purplecatfish Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 My Holiday starts ... Now! 8) And it's my son's birthday tomorrow and I've got a week off to spend with him. yippee 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Whats the difference? :roll: Your Job seems to be a holiday anyway. - get to drive around in a personal Hovercraft - shoot birds at will - get to shoot off explosives...... If that is not a holiday.. then what is? :roll: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 :lol: Wok.. But does he get to spend a whole week with his son while he does the listed above? Anyway, enjoy your holiday purplecatfish, sounds like you and your son will have a blast together... 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Whats the difference? :roll: Your Job seems to be a holiday anyway. - get to drive around in a personal Hovercraft - shoot birds at will - get to shoot off explosives...... If that is not a holiday.. then what is? :roll: :lol: Is that seriously your job? I want a job like that!!!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zabman Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Where can you let off explosives around the airport? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Purplecatfish, May i ask what it is that you do for a living? Sounds like a lot more fun than my boring retail job :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplecatfish Posted July 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 My job is to stop planes from crashing. I also look after 1500 hectares of grounds and gardens and a wildlife sanctuary on Wiroa Island. I spend more than a million dollars a year. My wildlife hazard rangers use a birdfrite round which looks like a shotgun shell. It explodes about 70 metres away, with a flash and at about 120dB, to scare birds off the airfield. We also have a CAPA round which is fired from a pistol, has a range of nearly 150 metres and explodes at about 150dB. As a last resort we are authorised to shoot birds that pose a risk, but we'd rather scare a bird because it then associates the area with danger and will teach it's young. Dead birds don't learn. With the bad weather recently we have had the worst week on record. We used over 500 rounds in a week (approx a year's worth of ammunition) and placed about a 1000 mylar flags out on the airfield. And we had to double the rangers on duty. This was because 2000 plus Oystercatchers wanted to roost right next to the runway. The result: no birds collided with planes while the rangers were on duty in June. There are over 15,000 landings and takeoffs in a month. We've also just bought a Hovpod hovercraft to chase the swans away. With the drought earlier in the year, we had about 1000 swans in the Manukau harbour. They used to live on the Waikato lakes but because of all the sediment that the farmers dump in the lakes the aquatic plants they feed on have died out. Come Jan/Feb they'll be back and we have our guys out on the harbour once or twice a day chasing away from the airfield. But that's enough of work, I'm on holiday now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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