Nightwalk Sightings Summary Jan – May 06 for Mason’s Tours

The sightings have been average during the last five months, our dry spell has been replaced with the wettest weather for years! So far nearly 5m of rain has fallen in 2006! Although wet weather often results in improved sightings, this year’s deluge appears to have even put the wildlife off…

Snake sightings have been poor generally. We have seen only a few Amethystine Pythons and some Brown Tree Snakes. The largest snake of the season was seen by me in suburban Manoora, a suburb of Cairns. This was a whopping 3 to 4 m Python, easily 20kg or so! Must be some nervous cats in that street. Parks and Wildlife told me that these snakes adapt well to suburbia, and live in roof spaces and the like. It sure surprised me!

Boyd’s Forest Dragon sightings have been average too, even with all the rain. These lizards are often found on tree trunks at eye level, which makes for great viewing. Boyd’s Forest Dragons are only found in the wet tropics from Townsville to Cooktown and are a special thing to see here.

Eastern Water Dragons have been the exception, and proved a reliable sighting during the wet. At times we were seeing 4 a night. Mason’s have a large permanent stream central to their trails, and thus we see more Water Dragons than other operators. Male Water dragons are harem forming, and much larger than females. We have seen them up to 1.5m long. (Note reptile books measure lizards snout to anus and thus the tail length is left off)
Leaf tailed Geckos have not been seen much. We usually see more of these around May. Their camouflage is really amazing. They are often seen on tree trunks facing downwards, presumably hunting for insects. Once found, they are seen sometimes for several nights on the same tree.
Frog sightings great at the start of the wet, but there was so much rain that I think they bred until they could do no more.
Few Striped Possums have been sighted during this time. There are still lots of dead trees around after the 99 cyclone, and this means there are many larvae to be found, which Stripey Possums love. We often here the noisy little fellows before we see them, as they make a real racket searching for food. I expect more of these to be seen during the winter months.
Croc sightings have also been average; the Crocs have perhaps been traveling during the warm weather. I expect the sightings will improve now that the weather has cooled down. In fact the last week has seen some really good Croc sightings.
Native rats have not been seen much at all. Wet weather means less food and less locations for burrows. Native rats have population ‘tides’ and low tide is usually the wet weather. More will be seen as the population rises in winter.

We have also been seeing a few Bandicoots , and there seems to still be a healthy population of Northern Brown Bandicoots in the valley. Long Nosed Bandicoots have also been seen a bit.

Hope to see you on a Nightwalk in June July or August!!!