As a young biologist, I began my career studying a variety of pest animals, most of which had, wittingly or unwittingly, been introduced into Australia. I began with foxes and wild dogs, later moving down the scale (in size, but not in significance) to rabbits and plague mice. In the course of my investigations, I had cause to work with scientists from the various states as well as from the CSIRO. As you might imagine, ours was a rather small and close-knit circle. We got to know each other fairly well. There were specialised “Pest Control Conferences” held every three…