1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hi, I am Tracy B. Wilson 3 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,960 Speaker 1: that I'm Holly Fry. I welcome to the podcast. So 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: in our previous episode we talked about the Great Emu War, 5 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: and something came up in that episode which comes up 6 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: pretty often if you are reading about Australia, particularly if 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: you were reading about the state of Western Australia. It's 8 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: the rabbit Proof Fence, which I had known nothing about 9 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: before we got into that one. Now I feel like 10 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 1: it keeps coming up when I'm reading things about Australia. 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: There's also a film I have seen called rabbit Proof 12 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: Fence that came out in two thousand and two. It's 13 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: about some young girls who were part of the Stolen 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: Generation of the thirties who follow the rabbit Proof Fence 15 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: home to get back to where they came from in Jingalong. 16 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: I based on the book Followed the rabbit Proof Fence 17 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 1: uh And the score in the film is by Peter Gabriel. 18 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: I like it quite a lot. I have not seen 19 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: the film, but I will make a point too. Yes, 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: it is a little slight digression, but every time this 21 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: rabbit Proof fence comes up. I go, okay, obviously there 22 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: are lots of rabbits in Australia. Somebody put up a 23 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: big fence. What's really going on with this fence? And 24 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: so that's what we're going to talk about in this episode. Yeah. Uh, 25 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:29,400 Speaker 1: And first we have to kind of start with how 26 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: rabbits got introduced to the environments. Uh. And the earliest 27 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: European settlers to Australia, as most people know, we're convicts 28 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: and their keepers. But by the mid eighteen hundreds more 29 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: affluent English people were starting to settle there as well. 30 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: They a lot of them brought animals and plants from 31 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: home with them to try to make Australia feel more 32 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: like England. These people were known as acclimatizers. There were 33 00:01:55,040 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: acclimatization societies, including the Victorian Acclimatization Society, which was founded 34 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty one by Edward Wilson. So really what 35 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: they were after was to try to make Australia, which 36 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: does not feel like England in most places, feel more 37 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: like England. Yeah. It was their own weird version of 38 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,279 Speaker 1: terraforming to try to turn it somehow into an English countryside. 39 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: In a lot of ways this was deeply unsuccessful and damaging, 40 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: with this being one example. Enter Thomas Austin. He was 41 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: born in Somerset, England, and his uncle, James was a 42 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: convict settler who had been sent to Hobart Town, Tasmania. 43 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: James Austen died before Thomas and his family got to 44 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,519 Speaker 1: Tasmania in eighteen thirty one, but they all got money 45 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: in his will and many of the family actually returned 46 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: to England, but Thomas and his brother decided uh whose 47 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: name was James, decided that they were going to stay 48 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: down Under and make a go of it. In eighteen 49 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: thirty seven, Thomas and James moved to what would later 50 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: become Victoria. Thomas established the estate of Borrowin Park, which 51 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: was a forty two room mansion. Eventually he didn't build 52 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: that right off the bat, but eventually there was a 53 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: forty two room mansion there. It was surrounded by twenty 54 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:12,799 Speaker 1: nine thousand acres of stocked grounds. He farmed sheep and 55 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: raised and trained horses, among other things, on all of 56 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: this land. And he also really wanted some rabbits. And 57 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: he had married Elizabeth Phillips Harding in Melbourne on August 58 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: fourteenth of eighteen forty five, and together they had eleven children, 59 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: eight of whom survived to adulthood. And he also is 60 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: one of the people who introduced sparrows to Australia, which 61 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: also later became pists. So here we have Thomas, his family, 62 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: his wife living on this estate together really wanting to 63 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: introduce rabbits. Uh. There was a demand. They weren't the 64 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: only people who were of this mindset. There was a 65 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: demand for rabbits in Australia. Early acclimatizers had brought domesticated rabbits, 66 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: which did okay when people were looking after them, but 67 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: if they managed to escape into the Australian wilderness, they 68 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: usually did not manage to survive really well. Sometimes they 69 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: would manage to establish a little colony, get kind of 70 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: a foothold, but they didn't run rampant anywhere. They did 71 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: a little better in Tasmania and some of the other 72 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: smaller islands around the main Australian continent, but in general, 73 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: domesticated rabbits were not doing so well. No. Uh. And 74 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: Thomas actually asked his nephew William Mack to bring him 75 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: some wild rabbits in an effort to kind of bolster 76 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: the population, and William brought twenty four rabbits on the 77 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: Clipper Lightning in December of eighteen fifty nine. Eighteen of 78 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: those rabbits were feral, and they had just been trapped 79 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: and held in an enclosed warren. They weren't domesticated, they 80 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: weren'tccustomed to interacting with humans at all. Thomas, in an 81 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: act he became quite notorious for doing set thirteen of 82 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: the rabbits free. He kept eleven of them and fenced 83 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: enclosures on his property, and they multiplied as rabbits do. 84 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: Three years later, a flood destroyed part of his fence 85 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: and so some of those now huge population of rabbits 86 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: escaped into the Australian territory, which caused an explosion of 87 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: rabbit population. Yes, by eighteen sixty seven, rabbits were really everywhere, 88 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: and Thomas would have rabbit hunting parties at his estate. 