Back on K.I.> Dennis, our WWOOFER host, was also a host to several marsupials and reptiles. A haven for wildlife, at Dennis’ place we saw blue wrens (small birds… the males draped in bright blue), swallows, and wattles in the morning; once the afternoon heated up, goanas (ancient lizards related to the komodo dragon) roamed about; and in the evening a plethera of marsupials grazed the dry land.
The goannas are exothermic (cold blooded) animals, therefore were most active in the hot afternoon sun. They prey on other lizards, birds and birds eggs, and even snakes! They are very fast, swallowing the snake’s head whole before he has a chance to bite. In fact they swallow everything whole, as we saw demonstrated when they ate whole chicken bones.. just choking them down like there was no tommorrow!
Another reptile active in the afternoon was the black tiger snake. Nigel was curled up peacefully on the woodpile
most of the time, however some afternoons he would disappear and you had to watch your step! The black tiger venom in fatally poisonous, so we kept our distance. On the mainland, the same snake is multicoloured, but because of its isolation on the island, the K.I. black tiger snake is totally black.
Our favourite time at Dennis’ was the evening. Starting at about 5 o’clock, kangaroos and wallabies would arrive. These animals are classified as marsupial mammals, a different branch from placental mammals. The main difference is that marsupials give birth very early to premature young. A kangaroo at birth is only about 2 inches long! With the mother hardly noticing, the tiny baby crawls up the belly to a pouch where it suckles milk for around 18 months. In this time it grows exponentially, and nurses until it is able to forage on its own. It is thought that in the harsh, dry environment of australia, marsupials are better adapted because in dire circumstances, marsupial mothers can more readily abort their babies and save limited nutrients for themselves.
Kangaroos and wallabies are both Macropods. The main differences between roos and wallabies is visual size. Wallabies are usually smaller, with shorter ears and feet.
Our favourite marsupial was Peter. Peter is a brushtail possum (the same type of possum that was introduced to New Zealand and is rapidly destroying many native trees there). He stopped by most nights (only after dark though) to get an apple from Dennis. Dennis found Peter as a very young possum clinging to the back of his dead mother. Peter was hand-reared and then re-introduced to the wild (sort of.. if you count Dennis’ scrub as the wild). He is wild, but is also used to being around humans. Just don’t try to touch him without giving him food first.. he can bite!
Those were all taken right outside our door. The exception being the photo of the black snake. I never got a photo of Nigel, so that is a photo I took of a sign at one of the parks on the island. Looks pretty real in a photograph .
Thanks to Beth for providing more animal info than I could have ever hoped to.
What fun to have all those interesting animals just outside your door. I do remember all the kangaroos coming out at 5 PM. It was always fun to see so many in the wild.
Bethany does know all about the animals and always tells interesting facts about them.
Comment by jeremi clark — November 13, 2007 @ 11:08 am
haha. I figured Beth had a part in the information. Those are great pictures. The roos and wallabies must be like deer in NC. Meaning they are EVERYWHERE at night time.
Thanks to both of you for all the wildlife pics and info! Looks SO interesting. But, tell me more about the snake. It’s really deadly and lives under the porch? Is it sort of like a rattlesnake that might live around humans out west? Or is it more deadly? I’m guessing it can’t be too aggressive.
The roos are amazing! I’m glad you compared them to deer. That makes it easier to get a handle on where they fit in to the ecology. How do they walk? I don’t know if they hop or run or what. I love any and all pics you post of plants and animals.
We had a guy speak in church on sunday who works in a ministry to Chinese students at Texas A&M and has been to China a couple times himself. Turns out he has a masters degree in plant ecology and used to work in that for a while, so we found an extra common point. Maybe we’ll go looking at plants sometime.
Peter is adorable. Also, I like the baby roo hanging out in its mom’s pouch. Do you know if the baby roos ever leave the mom’s pouch while they are still growing?
We have some wild animals of our own over at Jon’s apartment. I found a baby kitten on the side of the road and it is going crazy. We don’t know if we’re going to keep her, but I hope so. Jon named her Meowser. She looks like Frisky. Miss you two!
Dad, the roos kindof use their tail like a leg to push off and gain balance, but they mostly hop all over the place. They don’t ever run, always hop. As for the snake, yeah it had a deadly bite. I think if you got to the hospital before too long they could give you anti-venom and you would be okay. It lived near his woodpile and we saw it sunning itself on many occasions. The times when I had to stack wood I had to make sure I made a lot of noise before going close so if he was there he would go away. He never seemed agressive though.
Claire, the baby roos will get out of the pouch and go back in. They are in there for a LONG time I think, so as they grow I guess they leave more and more freequently.
Steve, your possum comments are funny . I think you are just mad that an Aussie animal is taking over your country!
11 Comments »
Comment by beth — November 13, 2007 @ 12:57 am
Back on K.I.> Dennis, our WWOOFER host, was also a host to several marsupials and reptiles. A haven for wildlife, at Dennis’ place we saw blue wrens (small birds… the males draped in bright blue), swallows, and wattles in the morning; once the afternoon heated up, goanas (ancient lizards related to the komodo dragon) roamed about; and in the evening a plethera of marsupials grazed the dry land.
