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| 'Stoned wallabies make crop circles' | 'Stoned wallabies make crop circles' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies and creating crop circles as they hop around "as high as a kite", a government official has said. | Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies and creating crop circles as they hop around "as high as a kite", a government official has said. |
| Lara Giddings, the attorney general for the island state of Tasmania, said the kangaroo-like marsupials were getting into poppy fields grown for medicine. | Lara Giddings, the attorney general for the island state of Tasmania, said the kangaroo-like marsupials were getting into poppy fields grown for medicine. |
| She was reporting to a parliamentary hearing on security for poppy crops. | She was reporting to a parliamentary hearing on security for poppy crops. |
| Australia supplies about 50% of the world's legally-grown opium used to make morphine and other painkillers. | Australia supplies about 50% of the world's legally-grown opium used to make morphine and other painkillers. |
| We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles. Then they crash Lara Giddings, government official | We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles. Then they crash Lara Giddings, government official |
| "The one interesting bit that I found recently in one of my briefs on the poppy industry was that we have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles," Lara Giddings told the hearing. | "The one interesting bit that I found recently in one of my briefs on the poppy industry was that we have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles," Lara Giddings told the hearing. |
| "Then they crash," she added. "We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high." | "Then they crash," she added. "We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high." |
| Rick Rockliff, a spokesman for poppy producer Tasmanian Alkaloids, said the wallaby incursions were not very common, but other animals had also been spotted in the poppy fields acting unusually. | |
| "There have been many stories about sheep that have eaten some of the poppies after harvesting and they all walk around in circles," he added. | "There have been many stories about sheep that have eaten some of the poppies after harvesting and they all walk around in circles," he added. |
| Retired Tasmanian poppy farmer Lyndley Chopping also said he had seen strange behaviour from wallabies in his fields. | |
| "They would just come and eat some poppies and they would go away," he told ABC News. | "They would just come and eat some poppies and they would go away," he told ABC News. |
| "They'd come back again and they would do their circle work in the paddock." | "They'd come back again and they would do their circle work in the paddock." |
| Some people believe the mysterious circles that appear in fields in a number of countries are created by aliens. Others put them down to a human hoax. | Some people believe the mysterious circles that appear in fields in a number of countries are created by aliens. Others put them down to a human hoax. |
| Are you in Tasmania? Have you seen stoned wallabies? Send us your comments using the form below. | |
| If you've got pictures, you can send them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here. | If you've got pictures, you can send them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here. |
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