89 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh went on a hunting 90 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: day in Barrowin Park that year and he shot four 91 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: hundred and sixteen rabbits and three and a half hours. 92 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: He reportedly had to have attendance on hand to hand 93 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: him new guns when the one he was using got 94 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: too hot because he was shooting too fast for his 95 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: guns to cool down between shots. By eighteen sixty nine, 96 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: the infestation of rabbits was causing property values in some 97 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: areas to plummet, and the rabbits themselves, we should point 98 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: out we're not the only ones to blame. Farmers were 99 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: actually clearing woodland and making it a much more hospitable 100 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:02,280 Speaker 1: environment for the rabbits to thrive in. Their introduction was 101 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: in Victoria on the coast in the far southeast of Australia, 102 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,919 Speaker 1: and they spread north and west from there. By the 103 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties, the government had started offering bounties on dead 104 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: rabbits because there were so many of them. And by 105 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 1: rabbits were in all or part of every Australian state. 106 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: They were the biggest nuisance outside of the tropical areas. 107 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 1: And so this was less than forty years after they 108 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: were introduced to Australia. They were in every state of Australia. 109 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: It's a big continent, it is. That's a pretty explosive 110 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: population growth for any animal, uh in less than four 111 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 1: decades to completely engulf a comment is pretty amazing, right. 112 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: The rabbits became prey for other introduced species like wild cats, 113 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: wild dogs, foxes, and dingos. All of these except for dingoes, 114 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: were introduced after the landing of the First Fleet, which 115 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: was the eleven ships that reached Australia from Great Britain 116 00:06:57,440 --> 00:06:59,919 Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty eight. A lot of people think of 117 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: dingoes as being native to Australia, but they really arrived 118 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: to Australia when humans did, about three thousand or four 119 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: thousand years ago, So whether to call dingoes native is 120 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: a subject of debate. Yeah. Uh. And in addition to 121 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: the basic nuisance factor that was going on and the 122 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: fact that the rabbits were crowding out native species, they 123 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: could also completely strip an area of anything they would eat. 124 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: That includes food crops that were intended for people as 125 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: well as crops that were intended to support the raising 126 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: of other animals. So this also led not only to 127 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: things going without food, but also really bad erosion issues. Right, 128 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: you can find pictures sometimes of really well maintained rabbit fences, 129 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: and on one side of the fence will be be 130 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: completely stripped of all vegetation, and on the other side 131 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: there will be healthy grass growing. So it's it's a 132 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: dramatic difference of rabbits versus no rabbits. They're extremely thorough 133 00:07:55,200 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: in finding every consumable element in an environment. And then UH, 134 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: the great idea happened to build a fence to help 135 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: with this problem. By the eighteen eighties, people were building 136 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: fences on their own an attempt and an attempt to 137 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: keep rabbits out of their property. Often this was not 138 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,119 Speaker 1: effective at all because there were already rabbits on both 139 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: sides of the fence, and also rabbits like to borrow 140 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: under things, and so even if there had not been 141 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: rabbits on both sides of the fence, the rabbits would 142 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: just dig a hole underneath and come up on the 143 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: other side. So eventually, UH construction was begun on what 144 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: what became the State Barrier Fence, and that happened from 145 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: nineteen o one in nineteen o seven, and this followed 146 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: a five month investigation by Arthur Mason which started in 147 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six and a Royal commission in nineteen o one. 148 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: So private contractors did the work on the State Barrier 149 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: Fence and then handed it over to the Public Works 150 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: Department in nineteen o four. The fence itself when it 151 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: was originally being built, was made of wooden posts, wire 152 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: and wire netting with gates every thirty four colm letters 153 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,439 Speaker 1: which is about twenty miles, and traps to try to 154 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: catch rabbits that did manage to burrow under it. Usually 155 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: the crews were cutting timber from the