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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Bandicoots, Quolls in Sudden Decline |
| 2014-05-08 |
| [An Nahar] Small, furry marsupials such as the bandicoot, quoll and tree possums are in dramatic decline in Australia's north and feral cats could be the cause, according to analysis reported Wednesday. Chris Johnson, a wildlife conservation professor from the University of Tasmania, said small mammal species were at risk of extinction across the continent, but the changes in the north were marked. "There's a pretty clear picture and it shows that lots of species have declined dramatically," Johnson told AFP. "Where we can infer the timing of decline, it's been fairly recent and there are now large areas where small mammals are either very rare or don't exist but the habitat looks like it should support small mammals." Johnson said while scientists discussed the changes as a "new wave of decline" it was not clear how sudden it was except that it became very noticeable in the early 1990s, particularly in places such as Kakadu National Park, a conservation area in the Northern Territory. About 20 small native mammals have disappeared from Kakadu in recent decades including rat-like bandicoots, northern quolls, tree possums, and the weasel-like phascogale, he said, adding that similar declines had occurred elsewhere. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #11 We can but hope, Rob. |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-05-08 21:46 |
| #10 There is no such thing as a "good troll". Well, maybe a dead one. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2014-05-08 21:13 |
| #9 *Sigh* I remember when...we used to get good trolls |
| Posted by: Frank G 2014-05-08 20:22 |
| #8 Sob. Which is not to suggest (as the ol' heavy lids belatedly start rattling atop the simmering brainpot) that I'm unappreciative of the Rabelaisian aspect of this place here. Big thanks to all. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2014-05-08 18:17 |
| #7 If you're butt-hurt from Rantburg abuse And you'd like to indulge your caboose, I'd urge you to notice The opinion of Scotus And clean up with the neck of a goose. Wow. I hadn't read that through in, like, decades. Of course, we got TV and memes and stuff, so... Sob. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2014-05-08 18:05 |
| #6 Wow, I'd have thought the lad would be in Syria by now. Nah, his part of The War is lecturing the infidels on The Prophet's Way of Proper Ass Wiping. None of that getting shot at and getting blown up shit for him. Tough to wipe your ass in the proper way when it's blown off. Which seems to be his main reason for living... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2014-05-08 17:07 |
| #5 Wow, I'd have thought the lad would be in Syria by now. Anyone dreaming about my armpit hair and tu3031's bottom wiping skills isn't about to go where he'll miss a few showers, Pappy. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-05-08 16:59 |
| #4 Wow, I'd have thought the lad would be in Syria by now. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-05-08 16:37 |
| #3 Bugwit. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2014-05-08 15:27 |
| #2 From Zenobia's link: The brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa), also known by its Australian native name tuan,[3] the common wambenger or the black-tailed phascogale, is a rat-sized arboreal carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae, characterized by a tuft of black silky hairs on the terminal portion of its tail. Males of this species do not live past the age of one, as they die after reproducing. That last bit lends the line an unbearable piquancy... or a sardonic snort, depending on the reader's bent. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-05-08 09:55 |
| #1 "Goodnight, Ladies" rang over the plain (a wambenger was feeling no pain). "Though I still have a yen, I shall not come again, For a [ahem] has torn me in twain!" Some who are soft and suggestible May find feline cruelty detestable. The flying phalanger, That frantic philanderer, To the cat's just a wind-up comestible. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2014-05-08 05:11 |