In fact, I'm pretty sure i've seen a dinosaur. Some Aussies told me it was a big monitor lizard but it looked mighty like a dinosaur from where I was stood. A little bit of googling will tell you just how big monitor lizards can get. A guy who ran a campsite where there was quite a lot of big ones told me that he'd seen a goanna eat a snake, and then a 1.5m long monitor lizard immediately eat the goanna. It took a while to digest it apparently. Not sure how long i'd have hung around once the snake appeared, but the guy I was speaking to, let's call him Dundee, used to catch crocodiles for a job, so snakes are probably a little tame. No joke. I quote "Used to catch crocs, y'know, with a net, up at Cape York." I guess running a campsite is a little dull after that.
Since late August I've been in Western Australia, which is pretty big, and doesn't have much in the way of towns, so there's a lot of WILDlife. It's not always possible to get the best photos - for example, I didn't stick around with the camera when a large snake was spotted!
Anyway, here's a few pictures with some of the creatures encountered so far...
Not sure which way up this one should be! Koalas are incredibly lazy, even more so than most of you! They sleep for about 23 hours a day, so to see them moving is pretty special. It went something like this: Wake uo\p, yawn, stretch, have a nap, wake up again, have a scratch, soooo tiring, best nap again... wake up, a little hungry... eat some eucalytpus leaves, sleep some more... It's a patient game. They do have a good excuse - the eucalyptus is very hard to digest as it is virtually all fibre. It woudn't agree with us!
Seen a lot of crazy sea creatures - check out 'Just keep swimming' - These crabs came in yellow and purple varieties and were about 20cm across.
Had to get a few Kangaroos in! Seen loads of these. Some of the males (Bucks) get up to 2m tall. The joeys (little ones) live in the pouches until they are fully weaned at about 8 months old, and suprisingly big. Must be quite a weight for the mums to carry around!
See 'Getting Around' for some more Kangaroo info...
Maybe not the time for a swim...? This is the type of crocodiles that are really dangerous - saltwater (salties). Freshies are not quite so lethal, more just a leg biter than a full on person gobbler...
Hmmm... These don't look so much fun either...
Panic over! They're dolphins! This a mum and calf pair, called Puck and Samu. Puck is one of five female dolphins that visits the beach at Monkey Mia on Shark Bay - literally swims right into the shallows. In the mornings, if the dolphins visit, they are fed a very small amount of fish by the rangers. This started over 30 years ago when dolphins would swim in to collect fish scraps dropped by the fisherman of Monkey Mia. Unfortunately, for a long time the dolphins were overfed, and some forgot how to feed themselves. Now that the feeding properly regulated, the scheme provides the opportunity to study the dolphins and the family trees of the Shark Bay dolphins. Only grown-up females are fed, and only 10% of their daily food requirement. Why do you think it is a good thing that they are not fed more? Why is it so important that the calves are not fed? If you are interested in the Monkey Mia dolphins check out the link below or use a search engine: http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/component/option,com_hotproperty/task,view/id,52/Itemid,755/
Hope you liked the pictures, some other animals that haven't stood still long enough to have their photo taken include:
Parrots - lots of these everywhere
Huge Eagles - often hovering over the roads, looking for roadkill
Galahs - like Darl on Neighbours soap fans
Various large insects - just like the bush tucker trials!
Camels - at Broome beach and Monkey Mia beach
Wallabies - similar to Kangaroos but much smaller heads
Emus - including an Emu mum and 6 little baby emus.
Pelicans - big beaks!
Will try and get some more photos up soon
Hope you liked the pictures, some other animals that haven't stood still long enough to have their photo taken include:
Parrots - lots of these everywhere
Huge Eagles - often hovering over the roads, looking for roadkill
Galahs - like Darl on Neighbours soap fans
Various large insects - just like the bush tucker trials!
Camels - at Broome beach and Monkey Mia beach
Wallabies - similar to Kangaroos but much smaller heads
Emus - including an Emu mum and 6 little baby emus.
Pelicans - big beaks!
Will try and get some more photos up soon
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