FLOODS AND FEET
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The extensive TV coverage of the flooded areas to our north has concentrated almost exclusively on the towns, and regrettably shown us little of how the farmers and their livestock are coping.
I well remember the consequences that flooded country can have on livestock from my experiences at Brewarrina back in the early 1990's. The flood waters on that occasion came with little warning and covered kilometres of that relatively flat country for as far as the eye could see. This was the situation for some weeks. The depth of the water varied from a few inches to a foot or two, and it proved very difficult to move stock out from some paddocks to higher ground.
One problem was that sheep with longer fleeces eventually became saturated so that the significantly increased weight the animal had to carry would lead to its unfortunate demise.
Helicopters lifting cages of a few sheep at a time was really the only way to get some sheep out. However, with mobs numbering between several 100 to a 1000 or more, you can imagine how time consuming and tedious that exercise was to carry out.
Lots of willing hands were needed to muster the sheep into a holding area and to load the cages. Handling heavy, wet sheep in such circumstances is not the easiest thing to do.
Because of the huge size of the paddocks it was impossible to walk through the water yourself, and dogs were of very limited use. Quad bikes were the only way of getting around and were always in short supply.
To be successful the sheep had to be moved within a short few days, which led to many missing out and being sacrificed. Governments are always slow to react and helicopters hard to commission.
The reason for the limited rescue time frame centred not around the sheep's exhaustion, starvation or exposure, though these factors were very important.
The main limiting reason was the condition of the sheep's feet. Sheep that have to stand constantly in water for several days will end up with severe feet problems. The hooves soften and swell, changes take place around the coronet where the hoof joins the lower limb, and eventually the hoof will begin to separate from the vascular laminae underneath.
This separation means that if the sheep were then driven or airlifted onto higher country, the pain of their weight on their hooves when they touched the drier and harder ground would be too much to bear.
The sheep would rush back into the floodwaters and stand there for relief, refusing any further attempts to move them.
Some may have seen a similar phenomenon with a horse with acute laminitis standing in a dam for relief. If not, imagine yourself bearing weight on a lifted fingernail or toenail!
Sadly, sheep affected to this degree are usually too far gone to survive.
Of course, ewes that are heavy in lamb may die beforehand from the onset of pregnancy toxaemia. Those with young lambs see their offspring perish in the flood waters.
Other problems follow floods too. Fly strike is often rife in survivors and a 'break' in the wool is common from the stress experienced. Feeding sheep on isolated islands is tricky too.
For all the above reasons farmers in flood prone areas very much value both any higher ground they may have, along with accurate weather forecasts so that they can take preventative action before the waters arrive.
RECORD TEMPERATURES
As I have mentioned on another occasion, our area has been experiencing a record cold Spring and start to Summer.
I was fascinated to see some statistics published by the Bureau of Meteorology listing some of our country's extremes.
The hottest NSW day was 50 degrees celsius at Wilcannia on January 1, 1939. Oodnadatta in SA topped 50.7 degrees on January 2, 1960.
Apparently Azizia in Libya reached 57.8 degrees in 1922.
Marble Bar in the Pilbara WA, suffered a world record for the number of days, 160, over 100 degrees farenheit (37.8 degrees celsius).
Its average temperature was 42.7 degrees during this period, lasting from October 31, 1923 to April 7, 1924. Only two years earlier it had a record 106 days without dipping below 40 degrees.
The capital city with the hottest day was Perth with 46.2 degrees on February 23, 1991, though Adelaide was close behind with 46.1 degrees on January 12, 1939.
Canberra was the coldest capital with -10 degrees on July 11, 1971.
The longest dry spell lasted 560 days at Mulyie in the Pilbara, WA from July 8, 1923 to January 17, 1925.
The highest rainfall in 24 hours fell at Crohamhurst, Queensland - 907 millimetres (over 36 inches) on February 3, 1893.
The highest rainfall in one year in NSW was 4540 mm (181.6 inches) at Tallowwood Point in 1950.
As I write there are areas of Europe experiencing their coldest temperatures in recorded history. It is -12 degrees in London and -32 degrees in Poland.
Several people have frozen to death.
An examination of the dates listed above indicates that not all global warming has taken place in recent times. In fact Europe could do with a spot of it now.