Pests

-- Background Information PESTS Seagulls There’s an unusual situation on an island off Perth. Silver Gulls nest in large colonies on offshore islands – this is not unusual. But Carnac Island has a huge and expanding population of gulls because the birds are commuters. They scavenge at rubbish tips and food outlets along the coast and so breed in their thousands – in fact there are an estimated 3 to 4 thousand pairs on the island. As well as this large number of birds, there are also a large number of Tiger snakes – up to 400, that’s about 20 snakes per hectare. Making the island one of the most deadly in the world. The adult snakes feed on the Silver Gull chicks. Many of the snakes have wounds from being pecked by adult gulls, and 5 per cent are even blind, having their eyes pecked out. This doesn’t stop them, though! These blind snakes go on living year to year, with such easy pickings on the island. Myna Indian Mynas were brought to Melbourne in 1862 to control insect pests in market gardens. They failed at this, but they were still introduced into other places in Australia, including north Queensland, where it was thought they would control insect pests of sugar cane. They were introduced to ACT in 1968 – and by 2006, there were an estimated 93,000 birds. Local residents there banded together to form a huge trapping alliance and have since removed more than 42,000 Indian Mynas. This has allowed many native birds to get back to the hollows and breed successfully, because Indian Mynas are capable of evicting even large birds such as Kookaburras and Dollar Birds from their nests. Ibis Usually ibis breed in large colonies in inland Australia, but with areas increasingly drying out, ibis are moving to the east coast to set up colonies where there’s abundant food and water. One such colony has set up camp next to Brisbane airport, near the city’s tip. This is causing problems – because large flying birds and planes are not a