working from home as our public transport system is bound to ■■■■ itself in such high temperatures. Currently 38 in Essendon. Just stepped outside to grab a coffee and it’s like an oven, there is a breeze but it’s not cooling at all. Stay safe! I assume Adelaide is a fair bit better today?
30 in Adelaide currently. Cool change hit my area at about 4 this morning. Off to Brisbane this arvo for work so hopefully weather is ok up there
1 Like
Yep, good advice there.
From a wildlife care point if view, in the hot weather:
- put clean water out, in shallow dishes if you can. Make sure that small animals - lizards, small birds etc - have a way of climbing out if they fall in.
- don’t spray animals directly. Misting near them and letting the water blow onto them is a good way to go. Don’t saturate them though - lots of animal fur insulates when it’s wet, and a soaked animal can overheat very quickly. Set up a misty area and let them move in and out of it as they like
- if you’ve got an animal that looks like it’s in real trouble, don’t bother it if you can. Keep pets away, give it a saucer of water, than put something like a laundry basket over it and then drape a wet towel over the basket. The idea is to shield the critter from direct sunlight and create a cooler microclimate by evaporation. Remember to change the towel as it dries. If it’s a bigger animal like a koala or something, you may want to call your local wildlife rescuer, but they’ll probably give you the same advice I just did, days like this can be very busy. If an animal is non-responsive, don’t pour water into its mouth, you might choke it or get water into its lungs. Try to cool it down as above and then see if it’ll drink.
Ringtails have a terrible time in the heat. Flying foxes do too, and I’ll be spending the afternoon at the colony ankledeep in dead ones I suspect 
Don’t touch a distressed bat if you find one, by the way, unless you’re up to date with your rabies vaccines. It’s very very rare that you come across an infected one, but they can be bitey little buggers and lyssa is a bad, bad way to die. Call a wildlife rescuer or (in Melbourrne) Fly By Night bat sanctuary. Koalas can have a rough time, and frogmouths too. Anything particularly fluffy can be in trouble.
6 Likes
A balmy 21-22 here. Wasn’t really a cool change yesterday but the temperature dropped about 16 degrees in 90 minutes at 3.30pm.
It has been almost exactly 10 years since the horrible Black Saturday fires, 7 February 2009
Interestingly the fire danger today is not actually that high across most of the state. At least there’s not going to be high winds which is a blessing.
I think with Black Saturday people often forget that it unfolded exactly as the authorities predicted. They came out and said it was going to be a once in a generation fire day and warned everyone in the strongest possible terms but a lot of those warnings went unheeded.
3 Likes
That day was the worst day I ever remember in Melbourne. The wind was absolutely awful. Personally I happened to be playing cricket on Cross Keys reserve and we could see smoke clearly out to the north and north east. It was a horrible feeling.
As captain I wanted to call off the match as soon as the other team passed our total but some stupid rule meant both teams had to agree and the other team (■■■■■■ Essendon Cricket Club haha) wanted to keep batting. It was just madness. Thankfully most cricket comps brought in proper heat rules off the back of Black Saturday.
2 Likes
Hmmm, … blowing it’s fkn ring out down hither.
1 Like
Wildlife duty?
What do you do?
#Coolchange just arrived. 41 to 29 in 5 mins.
Nice.
2 Likes
Melbourne?
close the fridge door
5 Likes
Inverloch.
Melbs shouldn’t be too far off now though. Reached Geelong a good 40 mins ago
1 Like
Cant come quick enough
2 Likes
Still 100 in Horsham.
1 Like
My dog follows me out to the deck, realises she can’t lay down, and looks at me all confused.
Change has made it to the city
Much better out there now. Thought it wasn’t due until 3 so nice it’s made it earlier than anticipated…