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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hobokenkitchen
Lol, you're right, the only one I KNOW was male was the bat - I have another pic that shows that beyond a shadow of a doubt!
My favorite wildlife are the Australian varities - I just love that they are found there and absolutely nowhere else. Awesome!
Definitely, Oz is the most unique of the continents.
Tourists who come here are always fascinated by kangaroos, koalas, platypus. To us they're just like your deer.etc, we're so used to them. I'm equally fascinated by seeing a bear in the wild.
Great Horned Owls (another reason we don't let the cat outside).
Yes, I just received a warning from a neighbor that they are pretty sure they and another neighbor both lost a cat to a Great Horned Owl. Our kitty does not go out much, and never at night.
That thing stood there just looking at me until I screeched to a halt. Then, without warning, it bolted for the trees at an incredible rate of acceleration and went UNDER a barbed wire fence without breaking stride. It took my breath away.
That's what I thought too, but just a couple of weeks later I saw a story in the paper about a rattlesnake shot by two kids on the Sabine River in East Texas which was 18 feet long. They had a picture of 5 grown men holding the thing stretched out.
That thought crossed my mind too, but I'll never know.
There are a lot of faux rattlesnake stories out there, sometimes exaggerations, sometimes typos.
I think there is a guy that has had a standing 100k reward for a rattlesnake 8 feet or greater and no one has collected it in 30 years or more.
Sometime they also stretch the skins and can make a 6footer look more like 9feet.
P.S. My favorite snake is the Bushmaster, a pit-viper that can grow to a staggering 12ft long in south america. It's like a python with fangs or a ginormous rattler without the rattle if you will. I've been a big snake fan for decades and have traveled out of my way to see them over the years. The Bush masters latin name is Lachesis Muta Muta. Lachesis is one of the 3 greek fates from mythology whom cuts your string at birth from a loom and determines the length of your life. Muta is spanish for silent. Yikes. Only about 6 places in the US have them on display because they stress easily and as such die.
Yes, I just received a warning from a neighbor that they are pretty sure they and another neighbor both lost a cat to a Great Horned Owl. Our kitty does not go out much, and never at night.
Loved the pics, Hoboken, especially the bat!
People poo-poo this on occasion but Great Horned Owls have a know prey list that stretches over 100 species and includes such animals as possom and racoon.
I have little doubt they can kill (instantly) small pets up to 30lbs with ease and I watch my terrier (jack russel and fox mix about 20lbs) closely since I have several great horned owls in the neighborhood. However, there is so much food for them here in suburbia that the dog is likely safe.
Note: They couldn't carry off something that big but the could kill it, drain it and carry off pieces.
Well let's see, I'll start with Oz too b/c it's my favorite place in the world to see wildlife.
1. Near Bundaburg, we saw sea turtles lay eggs on the beach.
2. Got to stay at a platypus viewing camp for a few days in the Queensland and saw pretty many of the little critters--they pop up to the surface and then immediately dive again so you can't see them for long.
3. Lots of koalas in the trees near the Great Ocean Road--I was glad we were warned about them b/c we would have been frightened by their antics at around 2:00 am--we called them "pigs in trees" after that because of all the grunting and bark shredding and all--those sleepy little animals really came alive
4. Saw lots of kangaroos and wallabys everywhere
5. Birds? Oh my--they were so cool--kookaburras and sulphur crested cockatoos were everywhere and lyrebirds were interesting. One of the most interesting was a little nightbird on stilt legs--cannot remember what they were called. I had sent the girls off to the campground pool--they were 12 and 14. Suddenly I heard this loud screech as if a woman was being raped. I started to run towards the pool and heard it again at my feet and it was that little brown bird!
6. Missed the penguins at Phillip Island b/c it was too expensive of an attraction and too touristy. Kept thinking we'd see some on the rest of our RTW trip but never did.
7. the turkeys--freaked me out b/c in the states, they are some of our most elusive wildlife and difficult to spot, even when there are a lot of them in one place. In Oz they are pests and the wild ones will actually come to your picnic table, in broad daylight, and beg.
8. Visited the Australia zoo shortly after Steve Irwin died and that was very sad. The zoo was cool though.
An interesting thing I noticed about wildlife in Oz is that you can actually almost walk up to a wild animal. You have to respect their personal boundaries, like a human, but they will tolerate this. Unheard of in the US.
In New Zealand we took a long, long walk on the beach and saw a sea lion and then a whole bunch of seals on the rocks. We stayed and watched them for a long time.
In Asia, we went and petted tigers at the tiger monastery in Kanchanaburi, Thailand and in Phetburi, we got accosted by monkeys who tried to rob us of our green mango snack. That was kind of scary as we'd opted out of getting rabies shots before the trip so we put the mango away lickety pronto. These were not little monkeys either--they were about 3 feet tall and all over the town and the temples.
Lots of llamas and vicunas around Machu Picchu.
And in my backyard when we lived in the country:
1. great horned owls and other kinds of owls
2. coyotes
3. Looked out one day to see a fox taking off with my meanest rooster
4. a potbellied pig came and took up residence for a few days until his owner came and got him
5. I could have sworn that a bear was in the woods one night but never be quite sure
6. an armadillo--these can run pretty fast
7. a whole herd of cows complete with bull came through one night
8. a mule
9. An emu chased my dd home on her bike one night--neighbor had a petting farm
10. and of course, plenty of raccoons, deer, and possums
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