Violet+Town+Rope+Bridge

Standing cockatoo on a bridge just far enough
A goanna crosses the rope bridge.

** Darren Gray **
The Age, August 8, 2009 FOR more than two years it has been bringing animals closer together. They have been using it to socialise, move house or leave home for the first time. And when the lights are out, some have been using it to look for love. It's not quite a social networking site in cyberspace, but for separated furry animals wanting some company out in the bush, it is perhaps the next best thing. Squirrel gliders [endangered in Victoria] and possums are regulars here after dark, while cockatoos, magpies and many other birds have been caught on camera hanging out there in the daytime. When it was erected in July 2007, the squirrel gliders of north-east Victoria were somewhat reluctant to use their new link - a specially designed rope bridge built to allow them safe passage from one side of the Hume Freeway at Violet Town to the other. But just as Melbourne motorists are increasingly embracing the tollways known as CityLink and EastLink, more native animals are using the $60,000 Violet Town rope bridge, toll-free. Nearly an hour south down the Hume Freeway, near Longwood, another $60,000 animal rope bridge is also attracting regular travellers. Now, a 21-month study of the bridges details the animals using the links and how often. Researchers have recorded more than 500 confirmed or likely complete crossings by squirrel gliders and possums. Given that more than 300 of the crossings were made by the endangered squirrel glider, the findings are welcome news to the pair behind the study, Rodney van der Ree and Kylie Soanes. Dr van der Ree, deputy director of the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, said he was pleased with the findings. The fact that they've found it and used it is a major success, he said. The fact that both of them are getting used regularly by a range of different species suggests that they have great potential for a much broader application across the landscape. He also said it was remarkable that a tree goanna (Varanus varius) had been photographed using a bridge. While the bridges are helping squirrel gliders and possums find friends and partners, it was a different kind of encounter for the goanna. One photo shows it making its way alone on a summer's day across the bridge, while another shows it looking upwards, aggressively, open-mouthed and apparently hissing at a swooping magpie above. Dr van der Ree said: I reckon there's no way that a tree goanna could make it across the Hume Highway on a warm sunny day without getting hit by a car, or causing accidents. To determine how frequently the bridges are used, 24-hour cameras have been fixed at either end of them. Infra-red beam sensors enable a series of photos to be taken to record an animal's crossing. Dr van der Ree, who is also an honorary associate of Melbourne University, said animals were using the bridge for a range of reasons. Some were going over and back in the one night, some over on one night and back the next, while others were apparently crossing the bridge and moving to new territory permanently. The research also indicated animals were crossing at locations where earlier radio-tracking studies had indicated that they were not. Dr van der Ree said the bridges performed a role that went far beyond protecting native species. You are removing animals off the road and you are reducing the risk of collisions, which is good for animals because they don't get killed, but it's also good for humans, he said. ''Every new major road project should be considering the necessity of putting up rope bridges for arboreal species. It's a relatively cheap cost and if you do it while you're building it, then it's very cheap.'' Ms Soanes and Dr van der Ree's report will be presented next month in America at the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation. The rope bridges are part of a project involving the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne University, Monash University, VicRoads and the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority.