Packets attached to sheets are used for parts of a 
specimen (seed pods and so on) that fall off and 
become loose. Material arriving from overseas is 
frozen for eight days to kill potential pests. Special 
techniques are used for laying seaweeds onto 
paper, while mosses are dried and put into 
packets. 
We were shown a number of interesting 
specimens, among them Eucalyptus nebulosa A. 
M. Gray (Tasmania's most recently described 
eucalypt species—2008 (of which I was unaware) 
and Entoloma kermandii G. Gates and Noordel (a 
fungus described by former club President, 
Genevieve Gates). 
After we had finished looking at the preparation 
room, Eleanor showed us a number of historical 
highlights of the collection. These included its 
oldest specimen (a 1769 fern from New Zealand), 
a Banksia collected by Cook's botanist David 
Nelson in 1777, type material of Astelia alpina 
from 1804, and material which Gunn worked on 
(thus illustrating her excellent talk to the club a 
few days earlier). 
Other material included the Herbarium's first 
Tasmanian collection of a weed (dated 1832) and 
material by convict collectors like George Moran 
and James Lee, and by one of the earliest 
prominent female collectors, Charlotte Smith. 
Eleanor also discussed the obstacles to the early 
naming of some species, for instance, Huon Pine 
was not described until 1845 because of 
difficulties in obtaining fertile specimens. 
Also of interest were the notes (or in some cases 
monologues) accompanying some of the early 
material and giving an insight into collecting at 
the time and the sorts of people the collectors 
were. As anyone else who has worked with 
nineteenth century material will know, a lot of the 
fun is not only seeing what kinds of stuff the early 
collectors were getting and from where, but also 
coming across semi-decipherable scrawlings that 
say far more than just the specimens. 
This report has been written from my own semi- 
decipherable scrawlings so apologies if there are 
any errors in the above! 
Anyway I would like to very much thank Lyn and 
Eleanor, not just for giving up their time to take us 
on a tour, but also making the tour especially 
interesting by picking out some choice exhibits in 
advance. Kevin Bonham. 
Fox Eradication Program Update 
Dave Sayers, Community Liaison Officer, DPIPWE 
D uring the past year, the Fox Eradication 
Program (FEP) has commenced Stage 2 
operations with the implementation of a state¬ 
wide strategic fox baiting program that targets 
areas of identified 'core fox habitat'. 
Development of the baiting strategy was 
informed by recommendations from two recent 
independent reviews of the program and 
consultation with experts in the field. Delivery of a 
strategic baiting program has been recommended 
as the best chance of achieving fox eradication. 
While the specifics of the Tasmanian fox 
population remain an unknown (including the 
number of individuals, the age structure and the 
sex ratio), implementation of such a baiting 
strategy will provide the best chance of placing all 
foxes at risk. This is necessary to achieve 
eradication. The strategic baiting program has 
commenced in the south of the State and will 
soon begin in the north-west (late October). 
'Core fox habitat' is habitat that is highly suitable 
for foxes and is predominantly made up of 
agricultural areas and 
bushland. The decision to 
target core fox habitat is 
supported by the physical 
evidence collected to 
date which has only been 
found in identified core 
fox habitat. This evidence 
includes four carcasses, 
one skull, one blood 
sample, two footprints 
and 56 fox positive scats. 
The extent of the physical evidence has been 
expanded by the recent completion of the 
Carnivore Scat Collection Survey which was 
conducted across the State from 2008 to 2010. 
Phases 1 and 2 yielded 18 fox DNA positive scats 
from over 5000 collected carnivore scats. The 
scats collected during Phase 3 are still being 
analysed. 
The fox baiting program has been designed to 
maximise the risk to foxes while minimising the 
risk to native wildlife. The main way this is 
Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club BULLETIN 340 October 2010 p3 
