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Rat removal from Lord Howe Island

Dave-Vero

By Dave-Vero
in DISCUSSING PALM TREES WORLDWIDE

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Dave-Vero Grand Master

Dave-Vero

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Science magazine has a news story on a long-planned extermination of rats on Lord Howe Island.  They arrived in 1914, have caused the loss of some native species since, and elaborate preparation has been needed, including evacuation of most of two species of native birds that are vulnerable to rat poison.   Assuming the rats are all killed, the birds and insects should make big comebacks, and it should also be good for the palms.  The story's behind a paywall, so no point in linking.

The island, home of Howea, is part of New South Wales.

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Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

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Yes, they are meant to do it this winter. Many tonnes of bait will be dropped all over he island by helicopter. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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redant Grand Master

redant

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This should be interesting.  I really can't see total eradication is possible but certainly be interesting.

 

Jupiter FL

in the Zone formally known as 10A

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Chester B Grand Master

Chester B

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They have had success doing this on a few islands already so it is possible.  New Zealand has been active on restoring many of it's island ecosystems.

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Dave-Vero Grand Master

Dave-Vero

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NZ has been doing islands and exclosures.  The little urban Riccarton Bush exclosure in Christchurch is fascinating--stuffed with birds!  

 

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Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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jimmyt Mentor

jimmyt

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Dave-Vero said:

Science magazine has a news story on a long-planned extermination of rats on Lord Howe Island.  They arrived in 1914, have caused the loss of some native species since, and elaborate preparation has been needed, including evacuation of most of two species of native birds that are vulnerable to rat poison.   Assuming the rats are all killed, the birds and insects should make big comebacks, and it should also be good for the palms.  The story's behind a paywall, so no point in linking.

The island, home of Howea, is part of New South Wales.

Any other animals/mammals on the island that are going to be at risk.?  What happens to the ecosystem if the food chain is disrupted in such a manner?   Will it self populate or does NZ need to re-establish certain species, such as the vulnerable birds.  This all sounds risky........

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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

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I think it will work. All cattle and dogs were going to be removed from the island. All the rare birds are tagged and virtually tame anyway and are being rehoused away from the action. It’s a small island (11km2) with lots of scientific study and controls so with the right baits and application it will work. According to one of the local guides the baits will attract the rats in the same way kids are attracted to chocolate. They just can’t resist the stuff. Rats are doing horrendous damage there.

Yes, some of the locals are against it, but get any group of people together and they will never all agree on everything. Human nature. Some have said that the rats are not really doing anything that bad, but no one alive has seen Lord Howe Island pre 1914 when the rats came ashore on the shipwrecked boat. We went there last year and walked every track on the island, and there was rat damage everywhere when you really looked. The worst affected was Howea belmoreana. There was virtually no H belmoreana seed on the entire island due to rats. Rats seemed to love it the most. They eat seed off all the palms but I think Howea belmoreana has the most damage from rats. It therefore has the most to gain from the rat eradication program.

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Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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richnorm Grand Master

richnorm

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Great news but getting rid of them is just the beginning.  After that everything that comes onto the island will have to be inspected very carefully.   I organised a trip to Little Barrier Island a few years back.   We required police checks, authorised boat, authorised guide and had bags checked before leaving and on arrival. Even with procedures like that the odd rodent gets in.   There is a plan to make the whole of NZ predator free by 2050.  Seems like an impossible task but humans seem well capable of extincting species.

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Chester B Grand Master

Chester B

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1 hour ago, richnorm said:

There is a plan to make the whole of NZ predator free by 2050.

Fantastic.   Now lets get those geneticists working on bringing back the Moa.

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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

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2 hours ago, richnorm said:

Great news but getting rid of them is just the beginning.  After that everything that comes onto the island will have to be inspected very carefully.   I organised a trip to Little Barrier Island a few years back.   We required police checks, authorised boat, authorised guide and had bags checked before leaving and on arrival. Even with procedures like that the odd rodent gets in.   There is a plan to make the whole of NZ predator free by 2050.  Seems like an impossible task but humans seem well capable of extincting species.

At least most people come onto the island by plane. A bit hard to have baggage go through Sydney airport with rats and mice in them. Well I hope so anyway.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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Alicante Experienced

Alicante

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I've always thought about how travelling is managed in very isolated areas. Luggage arriving there should be searched very precisely because pest alarm is always a threat.

I live in Altea, Spain 38°34'N 0º03'O. USDA zone 11a. Coastal microclimate sheltered by mountains. 
The coconuts shown in my avatar are from the Canary Islands, Spain ! :)

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Darold Petty Grand Master

Darold Petty

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Rats have already exterminated several bird species and several insect species on LHI.  The stick insect survived on Ball's Pyramid, and has been recovered for captive breeding.

Three years ago on the Mt. Gower hike one section was baited for rats and the balance not baited.  The area with rat control had ample regeneration of Lepidorrhachis, while the other area had NONE.  Source:  Jack Schick

  I spoke with the lady who managed our lodging, most of the resistance to baiting is just the 'ick factor' of  the poisoned corpse lying  about.  

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San Francisco, California

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greysrigging Veteran

greysrigging

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 6/11/2019 at 8:23 AM, Tyrone said:

At least most people come onto the island by plane. A bit hard to have baggage go through Sydney airport with rats and mice in them. Well I hope so anyway.

Quarantine ( of the strictest sort ) would certainly work....thing is its horrendously expensive to set up, run and maintain.
Chevron were able to do so on Barrow Island, but then again they had a captive workforce on a Class A nature reserve building a 60 billion dollar LNG Plant. So the wherewithall, motivation and finance to do so. The quarantine on Barrow was for flora and fauna, and unfortunately Lord Howe also suffers from introduced plant species as well as the rats and goats ( I think the goats have been eradicated nowadays....there were still a few roaming Mt Gower in the early 2000's when I was working over there.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/303634/Visiting-lord-howe-island-restrictions-on-plants-animals-and-other-things.pdf

Edited by greysrigging
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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

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No goats there now as far as I know. Certainly no pigs either. The rat eradication though maybe messy for a while (decaying corpses) will be a huge positive I think.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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