Whitsunday forest night life

Living on five acres in the Whitsundays surrounded by dry vine forest means we get to see all sorts of wildlife, particularly at night.

The endangered Proserpine Rock Wallaby is only found in this area of Australia. We often see one or two feeding on the grassy areas around the house, but the slightest noise will send them crashing off into the forest. If you want to see more than a glimpse, the trick is to just sit and wait quietly in the dark but they may or may not reveal themselves. Part of our land has a covenant to protect the wallaby's habitat so we know they are out there. Often the only time we know they have visited the yard is by the lack of foliage on my vegetable plants!

Photo: www.animalinfo.org

Bandicoots, on the other hand, love to dig small holes in the ground looking for tasty snacks such as worms, ants and termites, so it's fairly obvious they have been around. They are good aerators of the soil; we hear them more often than we see them, scratching around in the dirt outside our bedroom window.

Photo: Damon Ramsey

Another animal that hunts at night is the python. While we are yet to see a live one, we have found a few skins lying around the garden: the first one we came across was over two metres long.

Shedded skin of a python

The Tawny Frogmouth, often mistaken as an owl but closely related to the nightjar, is also nocturnal and rarely seen. So it was a surprise to see one sitting on the ground at about 9 o'clock in the morning last week. We picked him up and popped him on a rock to check him over, but he was very unresponsive. We then put him on a tree branch but still he didn’t do anything. We eventually called the wildlife rescue people and they said to wait until dark to see if he'll fly off. Checking on him after dinner he still hadn't moved and was also covered in green ants. So we gently placed him in a box and drove him to the wildlife carer. He became lively and bit her on the finger, but other than that he just looked miserable. Dianne couldn’t work out what was wrong with him – he wasn’t eating, his right wing was lame and he wouldn’t fly. After a couple of days he eventually regurgitated a big snail with a barb on it, which must have been sticking into his chest making him very uncomfortable. He then became an owl again and was ready to be released. On dusk last night Dianne brought him back to our place, popped him on the tree branch, gave him a nudge and away he went into the night – flying perfectly.

The well camouflaged Tawny Frogmouth

Another creature that forages at night is the dreaded cane toad. Introduced to Queensland sugarcane crops to control the cane beetle, they are now found right across the continent with not one beetle eaten. They would have to be the most ugliest creature, but the worst thing about them is their poisonous glands are lethal to native wildlife.

Photo: www.ozanimals.com