More Wildlife Tails... oops, I mean Tales

So many creatures and so little time... actually, plenty of time, just lazy. Let me retrace my steps and tell you about my most recent walk in the little bush area down the street from our house. Karma, Sammy and I were walking back and getting pretty close to home. I'm very glad the dogs were uncharacteristically behind me, because 3 meters ahead and crossing our path was a red-bellied black snake. We'll call this snake, "Cheney." These are dangerous, venomous snakes which are fortunately timid. If they hear you (so make a lot of noise when you're walking) they will move away from you. This is a good thing. This "sighting" occurred two days after a colleague of Tim's told me that in 13 years he had only seen one snake. I assume this means I'm done for the next 13 years. One more note regarding these snakes, Sammy's vet told me that her clinic hardly ever sees snake-bitten dogs. That statement can be interpreted two ways... Anyway, a nine year old at the dog park this morning volunteered that his friend's dog had been bitten by a red bellied black snake recently. I asked if the dog was alright, and he answered, "Yeah, he's fine! ... Well, he lost some muscle control, but...."

On to my most recent echidna sighting. After being told that echidnas were shy, nocturnal creatures who are rarely seen in the wild, I couldn't help but wonder about the spiny little guy in the street just down from our house. At noon, I was driving down our street and in front of me was an echidna doodling around a gutter for a while until he crossed the street to doodle around that gutter. During his doodling, I was trying to take his photo with my camera phone. I mean, he was just 5 feet away from me! Just when I finally figured out how to snap a shot, off into a rock wall did the little echidna walk. Ugh. I had stopped in the road to watch the little guy and he seemed to care less if I was there or not. I can see why they are easy targets for evil minded predators - and I was totally determined to throw myself in front of any car should one threaten my little bud.

Tim is gone right now, and I am usually comfortable staying by myself. I am, that is, unless the dogs keep rushing to the balcony window in our bedroom barking and carrying on. The first five times I used my flashlight (I.e., "torch" here) and saw nothing outside. After that, besides waking up, I opted to go right back to sleep and let fate have its way.

Last night, however, I discovered the source of their discontent. At approximately 7:30 PM, I was watching TV in the "lounge" room. Suddenly, the dogs started barking and ran out to the balcony (I keep the door open). I figured it was a person or a dog until I flashed my torch up into the tree and saw a small bushy tailed possum! I was so glad to see one since the untimely demise of our last possum friend. We spent several minutes staring at each other and then Karma spent several more minutes staring with him. Finally, the possum slowly eased down the tree and was gone. Oh, and I forgot to mention his noise! Definitely, the "snorer." And when she/he wasn't making the snoring sound the pitch got higher. All the night cries now make sense.



The King Parrot. What a beautiful and friendly bird. He landed on the rail of our balcony this afternoon and hopped along checking things out. I offered some grapes (the Lory's favorite), but he showed no interest. When I brought out the bag of bird seed - alas, he was gone. At least I got the photo above - through the glass so as not to spook him.

An interesting place this OZ. So many creatures that can kill you, but so many charming and friendly creatures as well. It's fascinating.

Cheers, Judi