Boyd's Forest Dragon

These amazing Lizards are only found from Townsville to Cooktown in the Wet Tropics. Previously named as part of an Asian genus of Dragon Lizards, they are now recognised seperately as Hypsilurus.
Dragon Lizards are 'Agamids' and the Boyd's has the typical habit of favouring the rear legs when on the ground. It gives them a bow legged gait, often described as like a little old man trying to run.
They have a sticky tongue which can shoot out up to 3cm, amd they use this to good effect picking up ants, one of their favourite foods.
Boyd's love sleeping on tree trunks, and are often seen at night clinging tightly to a tree, just like in the picture. They end up the same temperature as the tree, making it harder for things like the Amethystine Python to sense them.
This one is fairly light coloured, but in the morning they darken up, so as to better absorb heat from the air. They tend not to bask in the sun, but more rely on warm air circulating around them. I have seen Boyd's actually holding their body out so air can circulate around them.
Males tend to have larger heads and jaws, and I would say this one is male for that reason. Boyd's are very common at Cape Tribulation, despite being considered fairly rare by textbooks.

Eastern Water Dragon

Look at the top left! Nightwalkers on a tour in December 2007 are looking at an Eastern water Dragon as the walk along the trail. The water Dragon has chosen a typical spot to sleep; a sloping vine near a small creek.

Eastern Water Dragons live right down the coast as far south as Sydney, and there are several subspecies. Thsi one is almost certainly a female, judging from the size of the head and body. The males can get much larger, I have seen examples well over 1 metre long. (Note that reference books measure lizards snout- vent, which does not incluse the tail)

Eastern Water Dragons tend to form Harems, with one male having a teritory that includes several females. We notice that their range seems to shrink in dry weather and they spread out along smaller creeks when it rains. Water Dragons can swim and dive, and have nostrils on the top of their snout, so it seems they have evolved for some time to be aquatic.

At least once a year someone comes up from our waterhole and says that they have just seen a samll crocodile there. It always turns out to be a Water Dragon!

This lovely Amethystine Python was seen on a Nightwalk in December 2007. It was about 2m long. Amethystine Pythons get their name because of the wonderful shimmering that you can see off their scales in torchlight or sunlight.

If you look cloesly at the picture you can see this shimmering from the neck down.

This image also allows you to see the heat sensing pits on the nose in front of the eyes, that are characteristic of these pythons. The pits allow the snake to detect the heat of warm blooded prey up to ten metres away!

At the moment the photo was taken, the snake has poked its tongue out. This allows the python to 'taste' the air, something we can only imagine. It has been variously described as a combination of smell and taste all in one.

Amethestine Pythons eat mammals, birds, reptiles, even other snakes! They are not venemous, but have many backward facing teeth to help hold on when they lunge at their prey. They then wrap around and aspyxiate the victim before swallowing it. They grow commonly to 4 metres long, and occassionally to as long as 8.6m. Large examples can eat dogs, pigs, and other large animals.

Thsi photo was taken on a nightwalk in December 2007. It is a great view of a common frog at Cape Tribulation, The White Lipped Green Tree Frog. These frogs live througout the forest, but migrate to coastal swaps to breed when the heavy rains fill the swamps.

Their calls are loud, from a distance it sounds like millions of aboriginal clicking sticks, closer it is a distict brack-ack, brack-ack.

Only the males call, and the calls are dual purpose, to repel other males and attract females. Apparently the females can select the best male frog from the calls. In my opinion these are the most spectacular frog we have here, and I never get tired of looking at them.