Rabbit-proof fence

Map of the State Barrier Fence of Western Australia

For the movie, see Rabbit-Proof Fence (film)

The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia^[1], formerly known as the No. 1 Rabbit-Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence and the Emu Fence, is a barrier initally constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits and other agricultural pests out of Western Australian pastoral areas, especially to protect local cereal crops. There are three fences which were built in Western Australia to control the rabbits; the original No. 1 Fence, which crosses the state from north to south, the No. 2 Fence which is smaller and further west, and the smaller east-west running No. 3 fence. The success has been marginal at best. When completed in 1907, the Rabbit-Proof Fence (encompassing all three fences) stretched 3 256 kilmotres (approximately 2 023 miles). The cost at the time was £337 841. The No. 1 fence runs 1,139 miles from Wallal on the Eighty Mile Beach south to Jerdacuttup in the Ravensthorp Shire. According to the recent film Rabbit-Proof Fence, based on the book of the same name by Doris Pilkington Garimara, the fence was used in the 1920s by three Indigenous Australian girls for their route home away from forced captivity.

History of the fence

Rabbits had been introduced into Australia in 1859 by Victorian grazier Thomas Austin, who imported 24 specimens from England and released them on his Victorian farm. At the time he had stated:

"The introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting."^[2]

Austin was to be proved highly mistaken; by 1894, rabbits had spread across the entire Australian mainland. Rabbits were discovered in Western Australia at Fowlers Bay in 1891, and later at Eyres Patch in 1896. The Western Australian Under Secretary of Lands sent Arthur Mason to see if there were any rabbits in the south eastern part of the state. He reported that rabbits had reached Eucla near the Western Australian border, and also 200 miles inside the border at Twilight Cove, near Esperance. Mason advised that a fence be built to keep the rabbits out along the border with South Australia. In 1901 a Royal Commission decided to build a fence from Eighty Mile beach on the north west coast to the south coast. The task of surveying the line for the fence was given to Alfred Canning. He began the survey from the south coast and ended at Wallal in the North West.

Fence No. 1

Construction began in December 1901. The No 1 Rabbit Proof Fence was completed in 1907, running from Starvation Harbour to near Cape Keraudren. When it was completed it was known as the Barrier Fence. The construction of a large part of the fence was the responsibility of Richard Anketell, who also surveyed the last seventy miles of the fence, which took from 20 August 1904 to 30 September 1907. In this time, he had 120 men, 210 horses, 41 donkeys and 350 camels.

Fence No. 2

Before the fence had even been completed, rabbits had made their way past the fence. Rabbits had been found west of the line in 1902. Two more fences were begun, Fence No. 2 begun in 1905, which is further west, starting from a point near Bremer Bay in the south. It is 1166 km long starting from Point Ann on the south coast, going to Cunderdin, 150 km east of Perth, it joined the first fence at Gum Creek near Murchison. There were not many rabbits west of the Number 2 fence until the 1920s.

Fence No. 3

Fence No. 3 which is a shorter east-west fence running from near the Zuytdorp Cliffs north of Kalbarri to meet with the No. 2 fence. The construction of all the fences was completed by 1908.

Maintenance

Alexander Crawford was responsible for the maintenance of the fence after taking over from Anketell when the fence was finished in 1907, and remained in charge until he retired in 1922. He was appointed Chief Inspector of Rabbits, and the area inside the fence to the west had been known jokingly as "Crawford's Paddock". The fence was maintained at first by boundary riders riding bicycles, and later by riders on top of camels. However inspection of the fence was difficult on the top of the tall animal. In 1910 a car was bought to do the inspection of the fence, but did not work after getting punctured tyres. It was found the best way to inspect the fence was using buckboard buggies which were pulled by two camels.

The camels were used as pack animals, especially in the north. While in the south cames were used to pull drays with supplies for the riders. Camels were ideal for this as they could go for a long time without water, and it has been suggested that the fence could not have been built or maintained without the use of camels.

Following the introduction of myxymatosis to control rabbits in the 1950s the importance of the Rabbit Proof Fence diminished.

Failure of the first fence

The fence did not stop the rabbits from moving westward through the first fence. There were parts of the fence which eroded underneath, holes in the wire developed and sometimes gates would be left open which enabled the rabbits to pass through it. Following the First World War there was a plague of rabbits in farmland in Western Australia. Farmers had to use individual fences around their paddocks, and poison baits, fumigation machines, and Trappers or even school children trapping rabbits for pocket money were even used to try and control the rabbits, with rabbit skins valuable during the Great Depression. Later "warren ripping" was used with a tractor or truck using a plough over a rabbit's warren to destroy rabbit tunnels.

Construction

Posts were placed at twelve feet apart. Posts were to have a diameter of larger than 4 inches. There were three by 12 1/2 gauge wires placed at 4", 1'8" and 3' above ground, with a barbed wire added later at 3'4" and a plain wire at 3'7" to make the fence a barrier for dingos and foxes as well. Wire netting was placed on this, which extended to 6 inches below ground.

The fence was constructed with different materials due to the local climate, and availability of wood. At first salmon gum and gimlet wood was used, although these attracted white ants and had to be replaced. Split white gum was one of the best types of wood used in the fence. Others used were mulga, wodjil, pine, jam and teatree, based on where it could be found close to where the fence was to be built. Iron was used in parts were there was no wood.

Rabbits in Australia

Main article: Rabbits in Australia

Rabbits were introduced into Australia with the First Fleet, although the plagues of rabbits are considered to date to the rabbits released by Thomas Austin in 1859. Rabbits are responsible for serious erosion problems as they eat native plants which would have retained soil. One eighth of all mammalian species, and many species of plants, in Australia are now extinct due in a large part to the rabbit infestation.

The project is related to but separate from the Dingo Fence.

In fiction

In 1929 an Australian writer began writing a fictional story about a murder being committed on the Rabbit Proof Fence. Before the book was published, a friend of the writer carried out a murder as described in the book. The trial which followed was one of the most sensational in the history of Western Australia. [3]

References

• Broomhall, F.H. The Longest Fence in the World
• The No.1 Rabbit Proof Fence
• Run Rabbit Run! Australian Museums and Galleries
• The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia Pandora Online Archive

Footnotes

1. ^ The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia (2001). Archived from Western Australian Department of Agriculture Centenary website