Imposed balance

When I first noticed this family of caterpillars munching away at a silver peppermint eucalyptus leaf, I thought it was “one” larger insect rather than the seventeen individuals grouped together.

This was because they had the habit of simultaneously arching their bodies upward from the head, giving the impression of some winged creature or dangerous spider.

Possibly it was a defensive gesture to make their “collective self” appear too large or too dangerous for any small birds flitting about the tree looking for smaller insects to satisfy their own appetite.

In a just, fair and diverse ecosystem there are enough checks and balances in place to make sure that there are sufficient leaves to eat, but not the whole tree; that there are sufficient caterpillars to eat and that there are sufficient birds (in particular, the kind of little bird that hops around on the branches searching out the smaller insects).

An increasing problem at Windgrove is the introduction of the feral cat and the feral kookaburra, because both diminish the populations of the smaller birds. Everyone understands that cats will kill birds, but not many people know that kookaburras will do the same.

The end result is that the leaf eating caterpillars are allowed to proliferate because their “natural” predator –the little bird– is gone and the trees get stripped of more leaves than is warranted with the possibility of the whole tree dying.

I, therefore, shoot feral cats and kookaburras.

They are not native to Tasmania and their introduction has caused problems in maintaining a healthy and diverse ecosystem. On mainland Australia, the natural home of the kookaburra, the goanna keeps the bird in check by climbing trees and stealing the kookaburra’s eggs from the nest. We don’t have this goanna in Tasmania, hence my decision to protect the littler birds with the rifle.

Living peacefully in harmony with nature is not always an easy task.