Dr Tom's day off...

[Deleted]

Took a day off today and drove waaaaay down south.
Almost as far as it is possible to go by road in Tasmania.
2 memorable things happened:

1) Saw a platypus in a creek. Totally wild. Very funny to watch.

2) Spoke to a NP&W Officer. Was having a general conversation when I casually asked "I don't suppose any tourists have ever seen a stripy animal dash across the road around here?"
He knew immediately what animal I was referring to and replied: "No, but I saw one myself."
(I almost fell over, but managed to keep myself under control.)

He related how he was driving to work one morning. Last Easter (Easter 2013).
About 9:00 am. Clear with good visibility.
There it was: standing in the middle of the road looking at him. He slowed down and it slowly moved off into the bush.
He returned to the area after work and looked for tracks but stated the ground was too hard.
He seemed to stress that he was experienced in wildlife identification and that he was perfectly sure what he saw.
Didn't make a report because he simply wanted the animal to be left alone. (Quite a good reason.)

Again, anecdotal evidence, dammit!
But, one day, someone will have a camera handy.
Made my day.

Cheers,

DrTom

[dennisw]

Of recent claims I would class that as the most credible, someone familiar with the bush and wildlife in a responsible position and unlikely to make a false claim. There is hope that the species may yet survive.

I have watched a platypus playing in the Loddon River several times in recent years so interesting that I have given up using dynamite for fishing there so that I don't harm the little guys.

[Deleted]

What are those little quolls doing nowdays DT. Are they past riding on mothers back.
Cheers BC

[Deleted]

Mar 11, 2014 9:44:28 GMT 10 @bushcat said:

What are those little quolls doing nowdays DT. Are they past riding on mothers back.
Cheers BC

BC,

The little quolls are very nearly full size now.
Hard to tell them from adults.
A couple of them have gone...either dead or relocated to their own territories.
They were already too large to ride on mother's back when they came here, so I never saw them do that.
Pity, as it would have made a great photo.

We have a female brushtail possum here who had twins this year. She sometimes carried them on her back.

Cheers,

Dr T.

[Deleted]

In my kid days I was frienly with the local possums. I saw juveniles riding on mothers back. So help me they were bigger than the mother.
The ancient "Possum Tree" is disintegrating and has had a reinforcing band placed around it.
At one time it suckered profusidly. A mini load of bird watchers called at the factory for door sales of flax seed oil.
They were looking around for birds so I sat in the bushes and gave a rendition of thrush calls. They had their recording gear set up in no time flat so I gave them an encore.
I often wonder how many times those recordings were played to entertain listeners.
BC

[youcantry]

DrTom - can you tell me more about the location and perhaps name of the ranger? I'm happy to take this to private discussion if you want to keep details private, via private message or email.

[youcantry]

Mar 8, 2014 19:00:07 GMT 10 @drtom said:

But, one day, someone will have a camera handy.

Here's hoping,

Yours truly.

[Deleted]

Mar 12, 2014 10:16:23 GMT 10 youcantry said:

DrTom - can you tell me more about the location and perhaps name of the ranger? I'm happy to take this to private discussion if you want to keep details private, via private message or email.

Sorry, but I can't do that.
The Ranger has already placed cameras in the area.
The cameras have been there a year already but still nothing.
He asked me to keep it under my hat, so that is why my original post excluded these details.

[youcantry]

Understood. Thanks.

[exoldrover]

So to recap then; this ranger who's now engaged in a secret one man hunt for the thylacine doesn't want the location disclosed but he's willing to tell all to somebody he met once by the side of the road?

Is that a fair assessment? Because if it is personally I've heard this one before.

I'm not doubting the OP's account by the way but the ranger's.

[Deleted]

Mar 16, 2014 19:43:15 GMT 10 exoldrover said:

So to recap then; this ranger who's now engaged in a secret one man hunt for the thylacine doesn't want the location disclosed but he's willing to tell all to somebody he met once by the side of the road?

Is that a fair assessment? Because if it is personally I've heard this one before.

I'm not doubting the OP's account by the way but the ranger's.

Not sure why your post is dripping with sarcasm but I'll answer as best I can.
Firstly, the ranger is not "engaged in a secret one man hunt". Others, who supplied cameras, are involved.
Who they are I have no idea. I didn't ask.

Secondly, why would he not tell someone (a tourist who is a biologist) about his experience?
If he doesn't reveal the exact location there is little chance of me going there.
Even if he did reveal the exact location I wouldn't go there.

Personally, I am very skeptical of this tendency of enthusiasts to race off to the latest sighting location.
I believe thylacines would have such a huge territory that they would be effectively nomadic.
So one would have little more chance of finding the animal again in the same location as of finding it in a new location.

