2011 lambing begins

Our first lamb of the new season was born last Thursday.

It's a great time of the year - and a great time to be living on a farm.

Larry stops by to say g’day

Here in Mole Creek, yesterday was a calm, cloudless, warm, sunny day. The sort of day that makes you feel good to be alive. So I decided to eat my breakfast outdoors. On the deck. I set my bowl of muesli and mug of coffee on the deck’s table. Then I looked up at the grass in front of the deck. And to my surprise, and glee, I saw a Blotched Blue-tongued Lizard [1, 2]. Motionless. Enjoying the sunshine. Like I intended to. So I raced indoors for my camera. The result you can see. The DPIPWE website [3] says Tiliqua nigrolutea is the largest lizard species in Tasmania; it grows to a head/body length of about 30 cm plus a 12-15 cm long tail; and males usually have shorter bodies and broader heads than females. I’m not clever enough to know my friend’s gender. So I assume he’s male. And I’m calling him Larry the Lizard – after Larry David [4]. Do you see the resemblance? The DPIPWE website also says blue-tongues are omnivorous and especially fond of strawberries. Me too. Soon after I photographed Larry, he sinuously sauntered off. Apparently blue-tongues aren’t threatened or rare. Even so, Larry’s only the third one I’ve seen in the 8½ years I’ve lived here. This property – Onemilebridge – is enrolled in Land for Wildlife [5] – which ensures it’s a haven for all fauna who want to live here with me. Including, and especially, Larry. Thanks for stopping by to say g’day, mate.

Farmdoc's blog's 1000th post; and the big wet.

This week there’s no compendium. What with trying to extract data from my old computer’s dying hard drive, and dealing with the daunting task of downloading and installing programs on my new computer, I had no time to compile a compendium. Oh, and there’s the matter of the rain. Between Wednesday and yesterday my rain gauge registered 173.5 mm. Almost all of it came in the 24 hours to 3 p.m. yesterday. Mole Creek village’s main street was under water for a time, and closed to all vehicles except 4WDs. One wag altered a sign to read ‘Mole River’. Some small bridges were washed away. Sand bags were used to protect the hotel and the post office. Us? We were fine. We had a waterfall down the gully in front of our house, and the resultant river flowed through the adjacent paddock. It was charming. Our house, being elevated, stayed dry. Sweetheart Vivienne and I worried about our 1km driveway. We needn’t have. For it was fine. No washouts at all. The creek lapped at our bridge (picture). But it caused no damage. So all in all we were lucky. We’re hoping for calm weather ahead, i.e. no wind to blow down trees whose roots the rain’s loosened. In any event, Mole Creek’s rain/flood’s trifling compared with Queensland’s. Those poor poor people.

P.S. Today’s the 1,000th post on Farmdoc’s Blog. I’m sorry it’s not about something nice.

P.P.S. Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

farmdoc's blog post number 679

Hello again. Guest blogger Coco here for the third – and last – time. Have you heard the story that each morning the receptionists at Hilton hotels all over the world are phoned by guests asking ‘Which Hilton is this?’ I wrote in my previous two guest posts [1, 2] that Farmdoc and Sweetheart Vivienne’s wombat pen’s been called the ‘Wombat Hilton’. As cosy and secure as the pen is, almost from the moment I arrived three weeks ago, I was keen to forsake its creature (pun intended) comforts and get out into the bush where, word has it, there are several handsome-hunk boy wombats. I knew Farmdoc wanted to see my poo before he’d consider releasing me, so early last week I left a few well-formed cubic pellets [3] where I knew he’d find them. He did; and sure enough the next morning – last Wednesday – he unlatched the pen’s swing-gate. Folks, I was out of there. Gone. As I headed up the hill I bade farewell to the Wombat Hilton. And as a memento of my 17-day stay I snapped the attached photo. In the four days since then, I’ve begun renovating a disused burrow. And though I haven’t yet seen other wombats, I know they’re near – because I can smell them. So right now my life couldn’t be better. Thank you Patsy, Angela, Farmdoc and Sweetheart Vivienne. Tomorrow’s the first day of autumn. And the first day of the rest of my life. Goodbye. And love from Coco.

farmdoc's blog post number 668

Hello. My name’s Coco. I’m a Common Wombat, but I’m anything but common. I’m a bit over a year old, and I weigh 13kg. I’m a girl, of course. (If you tell me you’ve heard of a boy called Coco, I’d say you’re pulling my leg.) Sadly, I’m an orphan. My Mum was deliberately shot and killed by a man who then kept me as a house pet – along with his dogs. I’ll never forgive him for murdering Mum. Never. Anyway a lovely lady named Patsy (from the Injured and Orphaned Wildlife Program of the Wildlife Management Branch of the Tasmanian Government’s Department of Primary Industries and Water – whew, what a mouthful!) moved me away from that awful man, to Angela’s care. Angela – a kind and gentle woman who lives near Hobart – fed me, looked after me and loved me until I became big and strong. Ten days ago Angela brought me on a long car trip to Mole Creek – to Onemilebridge where Farmdoc and his Sweetheart Vivienne live. I’m now in residence in their wombat pen. It’s a kind of halfway house – after Angela’s, and before I’m released into the bush. The pen that’s my new home has been called the ‘Wombat Hilton’. I can’t disagree. I haven’t finished my story yet, but I’m tired now. Because it’s morning and I’m a nocturnal creature, you know. So I’ll tell you more tomorrow. Bye for now. Love from Coco.