The goannas are exothermic (cold blooded) animals, therefore were most active in the hot afternoon sun. They prey on other lizards, birds and birds eggs, and even snakes! They are very fast, swallowing the snake’s head whole before he has a chance to bite. In fact they swallow everything whole, as we saw demonstrated when they ate whole chicken bones.. just choking them down like there was no tommorrow!
Another reptile active in the afternoon was the black tiger snake. Nigel was curled up peacefully on the woodpile
most of the time, however some afternoons he would disappear and you had to watch your step! The black tiger venom in fatally poisonous, so we kept our distance. On the mainland, the same snake is multicoloured, but because of its isolation on the island, the K.I. black tiger snake is totally black.
Our favourite time at Dennis’ was the evening. Starting at about 5 o’clock, kangaroos and wallabies would arrive. These animals are classified as marsupial mammals, a different branch from placental mammals. The main difference is that marsupials give birth very early to premature young. A kangaroo at birth is only about 2 inches long! With the mother hardly noticing, the tiny baby crawls up the belly to a pouch where it suckles milk for around 18 months. In this time it grows exponentially, and nurses until it is able to forage on its own. It is thought that in the harsh, dry environment of australia, marsupials are better adapted because in dire circumstances, marsupial mothers can more readily abort their babies and save limited nutrients for themselves.
Kangaroos and wallabies are both Macropods. The main differences between roos and wallabies is visual size. Wallabies are usually smaller, with shorter ears and feet.
Our favourite marsupial was Peter. Peter is a brushtail possum (the same type of possum that was introduced to New Zealand and is rapidly destroying many native trees there). He stopped by most nights (only after dark though) to get an apple from Dennis. Dennis found Peter as a very young possum clinging to the back of his dead mother. Peter was hand-reared and then re-introduced to the wild (sort of.. if you count Dennis’ scrub as the wild). He is wild, but is also used to being around humans. Just don’t try to touch him without giving him food first.. he can bite!
Comment by josh — November 13, 2007 @ 1:02 am
Those were all taken right outside our door. The exception being the photo of the black snake. I never got a photo of Nigel, so that is a photo I took of a sign at one of the parks on the island. Looks pretty real in a photograph
.
Thanks to Beth for providing more animal info than I could have ever hoped to.
Comment by Sheryl — November 13, 2007 @ 3:08 am
What fun to have all those interesting animals just outside your door. I do remember all the kangaroos coming out at 5 PM. It was always fun to see so many in the wild.
Bethany does know all about the animals and always tells interesting facts about them.
Comment by jeremi clark — November 13, 2007 @ 11:08 am
haha. I figured Beth had a part in the information. Those are great pictures. The roos and wallabies must be like deer in NC. Meaning they are EVERYWHERE at night time.
Comment by josh — November 13, 2007 @ 1:00 pm
Yeah, roos are all over the place at night like deer in NC. They are more fun to watch though.
Comment by dadman — November 13, 2007 @ 1:55 pm
Thanks to both of you for all the wildlife pics and info! Looks SO interesting. But, tell me more about the snake. It’s really deadly and lives under the porch? Is it sort of like a rattlesnake that might live around humans out west? Or is it more deadly? I’m guessing it can’t be too aggressive.
The roos are amazing! I’m glad you compared them to deer. That makes it easier to get a handle on where they fit in to the ecology. How do they walk? I don’t know if they hop or run or what. I love any and all pics you post of plants and animals.
We had a guy speak in church on sunday who works in a ministry to Chinese students at Texas A&M and has been to China a couple times himself. Turns out he has a masters degree in plant ecology and used to work in that for a while, so we found an extra common point. Maybe we’ll go looking at plants sometime.
Comment by Claire — November 13, 2007 @ 4:34 pm
Peter is adorable. Also, I like the baby roo hanging out in its mom’s pouch. Do you know if the baby roos ever leave the mom’s pouch while they are still growing?
We have some wild animals of our own over at Jon’s apartment. I found a baby kitten on the side of the road and it is going crazy. We don’t know if we’re going to keep her, but I hope so. Jon named her Meowser. She looks like Frisky. Miss you two!
Comment by Steve — November 13, 2007 @ 11:08 pm
Did I tell you about the time I got attacked by a possum?
Comment by Steve — November 13, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
Ps: I cant believe you think those possums are “nice” animals! They are horrible things!
Comment by Clara — November 14, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
I enjoyed the animals and your descriptions of them. It’s amazing to think they’re all just there in your yard.
Comment by josh — November 16, 2007 @ 7:18 pm
Dad, the roos kindof use their tail like a leg to push off and gain balance, but they mostly hop all over the place. They don’t ever run, always hop. As for the snake, yeah it had a deadly bite. I think if you got to the hospital before too long they could give you anti-venom and you would be okay. It lived near his woodpile and we saw it sunning itself on many occasions. The times when I had to stack wood I had to make sure I made a lot of noise before going close so if he was there he would go away. He never seemed agressive though.
Claire, the baby roos will get out of the pouch and go back in. They are in there for a LONG time I think, so as they grow I guess they leave more and more freequently.
Steve, your possum comments are funny
. I think you are just mad that an Aussie animal is taking over your country!
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