Tasmanian wallabies are forcing their way into poppy paddocks and getting "high as a kite".
The increasing trend, revealed in a state government Budget Estimates hearing, can explain the emergence of mysterious crop circles in many of Tasmania's poppy fields, The Advertiser reports.
The wallabies break into the paddocks, eat the poppies and start running around in circles, said Attorney-General Lara Giddings.
"We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles," she said.
"Then they crash … we see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high."
But the problem is not confined to wallabies, with growers full of stories about deer and sheep eating poppies and acting in a similar way.
"But as growers we try our best to try and stop this sort of consumption particularly by livestock due to concerns about the contamination of the meat," said Tasmanian Alkaloids spokesman Rick Rockliff.
"There is also the risk to our poppy stocks … there has been a steady increase in the number of wild animals and that is where we are having difficulty keeping them off our land."
Front page
RSS Feed