During March we looked again to the trees for signs of life with Tawny Frogmouths and Squirrel Gliders (pictured left) both regularly sighted on night walks. Frogmouths are the masters of camouflage during the day as they blend in amongst the rough bark of different tree species. At night however, they become stealthy hunters and can often be seen swooping down to the ground to snap up juicy insects.
So too, our Glider population are always entertaining as they scamper through the trees with effortless ease. Squirrel Gliders, although small, can glide up to 50 metres between trees and it's quite a sight to see!
Some of Fraser Island’s snake species made an appearance - with pythons being sighted on several night walks. These docile nocturnal creatures move unassumingly through their Wallum home, no doubt in search of a tasty amphibian meal. Carpet Pythons can grow up to four metres in length and on one particular night guests were delighted to witness not one but two of these beauties in plain view as they lay on the bitumen road – well away from human activity - absorbing the day’s residual heat.
Off the Jetty this month Estuary Stingrays were about as usual, as were several different types of Baitfish that inhabit the clear calm waters of the Great Sandy Strait and Hervey Bay. However, it was the Eastern Shovel-nosed Rays that seemed to want to hang with us this month. These interesting creatures have the distinctive head of a Ray and the body of a Shark and, at night, can be seen gliding through the shallow waters in search of crustaceans, molluscs living under the sand.
Catch you for the April 'creatures of the night' round-up here on Fraser Island, cheers Ranger Kat.