Anyway, I have reported the gist of the sighting as he related to me.
If he is not telling the truth I have no way of knowing.

Regards,

DT

[exoldrover]

Firstly, yes my post is as you say dripping with sarcasm but it isn’t directed at you, and I really do apologise if it seems that it is. I find the idea of the tale irritating, but not the fact that someone has related it. Again I apologise if I’ve appeared rude.

Critically though, I have to say that this point;

Firstly, the ranger is not "engaged in a secret one man hunt". Others, who supplied cameras, are involved.
Who they are I have no idea. I didn't ask.

Seems to be at odds with this;


Didn't make a report because he simply wanted the animal to be left alone. (Quite a good reason.)

And that this;


Secondly, why would he not tell someone (a tourist who is a biologist) about his experience?
If he doesn't reveal the exact location there is little chance of me going there.

Doesn’t seem to hold water because he’s already given you enough information to make a pretty educated guess as to how to cut down the area he’s talking about.

None of it rings true, and lets be honest, rather than rude, if you do hold the rank of DR in whatever field you're training should make you suspicious of this encounter in the extreme.

[Deleted]

Mar 17, 2014 11:27:57 GMT 10 exoldrover said:

Firstly, yes my post is as you say dripping with sarcasm but it isn’t directed at you, and I really do apologise if it seems that it is. I find the idea of the tale irritating, but not the fact that someone has related it. Again I apologise if I’ve appeared rude.

Critically though, I have to say that this point;

Firstly, the ranger is not "engaged in a secret one man hunt". Others, who supplied cameras, are involved.
Who they are I have no idea. I didn't ask.

Seems to be at odds with this;


Didn't make a report because he simply wanted the animal to be left alone. (Quite a good reason.)

And that this;


Secondly, why would he not tell someone (a tourist who is a biologist) about his experience?
If he doesn't reveal the exact location there is little chance of me going there.

Doesn’t seem to hold water because he’s already given you enough information to make a pretty educated guess as to how to cut down the area he’s talking about.

None of it rings true, and lets be honest, rather than rude, if you do hold the rank of DR in whatever field you're training should make you suspicious of this encounter in the extreme.

This is the last time I'll reply on this topic. It is becoming tedious and I don't have time.
The statements I mentioned are not at odds because it would seem (to me) that placing a few cameras in the scrub and leaving them is completely different to alerting the media and inviting hordes of "tiger hunters" to come and beat the bush.
So by placing cameras in the hope of obtaining a good quality picture, the animal is still being left alone.

I note that you were not present at the conversation and yet are quite capable of judging whether it was truthful or not.
What amazing abilities you have!
In addition, I tire of your manner of cloaking an insult as "honesty", and I dislike your arrogant manner in which you think you can tell me when I should be suspicious. Yet another "armchair expert."

[trixiemurie]

Thylacines and their young are crossing the roads everywhere, day and night - at this time of year. Devils, wallabies, possums, quolls too.

If everyone bought a dashboard camera for their vehicle, I am certain a thylacine will be captured on film this year.

Youcantry is a camera expert and he also sells wildlife cameras. Chris, can you please tell us what it would cost to set up a camera on your car to film the road ahead? I think it would be a fun, educational thing to have + maybe you will be the first one to film a live thylacine crossing the road!

[molloch]

You can get a simple app that turns your phone into a dashboard cam, complete with GPS logging, if placed in a $6 cradle from the reject shop and attached to the windscreen so it can view the road ahead.

For example:

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hovans.autoguard

[dennisw]

Our local Post Office was selling dash-cams on special for $49.95, I don't know if any PO branches still have them at that price but they are not expensive. The Android App was created in Israel last year and has not received the publicity it deserves due to the action of Anti-Israel groups.

[molloch]

The android app I linked to - it has been downloaded almost half a million times? It is certainly one of many apps - not sure who would be avoiding it because it was developed in Israel??

[youcantry]

Trixie, generic dashboard cams have come down in price from about A$200 to A$100 and Dennis has just suggested A$50 from the post office.

Molloch, you beat me to it - I was thinking how effective an iPhone would be.

The key feature you want is for "loop recording" - that is, the camera is continuously recording, but not actually filling up your camera's memory / storage capacity. Instead, when an event happens that you want to retain, you should be able to press a button and by default the system will now keep the previous, say, 60 seconds of footage, plus from the point you hit the button onwards.

This really should not be too difficult for an app developer and I will check out the link.

