…of Geelong 🙂
Note the little cotton-tail at the bottom of the Mayoral trousers? Many of the bollards along the Geelong foreshore include rabbits, a reminder that the first rabbits were released in Australia at Winchelsea, near Geelong by Thomas Austin (1815 – 1871) in 1859. He thought they would do no harm and be a reminder of home (England). Oooops!
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Comments on: "The Mayor…" (4)
So many animals and plants and diseases have been brought to this country by well-meaning people. One result has been the elimination of many animal and bird and plant species. So destructive – when so-called scientific research has seemed to show that they will be beneficial.
Nature is finely balanced and a new species – especially such a destructive one a humans – can destroy whole ecosystems in a very short time. 😦
Yes, we would hope that those ‘well-meaning’ people would have done things differently had they had any idea of the problems they would cause. The rabbits must have seemed like a great idea – food readily available in a strange land at no cost. And, for all our ancestors who survived on underground mutton through tough times, it would have semed like a smart move. Unfortunately, when it all goes wrong some things cannot be fixed.
Quite an interesting history of the rabbit in AU, Lancer! Mr. Austin obviously knew nothing about their ability to quickly multiply and destroy…perhaps he received a ‘cute, little bunny’ (which soon died) as a gift when he was a child, therefore relying upon a childhood memory to be relived; we certainly cannot blame this on Beatrix Potter, whose “Tales of Peter Rabbit” was not published until 1902!
I think much of the problem is because those ‘cute, little bunnies’ look so cute and cuddly. When the tiny babies started appearing on our verandah last year we often said ‘Oooooh’ but that has definitely changed to ‘Grrrrrrrr’! I wish someone had given Mr Austin a crystal ball instead of a pet bunny!