Day: September 14, 2023

Denzils Nature Challenge #26: Wild Animals

Welcome to my part of Australia on the east coast. On the edge of the sub-tropics with rainforest around one hundred kilometers up the mountain. A very bio-diverse region of Australia. Not all the wild ferocious animals that Australia is known for are around here. I’ll let you know where to find them…….if you dare 😂
* I didn’t start this post, with the length it has become, in mind, so if you are busy maybe have a look later. If not, maybe a cup of tea or coffee for the breakfast or lunch part of the world, maybe a wine or beer for the others.

First up, Australia – everyone knows Kangaroos. There are four types of Kangaroo, these ones are Eastern Grey Kangaroos who have a great chill spot in the beach park. The Does and Joeys are in the foreground with the big male Buck at the back

You still have to watch out for them. If you accidentally hit one in a car, you hope they don’t come through the windscreen still alive. Get out fast. I have seen photos of the interior of a car totally shredded

These are the ones I have around my house. Red-necked Wallabies. The little Joeys are ever so cute

But you still need your mother to make sure you look your best

I haven’t seen any Pretty-faced Wallabies around the place for a number of years

That’s right I have to do the wild part. This is what a wallabies front feet and in the foreground, rear feet. Notice the claws. One of their defenses is to sit back on their tail and rake down your body with their rear legs. Close in brawling doesn’t work either. The front legs are made for that. Being a herbivore I don’t think they bite.

Possums are nocturnal and don’t mind doing their mating shenanigans on your roof, any time during the night. Not a danger unless you startle one curled up in your bed or washing basket. Real incidents I know of.

I am always on the Echidna quest. Every time I find an Echidna they bury themselves, bristles out. Quite a beautiful pattern. A wonderful slow walking animal. When it’s mating season, you may encounter an Echidna train. A female being followed nose to tail by a number of hopeful males. I could tell you about Echidna anatomy but you can look it up for your self

Q. Do you know how Echidnas make love?
A. Very carefully 😂

Another wild animal is the Antechinus a native mouse. Here is a live release. I catch rodents in the house in case they are native and I can let them go away from the house.

Every now and then little micro bats get inside. Can see the size by the light globe its hanging on to. If they are inside at night. Turn off all the inside lights, open the doors and windows eventually they fly out Like this Lesser Long-eared Bat did

Back to a bit of cute but dangerous. Perhaps you are in a drop-bear region but don’t worry Koalas are not bears.

Sorry about him. OK Koalas They sleep for about 20 hours a day. Eucalypt leaves don’t have all that much nutrition, well that’s what Koalas reckon, so they save up all their energy to eat the next night. They are nocturnal as well.

Don’t wake a sleeping Koala. There is woken up grumpy and there is woken up Koala grumpy. Their claws are for climbing trees, very efficiently I might add, but if they decide you are a tree, just hope your bark is tough.

Also beware of Koalas on bicycles. If they hear about a new gum tree bursting with tasty new growth, Koalas are wont to get there helter skelter, hence the need for speed from their sudden short burst running of 30km/h.
It’s like the “oh no I feel tired” knowing you want to get to the snacks but need to rest and the next bus will be along in 20 hours!! Also Koalas aren’t the best bike riders

A new resident in my garden, a Northern Brown Bandicoot. This one has been attacked, probably by a cat and is injured but doing OK. I have been keeping an eye on it and feeding it every now and then so it will come close so I can see if the wounds are healing.
They are nocturnal so seeing this one out is a sign it wasn’t well. I haven’t seen it during the day for a week or so now.
Their diet comprises of insects, spiders, earthworms and other invertebrates, as well as tubers, underground fungi, seeds and fruits. They are efficient diggers as they look for food underground, producing characteristic conical shaped snuffle holes. I have holes everywhere and spend a bit of my day when I walk around filling the holes in.

Flying Foxes like to feed on fruit and their habitat used to be in the rainforests and margins. Now they like to enjoy the fruits of mans labours where they can. They congregate in large noisy smelly colonies during the day usually destroying the trees they roost in over time. Then they move on. These one are Little Red Flying-fox, the most common in Australia of the three other species

Now we are talking dangerous. Look at him. Terrifying. Ready to strike at any moment. The fearfully named Tasmanian Devil. “Devils have a reputation for being aggressive due to their famous threatening gape and for the range of fierce noises they make. Most of these displays however are used as part of feeding rituals or produced through fear rather than aggression.”
Devils are the largest carnivorous marsupials in the world, their powerful jaws and teeth enable them to entirely devour their food including bones and fur.

Here we have come upon the sealed section. For those who do not wish to see snakes do not open this slideshow, enjoy one of the cutest plant pots. Now off you go.
The rest of you have a look at:
#1 – Red-naped Snake – Virtually harmless and not considered significant. Weakly venomous but considered harmless due to inoffensive nature and reluctance to bite.
#2 – Green Tree Snake – Inoffensive and bites infrequently. Emits a strong odor from the cloaca if handled firmly.
#3 – Red-bellied Black Snake – the most venomous in this group. Reclusive disposition but will inflate and flatten the body and neck in an effort to intimidate a perceived aggressor. Bites from this species should be treated immediately and attended to with correct first aid. Its supposed fearsome reputation is well exaggerated.
#4 – Carpet Python – a harmless python. Bites may cause substantial lacerations or punctures
#5 – Carpet Python – face
#6 – White-crowned Snake – Not considered dangerous to humans. All crowned snakes are reluctant biters, relying more on bluff display than bite. They are weakly venomous and have tiny mouths and short fangs.
#7 – Bandy bandy – probably named by a scientists three year old. Weakly venomous with localised symptoms around bite area. Generally considered harmless due to small size of mouth & inoffensive nature
#8 – Don’t see snakes all that often but do see their skins every now and then as the shed last years skin.

SOURCE: http://www.snakecatchers.com.au/index.php

Now for a couple of new photos I found in my search. These little Rufous Bettongs used to be on my place every where. They are nocturnal as well. During the day they will curl up in a nest in long grass. I have had one shoot out from almost under my foot. Luckily I was close enough to home to go back and change my pants.

Another elusive animal is the Dingo. Quite shy, they will run into the bush when they see people. I had one that lived around the area and dropped into my place often. It never killed or harmed any of my chickens. One day I saw it looking at the chook house from the edge of the clearing, so I asked the Dingo “What do you think you are doing?” It just looked at me and walked away. This one never ran when I was close just walked away. Dingos are the largest mammal carnivore in Australia.

This is the best of a few bad photos. I have tried to clean it up as best I can

Sorry for taking a lot of your time. I can’t help myself when it comes to our natural world. I like to share what is here as it is rather unique.

SOURCE: https://australian.museum/learn