tiabunna's photos with the keyword: animal

This afternoon, when my little terrier was very keen to go outside I looked tthrough the glass door and saw this Redbellied Black snake passing by. When it was heading away from the house I took these images. See also PiPs. The joys of living in a semi-rural area! Redbellies are venemous but not deadly to humans, but are the main cause of canine snakebite, so I hope my terrier doesn't see another when I'm not around!

This skink lizard was about 300mm (1ft) long. When I double checked my identification of it, I was surprised to find there are over 325 skink species in Australia! The strange lighting effect (most visible in the PiP) is reflected light from a window.

Quokkas are small macropod animals, related to kangaroos and wallabies, and found in south-western Australia. Sadly, their numbers have been greatly depleted by land development and feral animals. Rottnest Island is where most are now found and they are quite relaxed about being around people - hence this portrait (and PiP). I'm heading away for a while and likely to be largely offline for about a week. Best wishes, everyone.

When visiting Rottnest Island, near Perth in Western Australia, among the attractions are the little animals known as Quokas (or, occasionally, as a "short-tailed scrub wallaby"). The island was, in fact, named after them by the Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh who thought they were a type of rat and named the island Rottnest (Dutch for rat's nest), though they are actually macropods and related to kangaroos. Quokkas are not much larger than a domestic cat and once were much more widespread in Western Australia, but their population has been decimated by feral foxes and cats. It's another week, so I'll wish everyone a very Happy Bench Monday and a good week to follow.

You may need to view this large to see the many Grey-headed Flying Foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) which have again taken residence the trees in a park in town - despite the local Council's efforts to persuade them to camp in other places. These are Australia's largest bats and grow to a weight of about 1 kg and a wingspan of about 1 metre. Largely because of Australia's recent disastrous fires, these are now listed as "Vulnerable".

These are Australian "Grey Headed Flying Foxes" (Pteropus poliocephalus) , actually a species of fruit bats, which have again taken residence in a park in town - despite the local Council's efforts to persuade them to camp in other places. There are many thousands of them (see also PiPs) here, probably a large proportion of the total number, as the species is now are listed as "Vulnerable" , largely as a result of our very extensive forest fires a few years ago. They are Australia's largest bats and live on fruits and pollen, so they migrate seasonally with food sources.

The Swamp Wallaby (sometimes known as a Black Wallaby) is found in eastern Australia. As macropods they are related to kangaroos, though wallabies are usually smaller and stockier. These are identified by their dark coat and lighter coloured flashes on their cheeks. Well, I'm about to emulate the wallaby and hop away for several days. Best wishes for an enjoyable and safe weekend, everyone.

Smaller than kangaroos, to which they are related, Wallabies usually prefer to stay in forested areas. I found this one in our local Botanic Gardens. Explored.

Silvery Gibbon portrait. Taken at our local zoo, which is involved in a global breeding programme of these endangered Indonesian animals (between 400 and 4000 estimated in the wild and with diminishing habitat). A musical link (and a PiP).

This "old man" Eastern Grey kangaroo is the largest in our local group, photographed here in the nearby nature reserve. Fully upright, I would expect he would stand about 1.5 metres. Although not aggressive, kangaroos can be quite dangerous if feeling threatened - see this little video (skip to about 1.20 for a clear view of the action). Explored.

A very small Eastern Long-Necked Turtle (Chelodina longicollis) , common to eastern Australia, making a hasty headlong retreat into leaf litter after being released. I had rescued it from the middle of a road, where it had a serious risk of being run over. The size can be seen from the other images in the notes. These turtles have the unique habit of tucking their heads sideways under their shells as a defensive mechanism, as seen in the notes, which also show the colourful underside. These turtles can grow to a shell size of about 25cm with the neck extending beyond by a similar distance. I guess this is a fairly obvious link.

Another animal image, this young male Grey Kangaroo was grazing on the nature strip alongside the street outside our house this evening.

Do you see him? Taken on a spotlighting tour of our local Botanic Gardens. About 25M up this old gumtree, there is a Greater Glider (one of our native gliding possums) blinking into the light from his hole in the trunk. He came out shortly afterwards and you will find him in the PiP (I'd suggest viewing large on black). These were taken hand-held with the light of a wandering spotlight, which explains the poor qualtiy.

Taken on a spotlighting tour of our local Botanic Gardens, this is a Greater Glider - one of our native marsupial gliding possums. The long tail is used in the air as a rudder for steering. More about them here. Our guide spotted him by the reflection from his eyes as he peered from his sleeping hollow in the tree (next image/note)

Wombats are not commonly out in daylight, so I pulled our car very quickly to a halt for a photo when I saw this one on the roadside. Explored.

European Fallow Deer at the Mogo Zoo. Best viewed large. Explored.