdo I know something.
1. The Slater Field guide sucks. I have bought all of the "Big 4" field guides except for Slater. His info is outdated, his maps suck, I don't like his pictures much. Some birdos do swear by it but I hate it. Some other field guides DO mention ostrich and pheasant and peacock.
2. Being part of the Birding-Aus e-mail list I know how much controversey introduced birds cause. A general rule is that to list a bird it has to be wild and in a breeding colony, unless it's some one-off vagrant that all the rich birdos in the country have flown miles to see. If someone claims they saw say, a peacock and it was near a farm everyone will say, "Yeah, but that's obviously a domestic bird." and dismiss the sighting. Sightings of ostriches are contentious, they're usually regarded as mere escapees from a nearby farm and not a breeding colony. I don't know what the truth is, apparently ostrich farming was big in South Australia for a while and when the venture fell through farmers turned their birds loose, but I don't know how many of those birds survive in the wild, or how many farms still exist. For Tim Low to reference a field guide is a bit silly. If he'd looked at a book like say HANZAB (the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds) I'm sure he'd find mention of the small colonies of ostrich, peacock and pheasant he finds lacking in the field guides, this is because HANZAB documents everything, it's a massive tome that costs a few hundred dollars each volume (and there are 7 volumes).
I guess if I was heavily into snails, or pasture grasses or something I could make similar statements about what he says about those things. But I guess that's the peril of having to write a book that encompasses the whole picture and still have it remain in the popular science section.
Anyway, read the book. Interesting and important. It will open your eyes, and make you check your shoes for mud a lot.
NEXT : The first edition of my birding lessons.
