Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
play. In other instances it may impede the dogs' ability to survey a site. For example,
on one occasion, a well concealed rabbit took a last minute dash for safety just as
the dog was about to sniff its hiding place. This excited and distracted the dog to the
point that the survey had to be abandoned for that site until later that day, after other
sites had been surveyed and the rabbit forgotten. On another occasion, a herd of
young cattle following the dog (closely) on its survey got within distance to butt the
dog from behind and unnerved her so much she retreated to the car and wouldn't
comeoutuntilmovedtothenextsite.Consequently,thisdogwouldtheninfuture
wait in the car until the handler had chased any cows present away from the site
before being ready to start surveying.
Whilst the weather must be considered when managing surveys to maintain
searcher efficiency, extreme weather may also trigger the dog to want to finish work
early. In my experience with German Shorthaired Pointers, very hot days caused
them to slink off to the shade at every opportunity once the midday sun had peaked
and it was very difficult to engage them in their task during the hot afternoon.
Consequently,surveysinsummerbeganatirstlightandwereusuallyconcludedby
midday. This failure to perform in hot weather is likely to be at least partially attrib-
uted to the breed and also to the conditioning and training of the dog. Similarly,
whilst they worked well on very cold days, extreme cold with strong winds and
precipitation did not inspire their most enthusiastic moments (nor the handlers).
This factor simply reiterates the point that the handler must be able to identify the
dogs' willingness and enthusiasm to perform the task on a daily basis.
Summary
The expansion of the wind industry in Australia means that regulators and the gen-
eral public are more aware of the issue of bird and bat collisions with turbines and
there is a need to have this impact quantified. This places a greater importance on
obtaining consistent and reliable estimates based on surveys which minimise the
number of undetected carcasses. Reliable data on bird and bat collisions will allow
comparison between different sites to be made and accumulative impacts esti-
mated. In the case of a species at risk of population impacts, a methodology with
the ability to reliably detect a rare or isolated event can provide better certainty for
decision making. In essence, good quality data, which seeks to reduce errors and
bias in collection methodology is essential for good decision making and manage-
ment of a site.
Dogs are employed to perform a variety of tasks for humans and their success in
many fields is well known and documented (Browne et al.
2006
). The effectiveness
of dogs in bird and bat carcass monitoring at wind farms is supported by a number
of recent publications from overseas (Arnett
2006
; Paula et al.
2011
; Reitan et al.
2011
; Mathews et al.
2013
); however this methodology has not been adopted in any
significant way in Australia. Making decisions based on current research, the objec-
tives of the study and the specific conditions of the survey site will assist in develop-