farmdoc's blog post number 658

Closure. Nowadays it’s fashionable for a relative to acknowledge it when a missing person’s body is found, or when a murderer’s convicted. Thankfully I’ve never been the relative in either of those situations. And I hope upon hope I never will be. But if the relevant definition of ‘closure’ is ‘the state of being closed’, then I can’t believe that all will be bright and rosy ever after the moment when the body’s found or the murderer’s convicted. Be this as it may, in my boring and safe life there have been two recent moments of closure:

The first one occurred last Wednesday when Lars, a local jack-of-all-trades replaced the smashed back porch downpost and a rainwater downpipe [1]. Lars is a lovely man, and as the photograph shows, he did a beautiful job. All the job needs now is for me to paint the post and pipe.

The second one occurred yesterday when our new bridge replacement job [2, 3, 4, 5, 6] was finished by our neighbour Todd. He too is a lovely man, and as the photograph shows, he did a beautiful job. All the job needs now is for me to remove the sawn-off wood pieces.

P.S. To avoid hitting the back porch downpost and a rainwater downpipe again, from now on I’m backing the Triton in to the garage.

farmdoc's blog post number 645

In Australia the European Red Fox [1, 2] (Vulpes vulpes) is a major threat to lamb farming, and also the survival of native wildlife. In Tasmania the wildlife threat’s more frightening because Tasmania has many small native mammals for foxes to prey on. Tasmania was thought to be fox-free until recent years. But no longer. Since an established, self-sustaining fox population in Tasmania would impact severely if not catastrophically on our wildlife, agriculture and tourism, the State Government (with some Federal money too) has set up a Fox Eradication Program aiming to return Tasmania to fox-free status. The Program’s integrated approach includes a survey of carnivore scats from areas of suitable fox habitat across the State, to provide data for strategic baiting. It’s been dubbed ‘The Great Poo Hunt 2008-2010’. In 2008 in the North East, 3,000 scats revealed six containing fox DNA. In 2009 in the South East, 2,200 scats were collected; and the 1,000 analysed so far have included five containing fox DNA. The 2010 Great Poo Hunt is in North Central Tasmania – from 1 March to 4 June. As our property’s been designated prime fox habitat, we’ve been invited to participate. That’s a no-brainer, of course. Not all properties whose owners grant access will be surveyed. Stay tuned, folks.

farmdoc's blog post number 637

By lunchtime last Thursday all 340 decking spikes were in place. Each of the 66 decking plank has 4-6 spikes in it, i.e. a minimum of one into each of the four underlying bearer logs, with the wider planks getting an extra 1-2 spikes for good measure. Each spike’s eight inches (i.e. 203mm) long, with a 9mm diameter. So the new bridge is strong. Really strong. Roughly estimated, its load tolerance is 40-50 tonne. Better to be over than under engineered, eh. In early February the plank ends will be evened up and the side barriers put on. Then the new bridge will be complete.

As the photo below shows, the Blairs have also positioned giant log sections on the bridge approach – to which they’ll attach post-and-rail fencing. That’s it for this series of bridge replacement posts, folks. But I’ll do a final bridge post in early February after the job’s finished. Normal Farmdoc’s Blog postings will resume tomorrow.

farmdoc's blog post number 636

This pic’s taken after work on Wednesday 13 January. The Blairs worked really hard that day. They removed the two old bearer logs (see yesterdays photo; apparently one of them was almost rotted through), then replaced them with the new logs, then put all the decking timber in place. They milled the decking themselves. They butted up the decking. It will shrink in due course, leaving gaps between the planks. We could’ve driven on the bridge on Wednesday night, but we didn’t. So far the job’s been quicker than expected, with no major setbacks. Whew!

P.S. No compendium today. It’ll resume next Saturday. For sure.

P.P.S. Finally, as usual, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

farmdoc's blog post number 635

This one’s taken after work ended on Tuesday 12 January. Big changes’, eh. Two spanning logs (including the broken one) have been replaced. The pipe to their right carries the phone/internet cable across the creek. It was at risk when the adjacent log was replaced. But no problem – so far anyway.

P.S. No ‘List Friday’ today. It’ll resume next Friday. Hopefully the bridge job will be finished by then.

farmdoc's blog post number 634

This one shows the bridge at the end of work on Monday 11 January. Little visible progress so far.

The reason is that most of Monday was spent smoothing off the top surface of the giant new logs with a chainsaw – which took more time than expected. But the project’s completion remains the end of the week.

farmdoc's blog post number 633

This week Onemilebridge's bridge is being replaced. To commemorate this project, I'm taking time out from normal blogging. Starting today, each day I'm posting photographs of the job's progress. This one's of the bridge before the work began.

And this one shows the problem that brought about the bridge replacement project. Four large logs span the Mole Creek and support the bridge. The westernmost one rotted and broke.