MT MEE NEWS Nov09
By Ian Wells
Kay and I are just home from a trip to a couple of cattle properties just south of Hughenden.
We drove the old Cobb and Co route through Roma, Blackall, Barcaldine and Aramac, and almost without exception the country and cattle we saw looked dreadful. Most of the little winter grain crop that had been planted on the Darling Downs was being baled for stock feed – the exceptions being immediately around Dalby and in the Amby area.
Everywhere, the Mitchell grass downs country was eaten out and the colour was bad, while the mulga and gidyea scrub country was just bare under the canopy.
We left a green landscape on the Mountain, and came home to a golden one – transformed by those hungry north- westerly winds and the continuing dry spell. But at least we still have a little dry grass and good water!
It must be nearly time for a storm that delivers rain as well as noise and flattened trees and fences to find our Mountain!
Bookings for the “afternoon at the Proms” concert on November 29th are already strong. This will be a very enjoyable afternoon – whether you are “in to” orchestral and choral music or not. Read about it elsewhere in this edition – and book in the family!
The little working party planning the Anzac memorial for our dawn services at the Dahmongah Lookout has met again. The project is well in hand, the plaques are drafted and costed, the boulder has been extracted and professionally assessed as OK for the job and best of all, some donations are in the bank. As I write, we just await the formal go-ahead from Council’s Parks section.
Our sincere thanks to those who have already contributed to the fund. Anyone who would like to follow suit with a ten or twenty (or more or less) can see Neil Eiby of the RSL (5496 1457) or the writer (5498 2104).
A small band of western Mountain landholders ran a wild dog baiting campaign in early October. Judging by the reports of bait uptake, it was very successful. Several cattlemen who were unavailable for baiting for various reasons at that time will be running a program in the near future. There has been a great deal of destructive dog activity this spring, to the point where some local cattlemen are debating whether breeding is worthwhile in the face of such severe calf losses.
There are rumours that an alternative toxin to 1080 may be in the pipeline. This product, PAPP, may have an antidote. However, it may not be as humane as 1080, or as safe to other species and these are aspects that need to be well established before it is released into the environment. 1080 used in liver baits really is a wonderfully specific agent for dogs, cats and foxes and it will be hard to beat from every perspective other than antidote.
Here is a curious story of a cow and calf. This is second hand and I cannot be held reponsible for total accuracy. But there is a moral to it anyway!
The aforementioned cow and calf have been knocking about the Pedwell/Tidwell roadsides for some time. In search of greener pastures they moved out on to Mt Mee road, where the inevitable came to pass and the cow was hit by a vehicle. The message went to Martin Crouch – “You’ve got a dead cow on the road”. Martin went to view things and found the dead cow, which wasn’t his, had a huge lump on the side of its head, but was trying to sit up. With commendable perspicacity, Crouchie noted a NLIS tag in the right ear and recorded the numbers. He then rang Mike Wheeler, who went to the national database records. Mike was able to report that the animal had been sold from the place at the top of the cutting before it was purchased by the Porters and that the present owner was recorded as one V. Duncan. Vern later stated that he had found it impossible to contain this animal within any fence at all. He had no idea what had become of it.
As I write the cow and calf are securely yarded and their taxi back to the Woodford sale is already booked!
So perhaps there is some merit in the NLIS tag sytem after all!
And finally, hooray for Sylvia Ehrlich – who joined the seventies clan a few days ago!
Everywhere, the Mitchell grass downs country was eaten out and the colour was bad, while the mulga and gidyea scrub country was just bare under the canopy.
We left a green landscape on the Mountain, and came home to a golden one – transformed by those hungry north- westerly winds and the continuing dry spell. But at least we still have a little dry grass and good water!
It must be nearly time for a storm that delivers rain as well as noise and flattened trees and fences to find our Mountain!
Bookings for the “afternoon at the Proms” concert on November 29th are already strong. This will be a very enjoyable afternoon – whether you are “in to” orchestral and choral music or not. Read about it elsewhere in this edition – and book in the family!
The little working party planning the Anzac memorial for our dawn services at the Dahmongah Lookout has met again. The project is well in hand, the plaques are drafted and costed, the boulder has been extracted and professionally assessed as OK for the job and best of all, some donations are in the bank. As I write, we just await the formal go-ahead from Council’s Parks section.
Our sincere thanks to those who have already contributed to the fund. Anyone who would like to follow suit with a ten or twenty (or more or less) can see Neil Eiby of the RSL (5496 1457) or the writer (5498 2104).
A small band of western Mountain landholders ran a wild dog baiting campaign in early October. Judging by the reports of bait uptake, it was very successful. Several cattlemen who were unavailable for baiting for various reasons at that time will be running a program in the near future. There has been a great deal of destructive dog activity this spring, to the point where some local cattlemen are debating whether breeding is worthwhile in the face of such severe calf losses.
There are rumours that an alternative toxin to 1080 may be in the pipeline. This product, PAPP, may have an antidote. However, it may not be as humane as 1080, or as safe to other species and these are aspects that need to be well established before it is released into the environment. 1080 used in liver baits really is a wonderfully specific agent for dogs, cats and foxes and it will be hard to beat from every perspective other than antidote.
Here is a curious story of a cow and calf. This is second hand and I cannot be held reponsible for total accuracy. But there is a moral to it anyway!
The aforementioned cow and calf have been knocking about the Pedwell/Tidwell roadsides for some time. In search of greener pastures they moved out on to Mt Mee road, where the inevitable came to pass and the cow was hit by a vehicle. The message went to Martin Crouch – “You’ve got a dead cow on the road”. Martin went to view things and found the dead cow, which wasn’t his, had a huge lump on the side of its head, but was trying to sit up. With commendable perspicacity, Crouchie noted a NLIS tag in the right ear and recorded the numbers. He then rang Mike Wheeler, who went to the national database records. Mike was able to report that the animal had been sold from the place at the top of the cutting before it was purchased by the Porters and that the present owner was recorded as one V. Duncan. Vern later stated that he had found it impossible to contain this animal within any fence at all. He had no idea what had become of it.
As I write the cow and calf are securely yarded and their taxi back to the Woodford sale is already booked!
So perhaps there is some merit in the NLIS tag sytem after all!
And finally, hooray for Sylvia Ehrlich – who joined the seventies clan a few days ago!
