The water rat, or rakali, is more like an otter than a rat. They have webbed feet and are just as comfortable in the water as on land. Rakali hunt crayfish, frogs and other small animals in streams, ponds and along coastal foreshores. Their middens, often comprised of crayfish exoskeletons piled on river stones, can be a tell-tail sign of their presence. You can sometimes see them foraging along the streams in the rainforest at Girralong.
(Thanks to Alex Dudley for passing this photo on to us to use).
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Echidnas are really cool! Literally – their body temperature is lower than that of many other mammals. But the problem with all these quills is that leaves stick to them all the time! Whether considered a separate species from the domestic dog or not, the dingo is an important component of Australian ecosystems. As apex predators, they help regulate populations of prey species, such as kangaroos and wallabies. There is also increasing evidence that healthy dingo populations suppress foxes and potentially exclude them from some habitats, thus contributing to the conservation of some threatened native species. However, dingoes are persecuted throughout much of their range on mainland Australia because of their perceived impacts on livestock. In many regions baiting programs for dingoes and ‘wild dogs’ are institutionalised, disrupting the important ecological roles that dingoes play. Since European settlement wild (feral) dogs have interbred with dingoes, and mainland populations are no longer pure. Nevertheless we regularly see dingoes at Girralong and on a quiet evening you may hear them howling on a distant ridge. This handsome fellow looks dingo enough for us!
You have to admit this sequence of photos capturing a mother short-eared possum and her bub is pretty cute! The Short-eared Possum, Trichosurus caninus, invests a great deal of energy rearing their young. They occur in wet sclerophyll and sub-tropical forests and are frequently seen when out spotlighting at Girralong Rainforest Retreat.
We were excited to record this family of Parma Wallaby at Girralong Rainforest Retreat - a 200 acre conservation property comprised of sub-tropical rainforest and wet-and-dry eucalypt forest. The Parma Wallaby is a rare species restricted to the coast and ranges of central and northern NSW. Major threats to their conservation include predation by foxes and feral cats, loss and fragmentation of habitat through land-clearing for timber and grazing. |
Nature NotesDocumenting some of our wildlife and nature observations. Archives
October 2019
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