Inspiration

Tasmania: rarely seen road signs

January 30, 2011 by Clare M 7 Comments

Whilst we are on holiday in Tasmania I thought I would take the opportunity in sharing with you some of the great road signs we saw on our last trip there two years ago. There is quite a large Pied Oystercatcher breeding territory to the south of Hobart and studies were done on these birds in the 1970s and continue to this day. Due to the proximity of the breeding territory to the road several birds do get killed each year by vehicles. This sign has been erected to encourage people to slow down and let the birds have half a chance. I don’t think there are too many of these signs around the world.

Around Stanley there are Little Penguins that sometimes venture across the road, so this sign has been erected to protect them from oncoming traffic. It really looks like it needs a top hat on!

In the north of Tasmania we came across this sign south of Smithton, as a warning to the birds that may be feeding on carcasses on the road. You would not want to tackle a Wedge-tailed Eagle, especially if it was injured, so it makes sense to call someone who can and hopefully rehabilitate it.

The reason for there being carcasses on the road is fairly obvious from the following sign! We don’t all drive cars like that here in Australia.

Of course there is some other Australian wildlife to watch out for……

Has anyone else got nature orientated road signs that are rarely seen where they live?

Broome Tasmania

Written by Clare M

Clare and her husband, Grant, have lived permanently in Broome, Western Australia since 1999 after living in various outback locations around Western Australia and Darwin. She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe. She monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of Broome's coastline by bicycle and on foot. She chooses not to participate in social media, but rather wander off into the bush for peace and tranquility. Thankfully she can write posts in advance and get away from technology!

7 Comments

Duncan January 30, 2011 at 3:02 pm
I’ve got a kiwi crossing sign for a story I’ll be running in a few weeks.
Jochen January 31, 2011 at 4:17 am
We only have deer signs as a basic warning of “wildlife crossing”, that’s it. However, in the NE we are now (since maybe the middle 2000s) seeing more and more signs depicting river otter, as this area has a large population and traffic is seen as one of the main causes of mortality.
I am surprised they don’t have signs warning of Tiger Snake or Brown Snake crossings. In Namibia, one of the most commonly told … er … stories was of the guy driving with his window open and elbow outside who ran over a Black Mamba and the snake reared up and bit his arm. Of course he died a violent and uneasy death … 😉
Corey January 31, 2011 at 8:42 am
These are great!
I can only dream of driving somewhere where penguins crossing the road could be an issue.
Here in NY we pretty much just have ubiquitous deer-crossing signs, though the north country will eventually start getting moose signs.
Jan Axel January 31, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Pinguins crossing the road! I need to watch that!
Wes February 1, 2011 at 8:43 pm
Have to ask. Why did the penquin cross the road???
Jochen February 2, 2011 at 5:58 am
@Wes: because he wanted to get the Wombat on the other side.
Clare and Grant-Broome Western Australia February 6, 2011 at 3:05 am
We just got back from Tasmania and someone has stolen that penguin sign and it has been replaced by another one. This time it looks like it should be wearing slippers!