[Spike-A-Pike]

On alot of the newer boats have some pretty good sized live wells, 35 gallons seems pretty common these days. The one on my boat is around 14 gallons. Up in Wisconsin, there is viral hemorrhagic septicemia disease in Lake Michigan, Wisconsin waterways connected to Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes. To prevent VHS disease from spreading into other Wisconsin waters, it is illegal for anglers to transfer or transport live fish (bait or catch) from lake to lake. Basically all bait buckets, live wells, and buldges have to be drained on the boat ramp. The laws for noncompliance are harsh and so far the measures seem to be working as no new VHS disease outbreaks where identified for 2008 even with all the flooding.

[hazmail]

Bruce - I just googled 'VHS disease', thought it must have been the thing that makes my old tape player run slow ! !
No laughing matter, I can only imagine the fish losses in all those lakes there, and the $$$ losses attached to them- it's probably only a matter of time until we get it here. Sometimes I wonder weather these diseases (foot and mouth, mad cows etc) are not intentionally spread, to gain a market advantage by another country.
I know a few people who work for customs here, and the stories they tell of people smuggling in salami's, fruit, pets, pickled eels, you name it. There is big business in smuggling OUT snakes, lizards,crocodiles and all sorts of parrots, to collectors all over the planet, god knows what they are taking out with them.
Every few weeks you read about some get rich idiot trying to get something out, here's one guy who tried to smuggle eggs of "sulphur-crested cockatoos, nine were pink Major Mitchell cockatoos, and seven were galahs" - in the past week I would have seen 1000's of these birds flying around here, probably worth $1000 each over there, diseases and all. pete
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18885539-2,00.html

[Lincoya]

Originally Posted by hazmail

Gene, Hi- what a coincidence, I found a book yesterday, I think/hope you might like, will post it in the next week, so it should arrive for you to while away the winter, while I am enjoying the sun for a change - only 1 more month to spring??but it snowed on the mountains again yesterday. pete

A book?!?!? I hope it's has lots of pictures! Thanks. I'll look forward to getting it.

Gene

[clamboni]

Pete.......$1000 for those birds here is a VERY conservative estimate. Depending on how rare the bird is I've seen birds for sale for up to $30,000 US. And they sell. Usually anything black will sell for a lot higher, but there's a lot of rare species that'll sell for over 10k.

The Sulpher cresteds are pretty common, so they'll actually sell for around 1000, but the major mitchels would probably go for close to 10k.

[Vodkaman]

Every trip to the shopping mall in Bandung, Indonesia, I find locals with caged wildlife, lemurs, snakes, baby owls etc. selling for next to nothing. Some stuff you only see on David Attenborough documentaries. I find it frustrating, as they will all be dead in a few weeks.

You would expect in a tropical rain forested country like Indonesia, to have a dawn chorus like Australia (just incredible). Not so, apart from cockerels of course, the pain in my butt, I don't like being woken at 04:00 and they always seem to crap on my porch, not the owners.

What was the subject, oh yes, good luck with the boat Pete!

[clamboni]

Originally Posted by Vodkaman

I find it frustrating, as they will all be dead in a few weeks.

People buy the captured wildlife wanting a cool pet.......then they realize that wild animals just don't make good pets. It's a shame. I can't imagine my African Grey being released or just killed because some ahole thought it'd be a good idea to take a wild caught bird home.

[hazmail]

Clamboni - Black Cockatoo's like these?

[IMG][/IMG]

[hazmail]

I have spent most of the past few weeks waiting for parts to replace the tiller steering (cables, controls etc), pulled up the floor and got rid of a few mice, which were eating the polystyrene under-floor floatation - They must have got a shock, coming from balmy Queensland to freezing Calwell, a bit like going from Florida to Kansas City in winter (about 16 hours drive) – whatever it was, killed them anyway!! Originally the boat looked like a floating billboard, and it took a full day to remove all the stickers!!


I spent all the past weekend, cutting out bits for the tilt steering, if you ever have to do some turning with ¼ ” aluminium plate, and you don’t have a lathe, a router or lami trimmer will make an easy job of it – it’s the jigs that take the time.


These are all the pieces, now it’s off to the welder.


Welded while you wait, gee this Mig/Tig stuff is good, it all took about 15 minutes, and I was willing to wait until the end of the week for it.
All I need to do now is get the steering shaft turned down, tap a few holes in the bearing cap, and powder coat the tube – anyone got a fluid bed that will take about 3 foot of tubing?


Big lone Buck (about 6') watching through the fence at the welding shop.

Cost so far:

4” x 3’ Aluminium tube = $40
Assorted ¼” Al plate (scrap) = $ 5
Steering shaft = $ 0 from a wreck at work
One 19mm ‘tapered’ bearing = $5.40
Welding = One slab of ‘Melbourne Bitter’
(“Cans Please”)

Powder coating =$90 (Apx)

Will keep you posted. pete

[clamboni]

Originally Posted by hazmail

Clamboni - Black Cockatoo's like these?

[IMG][/IMG]

Yes, actually, I'm pretty sure that is the same species I've seen once........Thestore had two of them at one time. I want to say they were $27k each, I think the same person bought both.

[hazmail]

After the big bush fires here in 2003, there was quite a few of these around here (mainly Yellow tailed and a few red tailed cockotoo's), they came out of the mountains because all the pines (amongst other bush) was all burnt out, they used to roost near a fire station I was working at, and eat in a small pine forrest across the road - there were about 80-100 in the flock. I think the birds pictured are from further south of here, and are quite rare (not my photo), about 1000 birds left, so there is a big push to save their habitat. Clearing farmland here is forcing a lot of birds to the brink, mainly parrots, as they usually nest in knot holes in standing dead trees. pete