You need to get the spotlight out at night to try to find these little critters. Widely spread across northern and eastern Australia, the Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) is common within the Maranoa Local Government area and around the township of Roma. Belonging to the gliding possum family, their most distinguishing feature is the flap… Read more »
There are many amazing things about the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus ). One of these is its ability to find its favourite foods – wood-boring grubs! These are the larvae of beetles and moths which tunnel into various trees such as gum trees and wattles. In this snippet of footage, a male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, uses… Read more »
Recently we received a call from a member of our community who had found a snake skin in their spare bedroom. Concerned that they couldn’t find the snake’s whereabouts, we got them to bring in the skin so we could identify it before deciding on the next course of action. The easiest method of identify… Read more »
I was recently out in the field nearby to Roma Queensland, poking around for weeds when I spooked a large goanna beside the track I was following. It ran up a fence post and I was able to get a good look at it. This particular goanna is more formally known as a Lace Monitor… Read more »
One of the most exciting things about night-time spotlighting searches is that you never know what you might come across. I was recently spotlighting for gliders and koalas with a couple of colleagues when one of us spotted these two snakes on the forest floor. They are Small-eyed Snakes (Cryptophis nigrescens), a common species in… Read more »
Australia has an incredible array of fantastic and iconic wildlife but few people have ever seen or even heard of our beautiful Greater Glider Petauroides volans. As voluntary wildlife carers this charming animal recently came into temporary care following its rescue from a nearby bush fire which burnt its home. This particular glider was lucky… Read more »
Our beautiful, big, majestic emperors of the sky are constantly putting themselves in danger. Why? An easy meal, fast food if you like. Unfortunately, large numbers of animal carcasses litter the roads, with more casualties being added each and every night. The dry conditions are making the green pick on roadsides a worthwhile option for kangaroos… Read more »
The elapid snake family includes the front-fanged venomous species. Everyone has heard of the more fearsome Eastern Brown Snake and the Mulga Snake, but what about some of our smaller species of elapid snakes? Introducing Australia’s own Coral Snake (Brachyurophis australis), a reddish –orange, slightly venomous species. What do they look like? The Coral Snake… Read more »
One of the privileges of living in an Outback Queensland town is that sometimes we are visited by some really cool creatures. This young Short-beaked Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus was rescued yesterday when it ventured into a yard in suburban Roma. It was foraging for termites around some garden bed sleepers. Some caring locals alerted us to… Read more »
Planigales and Dunnarts are the official names for species of native marsupial mice. Dunnarts found in Roma, or the Maranoa region include the Striped-faced Dunnart Sminthopsis macroura, Fat-tailed Dunnart Sminthopsis crassicaudata and Common Dunnart Sminthopsis murina. They are small marsupials around the same size as the introduced and pesky house mouse. What distinguishes them from the… Read more »
