Nightwalk sighting Summary for May 2004

Mason’s Tours Cape Tribulation
(the only Croc Spotting Nightwalk in the area)


Nightwalk sightings on Mason’s Tours in May 2004 have been so far been generally good, but the dry weather and the first cool nights resulted in a general decline in sightings.
The Boyd’s Dragons have been reliable as always. It has been usual to see at least one dragon most nights. Boyd’s Dragons are the original tree hugger, usually allowing full contact between their belly and a tree. It has been suggested that this makes them the same temperature as the tree, and hard to find for things like Pythons, which use infrared to sense prey. I am not sure about this, as I reckon a python would be reluctant to swallow a full grown spiky Boyds! One Dragon seen was so tiny it must have been hatched only recently.
Melomys, which are cute little native rats have been seen a bit despite the fact that big wet seasons usually cause their population to decline. Often on nightwalks you will hear them before you see them. Once you hear a gnawing sound, all you need to do is stop and look closely at the surrounding low vegetation and you will often find the culprit sitting on a leaf nearby. It seems to take them up to 30 minutes to break through some seed cases and get to the seeds inside.
There have been sightings of several other native rodents, including Cape York Rats, White Tailed rats, rare Prehensile Tailed Rats and even a rare Water Rat (Hydromys)
Crocodile sightings have been average, with Crocs seen on about 25% of the tours. In some of these cases, we have seen the whole body of the croc, really exciting to get such a good look at night! It seems that there are two medium sized crocs in Myall Creek, and one very small one who spends most of his time upstream.
Striped Possums have been active this month as well, with several sightings. These noisy little fellows are often seen on Fan Palms, but many of the dead trees left from cyclone Rona have been attracting them due to the amount of larvae inside. Striped Possums are amazing to watch, using their paws to tap and listen for likely hollows. They then rip away at the rotting timber to access the yummy larvae inside! We also saw one last week attacking the bottom of a large fern with gusto, there must have been something yummy inside!
Water Dragons have also been seen often in May. Like the Boyd’s Dragon, these are often found sleeping on horizontal vines or branches. They are much more skittish than the Boyd’s, however, and we have to be much more careful not to disturb them. Water Dragons are harem forming, and as such the males are much larger than the females, some males reach 1.5 metres long including the tail! Over the last 2 years researchers have been coming to our land (and other areas) to look at various aspects of the Water Dragon lifecycle, particularly comparing them with what happens in more southerly populations.

During the periods of rainy weather, we have been treated to some spectacular areas of Glowing Fungi. The light we see is chemical reaction, two enzymes, luciferin and luciferase mix and the reaction makes the light. It is certainly a special thing to see.
Fireflies are also being seen more often, and they have a much more direct control over the bioluminescence and produce a flashing light, which is used as a means of communication.
Insect and spider sighting have been good, this is an active time for our smaller beasties as well. Few nights have gone past where we have not seen various cricket species, spiders and other insects. Some of the more unusual include Wood Weevils, Giraffe Weevils, Scutigeramorph (Long legged Centipede!), Scorpions and Net Casting Spiders.
We have seen quite a few snakes this month with Adam seeing 7 snakes on one walk! Slaty Greys, Amethystine Pythons and Brown Tree Snakes have been the most common. As the weather cools, we expect to see less snakes, but our 15 years of records tells us that we often see the biggest snakes in June!