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Speaker 1: Students in Null and Boy. They're having to fend off

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Speaker 1: two pesky cockatoos that are terrorizing kids stealing their lunch. Now,

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Speaker 1: the school's trying to take preventative action, but it's not

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Speaker 1: helping the problem. And joining us on the line right

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Speaker 1: now from Null and Boy Christian School teacher out there,

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Speaker 1: Kayleie Thompson, good morning to you, Kaylee.

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Speaker 2: Good morning. How are you going? Oh? Not bad?

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Speaker 1: What are these naughty cockatoos doing?

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Speaker 2: It was actually more than two, there's just lots of them,

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Speaker 2: but they just they're just hungry. And when students leave

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Speaker 2: their lunchboxes out or leave food in their bags, the

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Speaker 2: cockatoos who have found ways to get in and get

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Speaker 2: it out for them.

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Speaker 3: Now it sounds funny, Kaylee, but it's actually.

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Speaker 1: Not like I've got a bit of a bird. I'm

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Speaker 1: a bit scared of birds, and if they were stealing

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Speaker 1: my lunch, and if they were right there, I'd be

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Speaker 1: like not going out. How are the kids responding to us?

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Speaker 4: They're pretty good.

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Speaker 2: Actually, they run and scream and they're really good at

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Speaker 2: looking out for their classmates. So from our classroom you

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Speaker 2: can see a number of other classrooms and they'll quite

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Speaker 2: regularly say, ah, I mistee, the cockatoos are getting in

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Speaker 2: someone's bag. Can I run and scare them away?

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Speaker 4: And or they come in?

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Speaker 2: Is going, oh the cockatoo's got my food again? Yeah?

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Speaker 3: How much food are these little buggers stealing?

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Speaker 4: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Anything that's left out? So we have they put their

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Speaker 2: lunchboxes in classrooms every day in the fridge and they

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Speaker 2: take it out to eat their recess and then they're

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Speaker 2: supposed to put it back in the fridge. But if

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Speaker 2: they leave it out, then that's there. It's gone. Between

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Speaker 2: recess and lunch. It's cockatoo's galore.

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Speaker 1: And so what's the school had to do, I mean,

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Speaker 1: aside from putting those lunch boxes, like making sure the

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Speaker 1: lunches are inside, is there other things that you've had

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Speaker 1: to try to do to, you know, to sort of

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Speaker 1: deal with these cockatoos.

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Speaker 4: So lots of the kids have what's called cockatoo proof

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Speaker 4: lunch boxes. So they got little locks on them that

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Speaker 4: they have to undo, which the cockatoos aren't supposed to

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Speaker 4: be able to undo, but they're pretty much just big

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Speaker 4: holes in them anyway. And we turn the bags around

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Speaker 4: so they hope that the cockatoos can't get to the

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Speaker 4: zippers if they're up.

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Speaker 2: Against the wall, but they've figured out a way to

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Speaker 2: undo the zippers. And yeah, I can actually from where

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Speaker 2: I'm sitting, I can see a cockatoo and it kicks

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Speaker 2: a school bag.

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Speaker 1: Right now, you've got part of It's got to admire

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Speaker 1: the lengths that they're going to to be able to

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Speaker 1: get the lunch.

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Speaker 2: They're actually incredibly clever.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 1: Now has the school had to start sort of providing

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Speaker 1: lunches or anything like that, then when they are stealing

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Speaker 1: the kids lunches.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really tricky, Like we don't have a school canteen,

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Speaker 2: and so I often how I've got a stash of

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Speaker 2: fruit and mosly bars in the classroom. But the kids

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Speaker 2: are really good at looking after each other. So if

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Speaker 2: someone's lunch goes, other kids all band together and go

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Speaker 2: you can have, you know, half of my sandwich or

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Speaker 2: you can have some of my fruit, and they kind

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Speaker 2: of look after each other.

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Speaker 3: That's nice. That's really nice.

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Speaker 1: Good, And it look it sounds like the school is

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Speaker 1: doing what you can, you know, to try and deal

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Speaker 1: with it. But I guess it's one of those situations

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Speaker 1: too where I'm assuming that, you know, depending on the

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Speaker 1: time of year or whatever it may be that those cockatoos,

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Speaker 1: like you said, they're a bit hungrier, or they're you know,

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Speaker 1: they're in certain places. Have you had like an animal

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Speaker 1: expert come out and have a look at their behavior

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Speaker 1: or how to get rid of them.

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Speaker 2: No, Like, we didn't even really think about it until

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Speaker 2: we had a bunch of workmen come over from Darwin

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Speaker 2: to do a job on our school site.

