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.

Golden Orb and Friends

This Golden Orb Spider, Nephila pilipes, is not actually on my face but they are very friendly spiders.As she moults to maturity she will become a really big spider. She will share her web with many other spiders like this beautiful but tiny Dew Drop Spider which you can see is aptly named.

Here she is on the web and below on the back of my hand.

Many other species of small spiders can be found in her web. They eat the things that are too small for her to worry about. Sometimes they suck the juices from her prey right under her lip.
The male is small but the same body shape as the female. His pedipalps or feeding feet are however shorter with clubs and hooks on the end. She does not get to eat him as he mates when she moults for the last time and is still soft.

As a young spider the Golden Orb is silver on the dorsal surface which is seen from below the web ..

.. and green, brown and black when looking from above, wonderful camouflage. At this stage she builds a horizontal web. Later as she morphs towards the adult form she will start building vertical webs.

She also develops the colourful golden knees at this time and the web takes on its golden hue. This golden colour is more pronounced in spiders living under dry conditions with less food. My impression is that the golden webs are stronger but I guess that they are more expensive in terms of energy to produce. Being more easily seen they can be avoided by birds.
This is a closely related species, Nephila edulis with her male in attendance. I think I would have to be very hungry to eat her.

Laughing Gull

It is no laughing matter flying from North America but when you have to do it under your own steam it must be rather tiring. This first winter Laughing Gull is spending the northern winter at the north Cairns holiday spot of Palm Cove. The photographs were taken by Jun Matsui.