he's a good bloke hilldog

[marksman]

hilldog tv shows fire deer 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DegZjlzjYww

[Potatoes]

I reckon a bullet for some of those deer would have being doing them a favour.

Since doing ecology at uni Ive always had an interest in how the bush bounces back after a bit of fire. An interesting storey i recall is after the canberra fires, they were really concerned about an endangered quoll population. What they found was the population bounced back quickly off the back of an explosion in the rabbit population. I’d like to see if he does a follow up video in 3, 6, 12 months or so to see how that deer population is going and how that bush bounces back. And im curious to know whats in that grave.

[Stix]

Yep...nice to see someone who cares...

A nice touch at the end calling out the greedy opportunists...if his clip makes just one of them stop & think its a good thing...

Its confronting to see distressed animals...especially in such a vulnerable state like that, & knowing what they've been through...

Im a real softy & hope all the deer in his video, particularly that stag, (well--all wildlife that come out the other end of that) pull through & live the rest of their lives stress free.....& dont get shot...

Its very grounding to wander through something like that.
I did last time i was out...
Its amazing how virtually impenetrable scrub opens up after a fire...
There is no wsy id go through this mallee before it burned...
Now i just walked through without barely having to duck...

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A dead bunny warren with no signs of life...

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But then right in the middle where id imsgined there would be nothing, i found a lone hole that was working...

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Ants bounce back & get to work seemingly as if nothing hsppened...

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And on the edge of the mallee there was one working warren...unfortunately only 2 holes inside the scrub patch were working...

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Trouble is its all opened up now so cats & foxes get easy feeds cos the bunny's have to travel to feed...

Sadly i cant shoot the cats on this property...

This is only a small patch of mallee...nothing like in the vidoe posted here...but i saw a few sets of eyes in there at night that knew better than to hang around with me there protecting my last few bunny's... ...

I know they're just ferals, but i think bunny's have a place in our ecology now--as long as they're not in plague like history has shown...

Dont know what saying really... ...
Just expressing a bit of empathy in a moment of catharsis (or whatever its cslled) i spose...

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[marksman]

did you notice Stix that most of the deer were not burnt alive, there were bones ect but the majority suffocated ect

the area wont take long to rehabitate and regenerate l've seen where fires have gone through close to me that after two years look really good but after 5-7 they are just clogged up again and you cant see through the bush

l heard today those that squawk are trying to ban duck hunting this year because of all the ducks that perished in the fires
it will never stop

[Stix]

Yes i did notice that...poor things...bloody horrible way to go for any creature i rekon...

And yes i too have seen it once its bounced back...

Ive actually got some pics of a spot in the Mid North/Lower Flinders over here 7 or so years after fires went through...An old creeek bed was literally littered with eucalypt saplings from a foot tall to 10 foot tall...
The creek doesnt run, but does flow seasonally after heavy rain, and you could see these saplings were seed pods popped from the fire & then spread & germinated by the flows from the next seasons rains...
Im pretty sure it was 7 or 8 yrs on & you couldnt really tell a fire had been through other than all the fresh lush growth..

Its great to see that stuff i rekon... ...and although i kill animals...im still a big softy & find it hard to see any animal suffering.

That deer not going anywhere & just giving a half hearted warning stomp on this hilldogs video is one of those images i dont think ill ever forget...
.
.
.
So all the ducks that were lost---are these greeny sorts of the assumption ducks dont fly away from a fire or duck hunters...?...
There are bucket loads of ducks throughout the hills here...

I did get told the other day that the coming season is only a couple per day...
And more astonishingly, that there is no season on quail...

Where i go out in the mallee, there is more quail than there has been in many years...i could fill an esky now while out spotlighting...(well i probably couldnt because they'd be so hard to find at night... )

I was looking forward to some lemongrass quail this winter...