# Lace Monitor Research Project



## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

The University of Western Sydney has been carrying out a scientific research project on Lace Monitors. This projects is headed by Dr Jason Flesch (lecturer in Animal Science).

I am lucky to be involved in this project with Jason and others in the Warragamba catchment area. 

The project aims hope to increase the understanding of the home range of wild lace monitors, about places they hibernate and movements they make using GPS data taken 12 times a day. This data gives us information such as location and elevation tracked by SIRTRACK sattelites.

Here in this thread is just a touch of information and pictures to get you excited. ENJOY!


Firstly we were staying at the township of Yerrandarie at the back of the Warragamba catchment area! An historic town which was populated heavily before the flooding of the burragorang valley when creating the Warragamba dam (Sydney's water supply).

We stayed at the old Police station which is used primarily by NPWS as accomadation when working in the area.


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

One of Yerrandaries resident lace monitors!


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

From Yerandarie,

We head into the Warragmaba Catchment area. (This area has highly restricted access and is protected by the government catchment authorities)


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

Firstly the traps are set in particular locations where Lace Monitor activity has been observed or tail drags have been found.

Animals are captured, measured SVL and Total Length, Weighed and kept calm in a bag!


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

From this point the animal is prepared for the fitting of the GPS tracking device, which is also fitted with a VHF tracker as so locating and tracking the animals is possible.

The tracker is placed in a sewn denim pouch and glued to the animal. This tracker is tested and activated and then once the glue has dried the animal is then released.


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## urodacus_au (Apr 10, 2008)

Great thread mate, make sure you post regular updates. What sort of costs are involved fitting the satellite trackers?

Jordan


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

So far we have 6 animals out there fitted with the GPS trackers. These trackers will more than likely be dropped from the animal after ecdysis of the skin and then we have to VHF track them to retrieve the GPS unit to enable us to download the information.

So far we have 5 animals that have retained their GPS tracker for over a month! Over the last 3 days we have managed to track these animals and find their locations (although through quite ridiculous and harsh terrain) using the VHF trackers.


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

Some more pics of the tracked animals. Some of the trackers have lifted slightly and a few animals have began to shed.

What was interesting was that animals were still able to be tracked in wombat burrows and under logs from over 2km away to their precise location which was encouraging as this technology is improving yearly.


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

A few more;


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

This project is in it's early days, and as can be imagined is expensive and labour intensive. The terrain is difficult and the methods are still being perfected but so far so good.

It is hoped with time that we will have several more animals and possibly with smaller animals as well using new mini trackers. 

The data we get from this will be different than other studies that have been done as the have relied on just radio tracking. This GPS data should open up some knowledge of their private lives.

Regular updates of this project and others will be made as results have been obtained. Please enjoy!

Special thanks to Nephrurus (Henry) who accompanied us on this strip and provided valuable assistance. Henry please feel free to add some of your photos to this thread.

All for now!

Cheers


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## Shonfield (Apr 10, 2008)

hate to be 'that guy'
but i think its cruel to glue a pouch to a lace monitors back...


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## hazzard (Apr 10, 2008)

Shonfield said:


> hate to be 'that guy'
> but i think its cruel to glue a pouch to a lace monitors back...



We have a DEC scientific permit and animal ethics approval to undertake this study using these methods. They have been used previously in many reptile studies. As mentioned in the thread it will simply be "shed off" probably in Spring!


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## pugsly (Apr 10, 2008)

Awesome mate, wish I could have joined ya looks like fun!

Nice pics too


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## alex_c (Apr 10, 2008)

great thread and interesting project.


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## alex_c (Apr 11, 2008)

Shonfield said:


> hate to be 'that guy'
> but i think its cruel to glue a pouch to a lace monitors back...


 its not cruel at all it will just fall off when he/she sheds next. you do realise superglue is commonly used for correcing problems in lizards right? such as baby beardies with a crooked spine etc it is used to attach a splint to correct it. so it is perfectly safe and humane.


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## Minka (Apr 11, 2008)

Wow great work hazz and neph, those lacies are beautiful... how did they go being caught?


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## $NaKe PiMp (Apr 11, 2008)

nice one hazza,careful those buggers bite lol


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## hazzard (Apr 11, 2008)

Hey Minka,

Some are aggressive in the cage and some are not at all. Generally the ones trapped on hot days in the middle of the day are the most feisty! The last one pictured on releasing was very placid didn't bat an eyelid.


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## Minka (Apr 11, 2008)

hazzard said:


> Hey Minka,
> 
> Some are aggressive in the cage and some are not at all. Generally the ones trapped on hot days in the middle of the day are the most feisty! The last one pictured on releasing was very placid didn't bat an eyelid.


 

Hahaha if i was trapped in a cage in the middle of the day id probably have heat stroke and be delusional


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## hazzard (Apr 11, 2008)

The traps are checked regularly at all parts of the day. Our permit insists on this. Traps are placed always in the shade. And Minka, your delusional without SUN lol!


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## Minka (Apr 11, 2008)

hazzard said:


> The traps are checked regularly at all parts of the day. Our permit insists on this. Traps are placed always in the shade. And Minka, your delusional without SUN lol!


 

I no hazz your nothing but a professional 

And very true hahaha you know me so well lol :lol:


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## snakehunter (Apr 11, 2008)

Well done guys, keep up the good work. I have helped out with a Eastern Bearded Dragon study similar to what you are doing, it's amazing what you can learn and experience from this.


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## chilli (Apr 11, 2008)

fantastic work guys, hope the colder weather doesn't restrict their movements too much for your results.


