Feral Animals

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Feral Animals in the bush

Postby Prokasaurus » Thu 18 Nov, 2010 9:20 pm

Just wondering what peoples reactions are when they are in the bush and see non natives.

Whenever I see rabbits, foxes, deer, feral cats in the bush (albiet the latter 2 I have only observed four-wheel driving) I cant help but marvel, despite the fact that they are not native, I still take great pleasure in observing them in the wild, I guess I am just a sucker for all wild animals. The fact that they have now been part of the Australian Bush for over 150 years now I guess helps me to accept them. Sure I would have preffered it if they were never introduced in the first place, but now that they are here and theres nothing we can do about it (an Australia wide extermination of any of these animals is not going to happen) I do feel that they add something to the bush and im glad that they are there, adding to the diversity of the very versetile Australian Bush, in spite of the diversity they helped diminish in colonial times with Australia's shameful record mammal extinctions.

So I guess what im asking is what you feel when you see a an introduced species in the bush. Are you filled with contempt? Does it put a bad taste in your mouth? Do you consider them varmints? Or do you take pleasure to be able to observe one in the wild and appreciate them for what they are and thier part in nature?

Or perhaps even im getting too complex here for your tastes and you simply think "Oh its a deer, meh" or "Oh its a fox, meh"
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Re: Feral Animals in the bush

Postby tasadam » Fri 19 Nov, 2010 7:08 am

Prokasaurus wrote:Just wondering what peoples reactions are when they are in the bush and see non natives.

Whenever I see rabbits, foxes, deer, feral cats in the bush (albiet the latter 2 I have only observed four-wheel driving) I cant help but marvel, despite the fact that they are not native, I still take great pleasure in observing them in the wild, I guess I am just a sucker for all wild animals. The fact that they have now been part of the Australian Bush for over 150 years now I guess helps me to accept them. Sure I would have preffered it if they were never introduced in the first place, but now that they are here and theres nothing we can do about it (an Australia wide extermination of any of these animals is not going to happen) I do feel that they add something to the bush and im glad that they are there, adding to the diversity of the very versetile Australian Bush, in spite of the diversity they helped diminish in colonial times with Australia's shameful record mammal extinctions.

So I guess what im asking is what you feel when you see a an introduced species in the bush. Are you filled with contempt? Does it put a bad taste in your mouth? Do you consider them varmints? Or do you take pleasure to be able to observe one in the wild and appreciate them for what they are and thier part in nature?

Or perhaps even im getting too complex here for your tastes and you simply think "Oh its a deer, meh" or "Oh its a fox, meh"

Just to let you know I have moved your question to this topic as it is relevant here.
You may also be interested in the Fox topic...
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Re: Feral Animals

Postby Liamy77 » Sat 20 Nov, 2010 1:01 am

maybe a mixture of those....
they are all beautiful and i feel priveleged to experience it.... but i can't help but also be mindful of the damage introduced species (flora and fauna) do to our native species in their ONLY home either.
to me its a matter of ethical justice if you like... in my thinking the introduced species get a less favorable outcome because all inhabitants in the environment need to be viewed as a whole as well as individual components. :wink:
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