Trixie - I think you've hit the nail on the head though: a dashboard cam is almost certainly the best chance. I was hiking near Adamsfield last week when a pademelon bolted across my path. I was carrying an SLR camera but I didn't even have time to lift it up before the animal was gone into the undergrowth. If I had had a continuously recording camera instead, I could have hit the button and kept the last 30 or 60 seconds' worth of footage and had the evidence of the pademelon crossing my path.

[youcantry]

I've just looked up 3 iPhone apps for dash cams but only one of them mentioned the "rolling loop" feature: itunes.apple.com/au/app/witness-driving/id437813388?mt=8

It also talks about adjusting video quality to save memory. It also can detect rapid deceleration and will stop recording if you've had a crash. You can even program it to send a message to someone in the event you've crashed. It's called "Witness Driving".

[youcantry]

Or watch their video here: www.witnessphoneapp.com/

I've bought it. It looks great. One dollar.

[exoldrover]

Mar 18, 2014 8:34:58 GMT 10 @drtom said:

Mar 17, 2014 11:27:57 GMT 10 exoldrover said:

Firstly, yes my post is as you say dripping with sarcasm but it isn’t directed at you, and I really do apologise if it seems that it is. I find the idea of the tale irritating, but not the fact that someone has related it. Again I apologise if I’ve appeared rude.

Critically though, I have to say that this point;

Firstly, the ranger is not "engaged in a secret one man hunt". Others, who supplied cameras, are involved.
Who they are I have no idea. I didn't ask.

Seems to be at odds with this;


Didn't make a report because he simply wanted the animal to be left alone. (Quite a good reason.)

And that this;


Secondly, why would he not tell someone (a tourist who is a biologist) about his experience?
If he doesn't reveal the exact location there is little chance of me going there.

Doesn’t seem to hold water because he’s already given you enough information to make a pretty educated guess as to how to cut down the area he’s talking about.

None of it rings true, and lets be honest, rather than rude, if you do hold the rank of DR in whatever field you're training should make you suspicious of this encounter in the extreme.

This is the last time I'll reply on this topic. It is becoming tedious and I don't have time.
The statements I mentioned are not at odds because it would seem (to me) that placing a few cameras in the scrub and leaving them is completely different to alerting the media and inviting hordes of "tiger hunters" to come and beat the bush.
So by placing cameras in the hope of obtaining a good quality picture, the animal is still being left alone.

I note that you were not present at the conversation and yet are quite capable of judging whether it was truthful or not.
What amazing abilities you have!
In addition, I tire of your manner of cloaking an insult as "honesty", and I dislike your arrogant manner in which you think you can tell me when I should be suspicious. Yet another "armchair expert."

Reply or not and take it whichever way you want, I'm suggesting that the story you've recounted conforms to a very well worn meme and is very likely to be false. I'm not insulting you personally I'm questioning your account and its validity.

I don't think it's out of line to do so.

[trixiemurie]

I have an iphone and I can record a video of an animal with it. The problem is, the phone is either usually in my pocket or on the car seat. So by the time I spot the animal to film it, the animal has scampered away.

We need cameras mounted on cars + mounted on people walking about their properties, going about their daily lives. I don't believe anyone will be able to film a thylacine if they go into the bush to hunt it down. Thylacines avoid humans who persecuted them and have a good sense of smell.

It will happen by chance. Both the thylacine and the witness will unexpectedly run into each other. That is when you have to have a camera ready and already filming.

Having a camera ready in your hand is not always quick enough to film a brief glimpse of an animal. I live in Canada. I made it my goal last summer to see how hard it could be to film a thylacine / wolf in the bush. So I did a lot of bush walking and never saw one. Then one day I was shocked to see a real live wolf for the first time in my life beside my cabin. It was staring down my pet cat and dog. Finally face to face with a wolf with a camera in my hand! But instead of filming it, I put the phone down and walked towards the wolf to confirm what I was seeing. I back went to retrieve my iphone from the cabin steps, but the wolf was gone.

Many witnesses report that when they saw a thylacine, it took a moment to figure out what this unusual and unexpected animal was. Once they realized what they were looking at and tried to retrieve their camera, the animal was gone. Hans Naarding and Col Bailey are two famous cases of witnesses who regretted not grabbing their camera in time to get a picture.

So the iphone apps you suggest are great. But what everyone really needs is a camera mounted on their car or on their person -continuously filming whatever crosses their path.

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Those requirements sound like specs (pun!) for Google Glass -->

www.google.com/glass/start/what-it-does/

Must check if the camera still works when you're out of range of the internet. It may upload pics to the cloud, and not store them in memory? This wouldn't help much if you spot a thylacine out past the back'o'Burke.