If you havent been to the Bluff lately your not missing much because most of the vegetation is gone yes friends gone . The idiots that are running the place have let goats wipe out 90% of the biodiversity . I went out out there in January and nearly cried . How could this happen in this day and age. The damage is irreversible there are hardly any shrubs left at all . When we were there we counted 22 goats foraging around the Bluff looking for more shrubs to wipeout , this is a disgrace . Anyone been down there lately and had a look .

BUT NO, we can't have any hunting as it is bad and the gun slinging rednecks will shoot anything and everyone, oh well we'll just let the introduced animals ruin sensitive ecosystems.
22 well placed bullets and the goat problem is solved, I'm sure some of the campers up there wouldn't mind a bit of fresh meat either

The problem is if you look above the stone cottage, there is pride rock like out of the lion king. We would drink our beers in the arvo and on pride rock the male goats would get intimate with the girls. They would chase them to the edge of it and if they didn't give it up tthey would get pushed closer and closer to the edge.haha
But seriously it was summer when you were there and in winter it does look different.
There is however at least a million goats,one of them broke into the cottage last time and ate our raw pasta. I was asleep in me swag and woke up to me mate yelling out, Oi shut up what are you doin. I told him to shut up and stop crunching whatever it was he was eating and the foods gotta last us another two weeks. The goat didn't say anything and I had to shoo him out which he fought. To be honest its a little intimidating trying to stare down a goat at three in the morning.

I remember being up there in the 90's with the army and some of the fellas would supplement their rations with a single well aimed shot. Very tasty those goats

That was one strange memory of driving around WA ... From Geraldton to Port Headland there were goat herds on the side of the road and across it every 15min.
It was strange I had never heard about them but they were everywhere, I guess the slightly better vegetation on the sides of the roads was what was attracting them as the rain run off from the road seemed to promote the shrub growth.

Quick!
Someone get our local eco-warrior jb onto the case!

Calling jb! There's an imbalance in the ecosystem that needs your attention!!!

Goats in the marine park again!

so..........................

Where is this place, who owns it, and can Mark get time off work?



stephen

If you don't want your shrubs to get eaten, keep them out of the goats natural habitat....

40 years ago, when working near Onslow, I can't recall seeing a goat. 10 years ago they were abundant in that area. An apex predator should do the trick. What's the dingo population like up there?

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LateStarter said..

If you don't want your shrubs to get eaten, keep them out of the goats natural habitat....

Um, goats are an introduced species...

mmmmmmmm ..... roasted goat leg that has been liberally smothered in Greek Yoghurt , Garlic , sage and a shizz load of sea salt in a Pizza Oven followed by copious amounts of cold beer

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Ian K said..

40 years ago, when working near Onslow, I can't recall seeing a goat. 10 years ago they were abundant in that area. An apex predator should do the trick. What's the dingo population like up there?

Teach the goats to surf and let the apex predator that we are starving take care of them.

Win win.

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thePup said..

mmmmmmmm ..... roasted goat leg that has been liberally smothered in Greek Yoghurt , Garlic , sage and a shizz load of sea salt in a Pizza Oven followed by copious amounts of cold beer

Followed by???
Surely you mean prior, during and after!

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Ian K said...
40 years ago, when working near Onslow, I can't recall seeing a goat. 10 years ago they were abundant in that area. An apex predator should do the trick. What's the dingo population like up there?

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Chris6791 said..

LateStarter said..

If you don't want your shrubs to get eaten, keep them out of the goats natural habitat....

Um, goats are an introduced species...

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LateStarter said..
If you don't want your shrubs to get eaten, keep them out of the goats natural habitat....

Clever

Doesn't look like there's much left for them to eat.

Don't worry. They'll die soon.

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evlPanda said..
Doesn't look like there's much left for them to eat.

Don't worry. They'll die soon.

No, like sharks have, they will turn on us soon.

went past the turnoff 2 weeks ago , them goats is outa control!!!

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Cassa said...
went past the turnoff 2 weeks ago , them goats is outa control!!!