surrounding trees to 156 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: make the posts, and if there weren't any trees they 157 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: would use metal posts instead. UM. The netting for the 158 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: fence also extends underground to try to prevent burrowing from 159 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: underneath it, and they would coat the bottom part of 160 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: the fence too in the hope of keeping it from 161 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: resting out. So the number one fence runs from north 162 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: to south roughly through the middle of western Australia. The 163 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: number three fence stretches out east to west about midway 164 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: down the number one fence, and the number two fence 165 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: stretches north to south, dividing the zone created by the 166 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: number one and number three fences roughly in half. Yes, 167 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: so basically there's a fence running the entire height of 168 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,319 Speaker 1: Australia from north to south all the way down. UM. 169 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: The reason that there are three of them is because 170 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: as they were building, rabbits kept getting ahead of the fence, 171 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: and so they were sort of further sub viding to 172 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: try to keep the rabbits contained. What they wound up 173 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 1: with was three thousand, two hundred and fifty six kilometers, 174 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,679 Speaker 1: which is two thousand, twenty three miles of fence, which 175 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: cost more than three hundred thousand pounds at the time. 176 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: Like we said in the last episode, Australia was not 177 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: on the dollar for money at the time, so it's 178 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: a little hard to compare what that would amount to 179 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: you in today's money. Uh. And the fences fell under 180 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: the jurisdiction of I love this title. The first Chief 181 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,719 Speaker 1: Inspector of Rabbits, whose name was Alexander Crawford. At their 182 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: completion in nineteen o seven, he took over his Chief 183 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: Inspector of Rabbits, which is just the best thing to 184 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: put on the It's just building the fence was not enough. 185 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: They were going to then have to inspect the fence 186 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: constantly to make sure that it didn't get damaged or 187 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: burrowed under. People would travel the length of the fence 188 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: using bicycles, horses and camels to lick for breeches, and 189 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: there were huts set up periodically along the way that 190 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: people could stay in while they were doing this inspection. 191 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,559 Speaker 1: Once motor vehicles became more common, people did start using 192 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,960 Speaker 1: them to inspect the fence, but really in the beginning 193 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: it was bicycles, horses, camels or on foot, which is 194 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: a lot of fence to try to dis inspect it 195 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: is and they're, uh, we're not all these areas that 196 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: motor vehicles could even reach, so they had to retain 197 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: some of those slower methods for the those areas that 198 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:34,079 Speaker 1: just couldn't be um arrived at by car. And there 199 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: were other anti rabbit fences constructed elsewhere in Australia. This 200 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: these three were not the only ones. Now there's there's 201 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: the dog fence which goes it's very meandering, but it's 202 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:48,559 Speaker 1: in a roughly east west direction through South Australia, then 203 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: along the South Australia Australia Queensland New South Wales border 204 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 1: through Queensland and almost to the coast. It keeps dingoes 205 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: on one side of the fence and was put up 206 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,679 Speaker 1: when dingo attacks were happening so frequently that it had 207 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: become basically impossible to raise sheep. Um Also in addition 208 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: to their being multiple other sort of vermin excluding fences 209 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: is the broad category they fall into. The state barrier 210 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: fence also discussed uh the ters other animals than rabbits, 211 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:22,439 Speaker 1: such as emails, as we talked about in the previous episode. Now, 212 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: the thing is that all of these contracts, all of 213 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: these fences remain a little controversial um as to whether 214 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: or not they really work, whether their impact on the 215 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,719 Speaker 1: bio diversity of the areas outweighs um the benefit of 216 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: containing vermin, and so it's it's while they are doing 217 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: your jobs. In many cases some people question their validity 218 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: as maintained entity, like are we wasting our time and 219 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: money on this? But the Department of Agriculture and Food 220 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: in two thousand one decided that the fence was now 221 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 1: would now be maintained by the Department of Agriculture, the 222 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: Agricultural Protection Board, the State Barrier Fence Advisory Committee, local 223 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: shires and stateholders. So roughly every year the fence is 224 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: has about thirty to thirty five kilometers that need replacing, 225 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: and new sections have steel posts and more modern prefabricated knitting. Right, 226 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: So it's offense that's still they're still being maintained, still 227 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: attempting to do the job of keeping rabbits on one 228 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: side and not on the other side, or at least 229 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: fewer rabbits on one side than on the other side. 230 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,079 Speaker 1: And rabbits are still a nuisance um right now. There 231 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: there's a similarly