farmdoc's blog post number 690

For each wombat I have in my pen, the Tasmanian Government issues me with a permit. Last Sunday I emailed Patsy (who works in the Government) to cancel my permit for Coco following her successful release. Yesterday I received an email back from Patsy in which she wrote: ‘You have done such a great job with the wombats in your care. Thank you for all your help’. A nice compliment, but I feel grateful for the privilege I have of releasing wombats; so I should be the one doing the thanking. Having cared for and released 12 wombats, I know a tiny bit about them. I know even less about frogs. I know their presence signifies a healthy ecosystem; so it’s unsurprising that frog populations are declining in Australia and world-wide. Thus I’m always pleased when I hear frog calls around here. I adore the name Pobblebonk and the sound of its call. However I can’t identify other frog species by sound, or any at all by sight. My favourite recent frog story is this one – about the 2008 re-discovery in NSW’s Southern Tablelands, of the yellow-spotted bell frog (pictured) – which was presumed extinct for the past 30 years. The NSW Environment Minister said: ‘This is the equivalent of discovering the Tasmanian tiger, in terms of amphibians, in terms of frogs’. Dear treasured yellow-spotted bell frog, you’re a bright sunbeam of hope shining through an environmental thunderhead. I wish you all the success in the world.