They sure are out of control . The problem is enough isn't being done by the station leaseholders because the goats are worth money to them . They just play the blame game and dont really care about the environment . Goats were declared invasive pests in 1966 and in 2002 the pastoral lobby got the laws changed because of the potential of the live goat export market . They said it would be the saviour of the poor pastoralists on the rangelands . Now thats over the goats are still there . I guess there waiting for the market to come back so they are reluctant to shoot them . The Bluff is a special tourism lease you'd think the leaseholder would want to keep it in good condition , he's been aware of this for a long time and has failed in his duty of care to the environment . Negligent land management practices . Have a look at a facebook page called ' friends of the Bluff ' there are lots of before and after shots of the damage and info on whats been allowed to happen .

Camp of the Goat.

Seriously though it does seem an easy solution to fix them up or even fence the place off maybee. Goat soup. I wonder if you can milk the buggers. That would save having to use that powdered stuff in the morning brew.

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Mark _australia said...

LateStarter said..
If you don't want your shrubs to get eaten, keep them out of the goats natural habitat....

Clever





By using mock as a form of communication you showing everyone that you dont have anything worthwhile to contribute to the debate.

How many people out there have seen goats stripping the bushes at 3 mile camp at Gnarloo ?. They've been a big problem up there aswell and the leaseholder is reluctant to shoot them because goats are worth money . Money for jam goats need no care just water that they get from station mills .

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Leprechaun said..

By using mock as a form of communication you showing everyone that you dont have anything worthwhile to contribute to the debate.

I think given the chance, Mark, myself and a few others that post on this forum would happily do more than just debate about the problem.

But- as you said, as long as the station lease holder thinks the goats are an asset, all that will happen is debate.meanwhile- the goats will keep munching away, and breeding.

If you can convine CALM/ DEC/ DPAW [or whatever they are called this week] to declare goats feral, then the leaseholder will have to act.
Every lease I have read states that the leaseholder is responsible for controlling feral animals / declared vermin.
Failing to do so is grounds for the lease to be cancelled [although I have never heard of this being done]

In my opinion, if the station isnt actively making use of the stock on thier property, and the stock are causing damage - they should be forced to either get them under control, move them to a property where they are wanted, kill them, or get booted off the property for environmental vandalism.

stephen

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Chris6791 said...

LateStarter said..

If you don't want your shrubs to get eaten, keep them out of the goats natural habitat....

Um, goats are an introduced species...

Seabreeze needs to introduce a sarcastic font apparently..

The cockies get $50 a head for them and all they have to do is round 'em up and stick 'em on a truck to the abbatiors.
They call call it white gold.
Yeeehawww

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sn said...

Leprechaun said..

By using mock as a form of communication you showing everyone that you dont have anything worthwhile to contribute to the debate.

I think given the chance, Mark, myself and a few others that post on this forum would happily do more than just debate about the problem.

But- as you said, as long as the station lease holder thinks the goats are an asset, all that will happen is debate.meanwhile- the goats will keep munching away, and breeding.

If you can convine CALM/ DEC/ DPAW [or whatever they are called this week] to declare goats feral, then the leaseholder will have to act.
Every lease I have read states that the leaseholder is responsible for controlling feral animals / declared vermin.
Failing to do so is grounds for the lease to be cancelled [although I have never heard of this being done]

In my opinion, if the station isnt actively making use of the stock on thier property, and the stock are causing damage - they should be forced to either get them under control, move them to a property where they are wanted, kill them, or get booted off the property for environmental vandalism.

stephen

Ive explored the DEC avenue and they have no jurisdiction over these special tourism leases . They referred me to the dept of lands who seem to hold the best interests of the pastoralists over the best interests of the environment . If you would like to voice any concerns over the future of the coast up there contact minister.redman@dpc.wa.gov.au . I wrote to him and sent pics and to date have not recieved a response . As one post correctly pointed out why would you shoot something that is worth $50 . A responsible land manager would but the managers of Quobba and Gnaraloo are greedy and dont give hoot .

Last time I went up that way... goat curry.



Then a loverly roasted front leg & ribs, slow bbqd for 6 hrs with liberal splashings of evoo, home grown garlic, thyme and rosemary.




Followed by a deboned rear quarter, slow bbqd with a home made harissa paste and morrocan butter rub.




Next one's waiting in the freezer

Sounds like a great recipie Rob but what is the relevance to the topic ?

These photographs are 3 years apart