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Speaker 3: Yep.

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Speaker 2: And one of those workmen in particular, was just he

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Speaker 2: couldn't believe what he was watching, and he kept taking

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Speaker 2: videos and then he kept asking all the teachers is

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Speaker 2: this something that happens all the time. And it wasn't

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Speaker 2: kind of till he pointed it out that we're all like, oh, yeah,

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Speaker 2: this is kind of a big, big issue because it's

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Speaker 2: kind of around town too. That even one of the

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Speaker 2: teachers was just saying, yes, they she watched the cockat

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Speaker 2: you open up her red lid garbage bin and then

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Speaker 2: lift it up and put its head underneath so that

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Speaker 2: it could hold the bin open, and then was really

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Speaker 2: carefully reaching its foot in to get the rubbish out

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Speaker 2: while keeping its head in the list.

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Speaker 1: Wow, but this this is like an only in the

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Speaker 1: territory kind of story, don't you resolutely Yeah, it's so

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Speaker 1: wild and and you know you just think, like you said,

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Speaker 1: you've just gotten used to it.

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Speaker 3: The kids are just like, oh, well that's what the

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Speaker 3: cockatoos do.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, they just yeah.

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Speaker 2: They even get to a point where they say to

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Speaker 2: each other, oh, well, if you didn't leave your line outside,

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Speaker 2: and so it's almost like that it's just a given

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Speaker 2: you deserve it, almost not.

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Speaker 4: That they do know.

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Speaker 1: Well, So I wonder, I do wonder if there's anybody

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Speaker 1: out there listening who might, you know, might be able

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Speaker 1: to tell us whether there's something that can be done

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Speaker 1: to try and to try and help. But I get

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Speaker 1: you know, they are a beautiful creature and we all

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Speaker 1: love our wildlife, so I'm assuming it's maybe a bit

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Speaker 1: of a love hate relationship with the cockatoos at the moment.

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Speaker 4: I know there's people in town who have tried to put.

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Speaker 2: That water bottles on the lids that they're bin ye,

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Speaker 2: so that their lids are heavier and so the bin

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Speaker 2: can slip open when the truck comes, but the birds

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Speaker 2: can't quite lift it up. But you can't really do

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Speaker 2: that same thing with a school bag.

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Speaker 1: And we just like, you don't want to have to

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Speaker 1: be putting little locks on your school bags and all

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Speaker 1: sorts of stuff. Oh Okaylie, what's the like? Have you

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Speaker 1: how long have you lived there? Have you ever seen

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Speaker 1: the cockatoos this bad before?

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Speaker 4: I've only lived.

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Speaker 2: Here since January myself, but lots of people have lived

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Speaker 2: here for much longer. And the deputy principal here at

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Speaker 2: the school, this is his fourth year and he just said, Oh,

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Speaker 2: it's just it's been like this for forever. I can't

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Speaker 2: remember the cockatoos not stealing lunches.

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Speaker 3: The cheeky little things.

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Speaker 1: Well, Okaylie, the phone lines were lighting up before as

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Speaker 1: we were talking, so I don't know if there's somebody

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Speaker 1: out there listening who's got some background on how you

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Speaker 1: might be able to manage the cockatoos. But it sounds

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Speaker 1: like you guys have got things under control anyway. And

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Speaker 1: the different little bits and pieces.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, the things that you're trying to do.

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Speaker 1: But I would love to see a video of that

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Speaker 1: cockatoo holding a bin open with its head and then

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Speaker 1: using it it's arm to reach down and get it.

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Speaker 1: That's amazing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a few videos going viral on other other

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Speaker 2: news side. I think ant News shared one yesterday. I'll

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Speaker 2: have to go and have a lot of cockatoos getting

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Speaker 2: into school bags. I'm stealing moosy b so I'll have

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Speaker 2: to have a look.

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Speaker 1: Well, oh well look, I really appreciate you having a

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Speaker 1: chat with us this morning. I am fascinated by the

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Speaker 1: story and I'm sure the kids find it entertaining.

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Speaker 3: But not when their lunch gets stolen.

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Speaker 4: That's right, that's right.

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Speaker 2: If it's their lunch, it's a disaster. Somebody else is

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Speaker 2: quite funny.

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Speaker 1: Oh Kaylie, thanks so much for having a chat with

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Speaker 1: me this morning.

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Speaker 3: All the best.

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Speaker 1: Tell the kids we said, get a and and a

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Speaker 1: merry Christmas to you all out in Ulm Boy.

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Speaker 4: Thank you very much. I'll let them know thank you.