Feb
23
What’s Up Down Under
February 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment
My newest blog is What’s Up Down Under, a site about Australia. Most of the content is notes, stories, and photos from the year I lived and worked in Melbourne. In addition to information about my favorite things to do and see in Victoria, I cover a little of Queensland, the Red Center, and the Northern Territory.
Laurie McAndish King
Aug
29
Echidna
August 29, 2002 | Leave a Comment
Another of Australia’s weird and wonderful indigenous animals is the echidna, or spiny anteater. It’s a monotreme — like the platypus — and, biologically, shares a lot of features with reptiles. Echidnas lay eggs and suckle their young in a pouch until the youngster begin to develop spines, when — not surprisingly — it is moved out of the pouch and into the den. Ouch.
Aug
29
Dingo
August 29, 2002 | Leave a Comment
The dingo is related to dogs, but wild dingoes have larger feet and bigger teeth than most dogs. Also, dingoes howl, but don’t bark. Or so we’re told.
Do they eat babies? Well, their main food is rabbits, and they are known to eat larger mammals, including sheep. You decide.
Aug
29
Koala
August 29, 2002 | Leave a Comment
A koala spends its entire life in eucalyptus trees, leaving only to move from one tree to another. They sleep about 22 hours every day, and reportedly have a 6-foot-long appendix, to help digest leaves. Koalas rarely drink water, but do eat significant quantities of dirt, probably for the minerals.
Aug
29
Kangaroo at Healesville
August 29, 2002 | Leave a Comment
The wild animal sanctuary at Healesville is a good day trip from Melbourne. It’s houses native Australian animals displayed in a sensitive environment. (Is there a correct way to display other species in order that humans may be educated and entertained?)
Anyway, we went many times, and really enjoyed it. Here’s our friend Lynn petting a small kangaroo.
Aug
29
Laughing Kookaburra
August 29, 2002 | Leave a Comment
The Laughing Kookaburra is a large kingfisher with a loud, raucous call. These birds are believed to live in small groups, with one pair mating and the other adults in the group all helping to maintain the territory, incubate the eggs, and raise the young. It takes a village!
(I took this photo at the Healesville Sanctuary.)
Aug
29
Duck-billed Platypus
August 29, 2002 | 3 Comments
Talk about weird animals: the duck-billed platypus has a beak-like muzzle, webbed feet, a fur-covered body, a flat, beaver-like tail, and eyes on the top of its head. Males have a venom gland and a spine on their hind foot.When swimming under water, these guys keep their eyes closed and nuzzle around in the mud for food.
They are wonderful fun to watch, and the Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria has a really good exhibit!
Aug
29
Goanna Sunbathing
August 29, 2002 | Leave a Comment
The name goanna is believed to be a derivative of iguana, which early European settlers likened this lizard to. (The goanna is actually a type of monitor lizard.) Australia has about 20 different species of goanna, which feed on other — smaller — reptiles, eggs, insects, and small mammals.
Goannas are big to begin with, and can, when threatened, rear up on their hind legs — scary!
Aug
29
Tasmanian Tiger
August 29, 2002 | Leave a Comment
The Thylacine, also called the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, was hunted to extinction early in the 20th century. Here’s a virtual Thylacine museum with more information about this gorgeous, unfortunate, carniverous marsupial.