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## Nikki. (Apr 11, 2008)

Thats incredible! Looks like its a very enjoyable job 
Good Work


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## Chimera (Apr 11, 2008)

hazzard said:


> Hey Minka,
> 
> Some are aggressive in the cage and some are not at all. Generally the ones trapped on hot days in the middle of the day are the most feisty! The last one pictured on releasing was very placid didn't bat an eyelid.



None the less, Jas looks pretty nervous reaching into that cage


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## hazzard (Apr 11, 2008)

chilli said:


> fantastic work guys, hope the colder weather doesn't restrict their movements too much for your results.



Hey Chilli,

The restricted movement data is also what we want. Where they hibernate and how much they move in relation to temperatures. As it is an ongoing study, monitors will be studyied in all the different seasons. Our only worry is retrieving the GPS units once shed off. If it's under a big rock platform their will be a lot of digging lol!


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## Aslan (Apr 11, 2008)

*Hazz *- Awesome thread - will be great to see how the results pan out...


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## redbellybite (Apr 11, 2008)

HAZZARD WATCH THEM TAILS MATE!!!! seems really interesting lucky you .........RBB


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## pythonmum (Apr 11, 2008)

Great stuff. There was a beautiful monitor wandering through our picnic last week at Crosslands Reserve. They are awesome to watch, but we stayed a respectful distance from those claws.


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## hazzard (Apr 11, 2008)

redbellybite said:


> HAZZARD WATCH THEM TAILS MATE!!!! seems really interesting lucky you .........RBB



Yes they carry on a bit don't they. Lucky i was good over a skipping rope when i was a kid. They find it hard to swing the tail within the cage so all is good.


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## 888lowndes888 (Apr 11, 2008)

I stay in the old police station at yerranderie too! I work with one of my mates dad, Steve Coulter who owns Weld on Wheels who is contracted to catchment and has put the gates in at the crossover and all the fences out there. I was there last about3 weeks back and we put the new fence up stopping 4wds getting up to the old homestead. Im not a fan of the old cop shop bit of an eerie place i think. I probably stay at the police station once every month or 2 so i might catch you out there one day.


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## hazzard (Apr 11, 2008)

888lowndes888 said:


> I stay in the old police station at yerranderie too! I work with one of my mates dad, Steve Coulter who owns Weld on Wheels who is contracted to catchment and has put the gates in at the crossover and all the fences out there. I was there last about3 weeks back and we put the new fence up stopping 4wds getting up to the old homestead. Im not a fan of the old cop shop bit of an eerie place i think. I probably stay at the police station once every month or 2 so i might catch you out there one day.



Could very well do, we will be out there again in a fortnight. However sometimes we use the wollondilly or butchers huts for accomodation,

Ah so your responsible for all those friggin gates lol, we were whinging on the way out last night about how many there were lol!


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## 888lowndes888 (Apr 11, 2008)

Oh ok fair enough. We only ever use the police station unless we are working down the other end of town. Steve was saying that you guys were doing alot of research on the lacies. I always see them around the gumtree to the left of the generator shed. I think we will be out there again in the next few weeks. Last time we were there we caught Marty the caretaker (who left the other day) growing some plants LOL.


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## hazzard (Apr 11, 2008)

Heard about that, he like gardening and walking around in his dressing gown. We don't want the monitors that hang around campsites homsteads etc as there home range is affected by the food availability. Yes that monitor pictured is the one from the genny shed.

The UNI has also done this GPS work on dingoes and pigs in the same area!


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## 888lowndes888 (Apr 11, 2008)

LOL we were just finishing the fencing and he drove up into the bush at like 12 in the arvo and kept walking from his car to the bush and checking on us lol he then claimed he was just trying to shoot a fox LOL so we went and checked it out and there was a fence with freshly turned over dirt. He must have ripped them out before he ctopped getting access. He also stole all our bags of cement from out the front of the police station. Steve was also saying he thought you guys were testing the monitors thinking they may have mild venom in their saliva.


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## hazzard (Apr 11, 2008)

Not at this stage. It has been suggested by people who have been bitten by these monitors and we may have some pathologists interested in working on it.


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## Australis (Apr 11, 2008)

Good thread hazzard.


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## urodacus_au (Apr 11, 2008)

Shonfield said:


> hate to be 'that guy'
> but i think its cruel to glue a pouch to a lace monitors back...



Ah well, i think its cruel to keep ignorant, do gooder, neanderthals alive.....but hey, your still here....so many problems could have been solved with a bucket of water and an appropriate dunking action.

Great thread Haz, dont want to take away from it but people need to learn....however slow they may do it.....

Jordan


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## -Peter (Apr 11, 2008)

hazzard said:


> Not at this stage. It has been suggested by people who have been bitten by these monitors and we may have some pathologists interested in working on it.


er, bit late. Bryan Fry has already published papers on this.


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## hazzard (Apr 11, 2008)

-Peter said:


> er, bit late. Bryan Fry has already published papers on this.



Fair enough,

I just had a squiz at them. Like i said it isn't part of our project, it was just suggested by monitor keepers who probably have not read his work.


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## weskys (Apr 11, 2008)

good work keep it up


when i retire i would love to donate my time to research studies like yours

awesome job

cheers dave


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## redbellybite (Apr 12, 2008)

URO you like poking things with a stick dont ya mate .....................LMFAO ..........RBB (bucket job nice lol


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## jay76 (Apr 12, 2008)

nice photos hazzard. Looks like you had fun


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## hazzard (Apr 13, 2008)

Looks like we will be having one more trapping and tracking effort in a few weeks before winter sets in.

So i will post further reports then.

Cheers


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