Post #608960 by komohana on Tue, Oct 4, 2011 3:54 AM

Cheers MadDogMike, We do indeed have some strange wildlife, though possibly not
as strange as some of our two legged animals.

Thanks Jungle Trader, I just noticed you have changed the title of your thread.

Hi Vamp.

I really enjoy visiting this thread and was finally prompted to post following your
recent discussion regarding snakes, as we sometimes... maybe once a year or two...
find a Dugite in our yard. These snakes are highly venomous, but are generally fairly
docile and will happily go on their way if left alone, although they will strike if
startled, naturally enough.

One of them reared-up at my wife in the front yard not long ago, causing no end of commotion
and a few years ago our beloved cat, Moo, was bitten by one but being late in the season,
when their venom is less toxic, she survived (sadly though, she contracted FIP later on).

While living in a small fishing town north of Perth, I stood on one as I was distracted
by a friend driving past at that moment, I felt it strike my foot twice but as it was on
the flat upper side of my foot the fangs didn't pierce the skin. I bought a lotto ticket
that afternoon but of course my luck didn't extend that far.
A woman visiting that same town was not so lucky and died as a result of a bite because she
didn't seek medical help, a very foolish thing to do, I heard that because the snake was
only small she thought she'd be ok, but in fact the juveniles can be just as venomous as the adults.

Anyway, if I mention to someone that we've had a visit by one, they might say something like:
"ooo, did ya kill it? ya killed it, didn't ya?"
My answer is generally something like:
"nah, by the time I found something to kill it with and come back, it was gone"

And 'though they are protected by law and killing one can attract a fine of up to $4000.00,
the truth is that I'm just plain reluctant to kill them out of hand.
I don't have any photos unfortunately but next time I'll try to take a pic.

One day though I happened to have my camera with me as I opened the door to our small garage at the front
of our house and noticed a scuffling sound to my right and there was this small Bungarra (monitor lizard)
about 3 feet long hangin' off the wall...

...I'm generally not squeamish, but man, these things give me the creeps and if you ever startle one in
the bush you should hit the deck because they will climb a tree to escape and if you are the nearest "tree"
...well...a lot of people have been injured by their claws.

Over the last few years, we've noticed more Red Tailed Black Cockatoos visiting us, probably due to the
degradation of their more natural habitat further inland, and are now seen almost daily in our area.

In this pic the male is on the right, female on left...

...these spectacular birds are large, raucous and rowdy, they are also most welcome as they strip the berries off that lilac tree in no time, saving me a heap of work.

These are Kookaburra, seen here in the Lemon Flowering Gum in our back yard beside my shed and Tiki lounge

Not native to Western Australia but introduced from the East many years ago they have that iconic song
you've probably heard and as a bonus ...they eat young snakes (as do the bungarra).

More later and thanks again for making room for me and everyone else.

cheers, Rob.

*edit spelling mistake and minor facts.

[ Edited by: komohana 2011-10-06 20:11 ]