controversial attempt to introduce diseases into rabbit 232 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: populations to try to curb their spread, and there there 233 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,439 Speaker 1: are lots of layers of the reasons why that can 234 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: be problematic or upsetting to some people, but that is 235 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: one of the things that's being done in an attempt 236 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: to keep their rabbit population from completely overrunning the rest 237 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: of Australia. So one important legacy to look at is 238 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 1: that of the man who brought rabbits to Australia. Thomas 239 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: really started to take the blame for the rabbit infestation 240 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: pretty early on. He was probably not the only person 241 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 1: to bring rabbits that eventually did multiply. Uh that that's 242 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: sort of unlikely, but he was really boastful about what 243 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: he was doing. He frequently gave breeding pairs to people 244 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: as gifts. Uh So, while it's probably not true that 245 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: the entire population of rabbits in Australia now is the 246 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: fault of this one guy. He was kind of taking 247 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: the hit he Yeah, he ragged about his rabbits a lot, 248 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: and and he made a name for himself that way. 249 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: He died on December eighteen seventy one, which was six 250 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: months after their mansion was finished. His widow eventually used 251 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: her money to open a hospital for what they called 252 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: incurables in eighty two, and she opened a children's ward 253 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: in so they know to have kind of a legacy 254 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: in Australia apart from bringing rabbits. All the negative rabbit 255 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: image is not the only thing that his family left behind, 256 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 1: which is good. Yeah, And it's also good to recognize 257 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: that while he's getting all the flak, probably there were 258 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: many other rabbit people who just did not make quite 259 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: the name for themselves that he did. Yeah, he was 260 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: not the only person that wanted to turn Australia into England. No, 261 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: It's it's very likely that plenty of other people were 262 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: bringing in rabbits as well as other species, right. And 263 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: that's the thing that you'll see in other English colonies 264 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: and attempts to make other places that are absolutely not 265 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: England like England. It's a it's a sort of a 266 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: colonial tradition and is absolutely problematic, but is a thing 267 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: that definitely contributed in a long lasting way to a 268 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: lot of parts of the world, for good or for ill. 269 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: And that's the story of the rabbit fence. Now we 270 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: knew he also has listener mails. Today's listener mail is 271 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: a listener postcard. It shows on the front a very 272 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: lovely picture of a coastline, like a hilly coastline, with 273 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: a village at the bottom of it. Um It is 274 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: the village of Actuan, which is a Native Alaskan village 275 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: in the Aleutian Islands. Less than a hundred people lived there. 276 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: Written on a coastcard, less than a hundred people lived there, 277 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: along with a fish processing plant. Sarah, who wrote this 278 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: to us, says, I travel to remote Alaskan villages such 279 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: as a two in by float plane, small planes and 280 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: boats to do eye exams. I work in the public 281 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: health service, so it keeps us very busy traveling to 282 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 1: the villages with all of the eye equipment three hundred 283 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: pounds and doing eye exams. I always bring you with 284 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,040 Speaker 1: me to put on speaker during my hikes to keep 285 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: the bears away. That's the best use of our podcast. 286 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: I think I love hearing about people who are using 287 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 1: the podcast to sort of do tasks that they don't 288 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: like to do. But scaring bears away is a new 289 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: and awesome one. Spectacular. So to return to Sarah's postcard, 290 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: thanks for keeping me entertained and safe. More Native American 291 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: and Alaskan stories would be great, Sarah. Thank you so much, 292 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 1: Sarah for this postcard. I love hearing about your hiking 293 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: and your bears and your eye exams. Stay safe, Yes, 294 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 1: please do. If you would like to write to us, 295 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 1: you may at History Podcast at Discovery dot com. We're 296 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,639 Speaker 1: also on Facebook at Facebook dot com, slash History class stuff, 297 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: and on Twitter at missed in History. We've just started 298 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 1: up a tumbler, which is missed in History dot tumbler 299 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: dot com, and we're on Pinterest. It's everywhere. If you 300 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: would like to learn more about what we have talked 301 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: about today, go to our website and type in the 302 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: word invasive species in the search bar, and you will 303 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: find five invasive species that might conquer the world. Spoiler. 304 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,960 Speaker 1: One of them is rabbits. You can learn about all 305 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 1: that and a whole lot more at our website, which 306 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:00,399 Speaker 1: is how stuff works dot Com. From more on this 307 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, is it how stuff works 308 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: dot com. This episode of Stuff You Missed in History 309 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: Class is brought to you by Jack Threads.