Critter picture tread,(post what you have)

[MBTRAC]

I guess you make it a habit shaking out the boots in the morning.
You'll never know what might be hiding in there

You bet, somewhat of a farm 'ritual' to shake or kick your boots first before wearing......sorta like a pre-start check on a tractor..........

 

[MBTRAC]

Found another little Aussie icon cuddling around the boot rack a few days ago:-

An Echindna aka "a spiny ant eater" (sort of like the unloved offspring of a platypus & a porcupine) a harmless egg laying mammal with a long pointy snout as they feed on termites & insects & a powerful digger
Mostly nocturnal, incredibly strong for it's size (c.16-20") & covered in long sharp hard yellow spines for defense ( & very very 'shy' of being photographed):-

 

[Bison]

Nice hedgehog,..You better keep your boots inside,.one of these days.........F..k$%#@*& damm#$^&%#@ that HURTS.

 

[RobertBrown]

Found another little Aussie icon cuddling around the boot rack a few days ago:-

An Echindna aka "a spiny ant eater" (sort of like the unloved offspring of a platypus & a porcupine) a harmless egg laying mammal with a long pointy snout as they feed on termites & insects & a powerful digger
Mostly nocturnal, incredibly strong for it's size (c.16-20") & covered in long sharp hard yellow spines for defense ( & very very 'shy' of being photographed):-

"Egg laying mammal"
That's weird....... leaves me to wonder " Why are all the really weird animals in Australia?"
There are only two egg laying mammals in the world and Australia has them both. One of the is poisonous! A venomous egg laying mammal!
I can't even think of a venomous mammal, let alone one that lays eggs..........
I read that the Echidna lives in all habitats, many different subspecies, living at all elevations. I find that odd as well. Must be a lot of ants to support the numbers.
Don't you have poisonous ants there as well?
Facinating continent you live on. Thanks for posting the picture.

 

[Bison]

"Egg laying mammal"
That's weird....... leaves me to wonder " Why are all the really weird animals in Australia?"
There are only two egg laying mammals in the world and Australia has them both. One of the is poisonous! A venomous egg laying mammal!
I can't even think of a venomous mammal, let alone one that lays eggs..........
I read that the Echidna lives in all habitats, many different subspecies, living at all elevations. I find that odd as well. Must be a lot of ants to support the numbers.
Don't you have poisonous ants there as well?
Facinating continent you live on. Thanks for posting the picture.

The Lord prob got bored of creating the same old same old of the old and new world and got really creative on Australia.:wink:

Ausie's aboriginals musta been a rush job though judging by their ugly looks :laughing:

 

[MBTRAC]

"Egg laying mammal"
That's weird....... leaves me to wonder " Why are all the really weird animals in Australia?"
There are only two egg laying mammals in the world and Australia has them both. One of the is poisonous! A venomous egg laying mammal!
I can't even think of a venomous mammal, let alone one that lays eggs..........
I read that the Echidna lives in all habitats, many different subspecies, living at all elevations. I find that odd as well. Must be a lot of ants to support the numbers.
Don't you have poisonous ants there as well?
Facinating continent you live on. Thanks for posting the picture.

Echinidna's thrive on white ants/termites which are plentiful.
There's not so much poisonous ants as venomous, a bit like fire ants, only c.1" long our "Jumping Jack" or "Inchman" ants are extremely aggressive & will give you a bite you'll never forget ( far worse than any wasp sting ) & if you happen to be allergic you'll quickly go into anaphylatic shock....

Yes, we have some rather "unique" wildlife" due to the need to adapt to varied & very much cyclic climate of droughts & floods across Deserts..Tropics...Alpine environments & everything in between....Through in the isolation, a lack of "imported/migrated" wildlife (until the Europeans introduced rabbits & foxes) and to land mass a relatively low human population (even post European settlement c.200yrs ago)......................all in all everything's got to be tough & determined to survive for generations much more than a 100 miles from the coast....:thumbsup:

 

[RobertBrown]

Echinidna's thrive on white ants/termites which are plentiful.
There's not so much poisonous ants as venomous, a bit like fire ants, only c.1" long our "Jumping Jack" or "Inchman" ants are extremely aggressive & will give you a bite you'll never forget ( far worse than any wasp sting ) & if you happen to be allergic you'll quickly go into anaphylatic shock....

Yes, we have some rather "unique" wildlife" due to the need to adapt to varied & very much cyclic climate of droughts & floods across Deserts..Tropics...Alpine environments & everything in between....Through in the isolation, a lack of "imported/migrated" wildlife (until the Europeans introduced rabbits & foxes) and to land mass a relatively low human population (even post European settlement c.200yrs ago)......................all in all everything's got to be tough & determined to survive for generations much more than a 100 miles from the coast....:thumbsup:

Yep "Jumping Jack" or "Jack Jumper"
Dealing with allergic reaction from jack jumper ant sting - ABC South West WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
This is the ant I was thinking of. I saw it on television, and of course they made it sound like it was deadly, but it's not really. It kills .5 people a year.
I have lots of fire ants here, much smaller but a lot more numerous.

