Platypus

The Platypus is unique in the true sense of the word. Another overused word is icon but in this case I think it is apt to say that the Platypus is an Australian icon.
As an egg laying mammal it blongs in the sub-class of monotremes. The other living family of monotremes are the echidnas.Stephen Kolomyjec from James Cook University has been studying their genetices. To do this he must catch the animals. Here he is setting his nets in the late afternoon as most activity will occur around dusk and dawn.

Once a Platypus is in the net it must be retrieved. As there are no weights on the net there is no rush as the animal can swim to the surface to breathe. However Stephen is keen to avoid stressing the animals.

Holding it by the tail, he frees it from the net. Into the bag it goes. The gloves are in case it is a male. Males have a spine on their hind leg, linked to a venom gland. Envenomation can produce a lot of pain for the unwary researcher.

Back on land the young female is measured and microchipped.
Have a look at her front feet. Beyond the long claws the webbing extends to make a huge paddle. Most of the swimming effort is made with the front legs.
Once I was explaining to a group of tourists that the Platypus was the only venemous Australian mammal. A fellow towads the back said, "Bullshit," just loudly enough for me to hear. As we left the site I asked him which other Australian mammal was venomous. He turned to his companion and said, "He obviously has not met my first wife!"

Pretty in Pink

A pink bottlebrush has been attracting lots of attention and not just from the people passing by. Above is a Macleay's Honeyeater. This is one of eight species of honeyeater in the garden at the moment.

Flies and wasps also come to the nectar and pollen.

This tiny Trigona bee is stingless and lives in a hive in an old pot by my water tank. There are many species of skippers but I think this may be a Grass Skipper of some kind.

The Zodiac Moth flies during the day, is large and colourful with small tails on the hind-wing. New Guinea has a butterfly which mimics this moth and hence gains from the nasty taste of the poisons stored by the moth. Birds soon learn not to try eating the moth.

Below are two species of Jezebel Butterfly and one which looks like it might be.

Scarlet-banded Jezebel, Delias mysis.
Common Jezebel, Delias nigrina.

Jezebel Nymph, Mynes geoffroyi.

Ceiling Carpet

This is the carpet in my ceiling.

The colour patterns depend on the light source and the reflective surfaces near by.

Actually it is not carpet but a Carpet Python and to be honest she is too big to get into the ceiling anymore. As it is a warm place, it is winter now and there are sometimes rats there, it makes great home for a snake.

She is determined to visit her winter home but has grown too much at just under two metres long and ten centimetres in diameter, she cannot squeeze through the gaps under the iron. Here she is under the carport at the corner of the house.

After each attempt she has had to extract herself, rubbing the scales against the grain. What is that saying about stupidity is trying the same thing over and expecting a different result. While she is very beautiful I do not think she is all that bright.

What about this gap from a different angle?

And yet again today June 5th! In this far and then backing out again. At least this spot the wood is smooth and there is no mesh above the joist for it to become stuck on. At least I hope it does not get stuck. I do not want to have to take the roof off. Can you see the snake's head on the right of the picture?

Well, it is said that one should not focus on what one does not want!She got stuck. And after a night of struggling she was not in the best of health. Andy Mason, local computer whizz and 'snake man' came around to lend a hand. We loosened the screws above her and wedged up the roof. We removed the wire mesh at the left of the picture, hoping to remove her through that space. While she may have been weakened by the ordeal she was still able to take a firm hold in the wall space and we left her there. This was the last we saw of her.But she may not have been a 'she' as Maria heard slithering and banging in the ceiling consistent with snakes fighting. This happened last year and the noise was so loud with the two pythons knocking each other's head against the ceiling that we moved into the spare room for the night. A Green Treesnake of similar length but a fraction the diameter is living in the ceiling at the moment but I do not think it would be them fighting as the size difference is too much. We have seen the treesnake returning to the roof at about 0930 on a couple of mornings recently.

Onset of Winter Weather

On last night's nocturnal tour where we saw one Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo, 11 Brushtail Possums and two Green Ringtail Possums the sky was as clear as a bell. We had fun looking at the constellations of the southern sky which were new to my guests from the Netherlands. The constellations which they knew were upside down. It was fun trying to use their northern hemisphere star chart to determine the names of some stars I did not know. The challenge was to flip and invert the image in one's head to match what we were seeing in our northern sky.

A fog formed over night which stopped it becoming really cold and the warm sunshine has now burnt off the fog.

Death on the High Wire

Warning!

This blog contains images which will upset you.

Many animals die on barbed wire fences every year. Bats and owls are the main victims.

This gliding possum, probably a Squirrel Glider, Petaurus norfolcensis, ran into the top wire of this gate and died a long painful death.

You can see how its gliding membrane became wrapped around the wire as it struggled to get loose.
The irony is that this farmer has wildlife friendly fencing. See the top wire on the fence is a plain, non-barbed wire. It was only the gate which had the barbs on the top wire.

Baby Tree-Kangaroo Strikes out

Imagine learning to walk in the trees? "It's OK Mum, I'm a big girl now!"

This delightful series was sent to me by my friend Sandy Carroll. She often sees Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroos outside her bedroom window. Being able to watch then behave naturally is a rare privilege as these are shy creatures which are very aware of strangers in their forest."OK, now I've got this far what happens next?

"If I grab this vine over here will that help?"'Guess not!"

"Up sounds good."You can see that when climbing a vine, tree-roos use their arms to do most of the work and their hind feet act as clamps to stop them slipping down.

At my site the numbers have dropped since Cyclone Larry even though all my habituated animals survived the blow. there has been some social disruption with Jill being displaced by Sarah. I had never previously heard of a breeding female loosing her territory to another. Unfortunately Sarah does not sit in the open as often as Jill used to. Spider jumped out of a low tree when we were watching him last week. He went into a vine tangle so I am a bit worried about his health. We were not very close to him but as we had not been seeing him much lately, he may have been worried about us. Normally tree-kangaroos will jump if they feel threatened so it is best to give them plenty of space if they are not up high.

Birds on the move

But first a snake story. While taking a lunch break the other day I was sitting on the veranda with my back to the vege garden when I heard movement under my chair. This Yellow-faced Whipsnake had caught a small skink. The skink was dispatched and quickly eaten and my visitor moved off after more prey.

Bustards are back on the central part of the Atherton Tablelands. This was one of four in a peanut paddock on the south end of Marks Lane.

White headed Pigeons and Topknot Pigeons are visiting the Camphor Laurels in Yungaburra in flocks of up to 60 birds at the moment.

In the fruiting fig trees are Double-eyed fig-Parrots and Barred Cuckoo-shrikes.

Pacific Black Ducks do not migrate from here and some have ducklings. Most of the other water birds have moved further west to breed but it wont be long before they start to return.

It's good night from me and good night from him and good night from him and good night from him and good night from him.
Four Brown Gerrygones cuddled together for warmth and safety.