Guy Ballard

How sad. Banning the use of 1080 (in parts of Australia) is really a blow against #conservation and #biosecurity management. People might think they’re fighting cruelty but they’re really condemning thousands of animals to horrible deaths at the teeth, claws and diseases of invasive predators.

Also great interior accent pieces

Let’s get #feralhorse skulls trending as landscaping features in Australia. Just one per house = no more feral horses… 🤔

#dingo (wongari) management on K’gari is complex. Consider how hard it is for QPWS staff to manage this situation. Many stakeholders, lots of media attention. Experts keen to weigh in. This is a wildlife mgmt issue with cultural, economic and ecological aspects to it. I wish them all the best.

Out for a walk? Carry a bag and collect some rubbish. Doesn’t matter if it’s at home or on holiday.

Parasite of the day (be nice)

Port Macquarie Creek (Home of many quolls!) Oxley Wild Rivers NP

Middle Creek. Oxley Wild Rivers NP.

A robber-fly takes out a Chrysomelid beetle. Biological pest control in action!

Eastern bearded dragon, Nambucca River, NSW, Australia.

A praying mantis ootheca on a native paper daisy was my ‘small find’ on the back paddock walk this morning. Christmas beetles are also enjoying several Eucalyptus spp. new growth but far fewer than last year (so far).

A study of introductions of large herbivorous mammals outside their native range suggests they do more harm than good to local biodiversity. Only 1 in 5 impacts is positive. Positive effects on certain native species often come at a cost to other natives. #bioinvasions www.unifr.ch/news/en/3344...

Thanks Guy!! As @benflips.bsky.social says "it's not rocket science, it's plumbing" #wildoz #esa2025

Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild: Spotted-tailed quoll Blue-ringed octopus Australian bustard Mountain katydid Stimpson’s python #biodiversity

Blessed are those willing to act in the face of environmental threats. Saint @judydunlop.bsky.social inspired all at her #ESA2025 talk on stopping cane toads in their north western tracks. All power to the WA toad ‘stoppers’.

Best line of the week at #esa2025 belonged to Tiahni Adamson during the #ESA2025 Indigenous Plenary: ‘walking together at the speed of trust’. We all need to embrace this, when working with others.

Incredibly galling to hear $400M to be wasted on shipping ppl to Nauru when we are decades under-funded for meaningful #biosecurity and #environmental action in Australia. 😭

Sound principle, now fund the necessary action Minister Watt. ‘we absolutely remain committed to the principle of not just protecting and reducing environmental damage, but restoring our environment.’ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

An interesting read. 🧪 Names can matter but the ongoing debate about #dingoes specific identity has temporarily obscured another more important issue: managing negative impacts. History suggests a ‘new’ name wont protect #dingoes from Australians who identify them as #pests

Although introduced red #foxes do eat endemic #possums no one expected this in one of our cage traps this morning

🧪 We were lucky enough to find these beautiful #snakes whilst checking our #possum traps this morning. I think they are ‘eastern small eyed snakes’ but happy to be corrected by any genuine herp-nerds.

🧪 Wonderful to be in the field with some students this week. We are trapping #possums for a genetic study as well as seeking recaptures from our marked population. The view into the Sara River catchment isn’t bad either…

Apparently some people think that getting rid of specialist admin. staff and making scientists (who get paid more per hour than the former admin. staff) to do less science and more admin (poorly) is ‘efficiency’. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so ridiculous. Really, who would do that? #science

🧪 Sat next to a legend at dinner. 50yrs integrating #science into Australian #agriculture Their observations? 1) We need food, fibre AND nature too. 2) More investment is required in the public service, not less. 3) Government worries too much re inputs rather than the quality of outputs.

Research samples!!! 🧪 7 #dingo heads and 7 #feralcats from a great trapper who supports our research by providing samples from programs he conducts for public and private land managers. These will be used by multiple researchers to inform future predator policy and management.

#wildlife managers. Ask yourself: 1) Are you qualified to make a decision? 2) Do you have the necessary data? 3) Do you have ‘authority’? Obtain all 3 by working with others and be great at what you do.

Without consistent funding, an end to short term contracts for our best young and mid-career researchers and support to implement best practice, we will absolutely continue to suffer economic and ecological loss from #invasive species.

Genuine question for Australian #bird #ecology On a recent trip I noticed Corellas and galahs dominating Casuarina spp. food resources I’ve previously observed being used by black cockatoos in and around northern NSW coastal towns. Any informed observations re competition? Is anyone working on it?

An assassin bug with ladybird prey. There’s always drama in the garden.

This summer many local #Eucalyptus trees are suffering from #beetle damage. First we had cockchafers, then Christmas beetles. In some areas 100% of trees are very badly affected. Hopefully, given reasonable soil moisture, there’ll be new leaves soon. 🤞🤞

Australia approved clearing of ~26,000 hectares of #threatenedspecies habitat in 2024. At the same time, incentives for private land owners to protect or enhance habitat remain ineffective. This is a trajectory we must change for everyone’s sake.

I had one inside trying to get out the skylight yesterday! Aren't they lovely!

Nice to make the acquaintance of a fiddler #beetle in the garden yesterday. It was hanging out on some native daisies.

Another day, another Eucalyptus sp. feast for Xmas beetles. They have finally made it to the E. dalrympleana (Mountain gums).

Brush-tailed phascogale has got to be up there as one of Australia's most underated fauna species. Don't @ me invertebrate people #WildOz

‘Stop crying and start sweating. Stop talking and start working.’ Still true today. RIPJimmy Carter.

Christmas beetles (Anoplognathus spp.) are having a wonderful time this summer.They are scarabs, locally associated with #Eucalyptus dieback. Here they are rapidly defoliating one of my E. scoparia (AKA Wallangarra white gum).

This dog vomit slime mould is having a lovely time decomposing these hardwood chips.

Notamacropus rufogriseus ('red-necked' wallabies). Rufus neck and rump. White lines on the face. Similar species include N. parryi and N. dorsalis