Kangaroos, Koalas, Kukaburas, Bandicoots, Emus, Numbats, and Wombats are just a few that really can't be compared to animals found on other continents.
I suspect that if you're from there, these things don't seem strange to you at all. I suppose all of the other animals seem strange.
Take squirrels for example....They are everywhere in this country, but you have none. Ever find yourself thinking..."Squirrells are strange"...."and why don't those americans call them kangaboots" :laughing::laughing:
I think your isolation is a big reason why you have these creatures. It's speculated the tectonic plates once had the larger continents connected. So the mammals evovled from the same, more ancient species. Australia is sort of like the Galpagos on a much larger scale.
Didn't Darwin visit your continent aboard the "Beagle"?
I wish Australia wasn't on the other side of the world, I'd like to see it sometime.
I enjoyed Steve Irwin. I just wish he didn't have pick up everything, including deadly snakes.....never understood why the risk was worth the reward........Too bad he met his end, he was a good one.

 

[Bison]

Evolution is a hoax :tongue:

Adaptation yes, evolution ...no.
It's Impossible to change a species into another one by mutation :wink:

 

[MBTRAC]

I find it funny for some reason the world media seems to portray Australia with all these "deadly" creatures.
Yes there's quite a few that have the potential to kill if you plain unlucky or don't "risk assess" when you're in "their" environment ( & c.90% of Aussies live in urban areas having little if any contact with their native wildlife) - croc's, sharks, box jellyfish, quite few poisonous snakes & spiders & the blue ringed octopus + on the extremely rare occasion a dingo (I had a pet alpine dingo until a few years ago & some of our farm working dogs have more than a little dingo in them ...) - & as Steve Irwin experienced Stingray's (had met with Steve a few times very early in his career, IMO whilst he took risks they were calculated low risks overly dramatised for TV - he was just unlucky with the Stingray - during our summerl holidays we normally go to the same spot on coast hand feeding 6' Ray's at a boat ramp & often unintentionally walk on small Rays when surfing, you've just got to be really unlucky to be struck by the "barb" & it's not lethal just excruciatingly painfull - Steve was just unlucky to get hit by a million to one lethal blow to the chest).
And some of our other creatures have the potential for causing major injuries if you corner them: 'Roos, Emu's, Cassowary's (not that there's many left in the wild), Perentie's, Goanna's & the like...
But the incidence of anyone dying or being seriously injured by these creatures is extremely low, compared to say a National Road Toll (which doesn't discourage anyone worldwide from vehicles); the combined Aussie wildlife "risk" is probably well below catching rabies from a monkey in Indonesia or tetanus from a domesticated cat scratch in most places in the world.....

I like your analogy with the Galapagos, yes Darwin made it here too - the Engish made a habit in 19th century of taking platypus & echidna's back home, only for their scientific community to surmise they were fake & man made oddities. Though by then I guess the English gene pool had been depleted significantly - a free trip & relocation to sunny Australia for a minor crime, or life in the damp & cramped UK? No wonder the UK crime rate spiralled up, what a deterrent for those with an once of initiative ? Go figure.....you've got to love the eccentric English & their 4th dimension logic:biggrin:

Must admit I wasn't too keen on the friendly squirrells I encoutered in the 'States...reminded me of a plague of overly friendly rats......And during visits to the US & Canada: the bears in Yellowstone, & the bears & wolves seen while fishing/hunting (even with firearms around) in the Canadian wilderness made me feel uncomfortable : like I was close to being on the menu!! But I'd take a bison, a moose & many other US/Canadian native animals home any day...

 

[MBTRAC]

Seems this thread has gone quiet of late....

Back in late Oct/early Nov I spotted another nice little reminder of a warm Spring as we don't usually see these 'til January in the haysheds:-

Coming in the front door at around 900am for some breakfast after being out & about since well before dawn, greeted by this little fellow about 3' feet away who's also in search of "breakfast"......
It's a Brown Snake c.24-28" long, IMO the worst type of snake to encounter in Australia, though the chances of getting bitten by any snake are extremely slim.......unless you're either plain unlucky or extremely stupid.
Whilst normally avoiding contact with humans if possible, if these feel the slightest bit threatened/provoked, what they lack in size they quickly make up for in bucket loads by their attitude, aggression, unpredictability, agility & speed.........they can leap at least 1.5 times their length at lightening speed & will strike multiple times, though often for some reason the first defensive strike tends to be non-toxic (with the venom withheld).
However. add to that it's also our 2nd most toxic snake, though arguably our most deadliest because they're bascially everywhere (including the towns/suburbs) & have been responsible for more deaths than any other.
Even without being bitten, the smallest trace of venom in your eyes or on the slighest breakage on your skin can if you're unlucky bring on paralysis, kidney failure, internal bleeding & other injury, & also any wet/dry venom (e.g. on clothing) retains the same toxicity for months afterwards unless neutralised with methylated spirits.
As I said from the outset the chances of snake bite are very low, far lower than any other potential farm "accident" but we do make certain everyone (i.e family, staff & any visitors staying ) can correctly applying a compression bandage & have knowledge of where all our first aid kits are located around...........