Woylies - the mammalian worm
Apr. 6th, 2003 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gemfyreKarakamia is the kind of place that gives me warm fuzzies. It's a pity CALM are such bastards about such things. If they had their way NOTHING useful would get done. Luckily some people with lots of money use it to a good cause and create things like Karakamia Sanctuary and the Nature Conservancy (who buys large tracts of land so they can be turned into sanctuaries).
Some things I learned tonight.
- Woylies - I knew they were keystone species due to the fact that they feed on fungus and move around mycorrhizal fungi for plant roots. But apparently 1 little woylie can move 9 tonnes of soil a year!!! This aerates the soil and buries leaf litter, enriching the soil and reducing junk on the ground that can catch fire. Nifty little critters. The population at Karakamia has boomed and we saw loads of the little critters, they are just not afraid of humans.
- I didn't realise we had bats down here. There are 4 species in the sanctuary alone. We heard the mastiff bat and saw another one flit past, not sure which species it was tho.
- One thing pointed out was a grasstree/balga/blackboy/xanthorrhea with just a little new growth. Apparently the 20 parrots have learned that the bit at the base of the leaves is very nutritious. Unfortunatly the destruction they cause kills the blackboy. It's interesting to see that kind of evolution in progress. I'm not sure what the generation time of the blackboy is but seeing as the grow 1cm a year I can't imagine it's awfully quick wheras the parrots breed quickly and pass on the knowledge. Outcome, the plant loses. But hey, who knows what might happen?
- They've gotten rid of all the cats and foxes (unfortunately you can't really eradicate the mice and rats), now their main predator problems are wedgetailed eagles and carpet pythons.
- 2 Rainbow lorikeets have been spotted there. Bloody things are that far east *sigh*.
There was some other stuff. I KNEW I shoulda written it but I didn't, damn. The guide (who lives in Greenmount by the way :) showed us a blackboy that was just beginning to grow a new head. They do this if the base of the leaves gets damaged. As she commented everyone sees this after the fact but not many see it actually happening, so she's keeping an eye on this blackboy. And I thought, "Alot of people would find that really stupid and boring but I understand your excitement about it all." I think I could volunteer there. I'd love to just go and sit there for hours and watch the birds and other critters.
Some critters I saw
- Woylie (Brush tailed bettong)
- Grey kangaroo
- a wallaby I can't remember the specific name of
- Tamar wallabies
- Southern brown bandicoot (Quenda)
- a bat (there are 4 species of bat in the sanctuary, dunno what sort this was)
- Brushtail possum
- Magpie
- Redcap parrot (5 of them!! purrdy)
- 28 Parrot
The roads up there are VERY dark. Here I am going along and thinking I'm doing a decent pace, certainly not wanting to go any faster. I pass a sign that says the limit is 80. I look at the speedo and see I'm doing between 40 and 50. This is why I bitch about speed limits. I drive at what I consider a "safe speed". This may be 40 in some 90 zones and 100 in many 70/80 zones.
Some things I learned tonight.
- Woylies - I knew they were keystone species due to the fact that they feed on fungus and move around mycorrhizal fungi for plant roots. But apparently 1 little woylie can move 9 tonnes of soil a year!!! This aerates the soil and buries leaf litter, enriching the soil and reducing junk on the ground that can catch fire. Nifty little critters. The population at Karakamia has boomed and we saw loads of the little critters, they are just not afraid of humans.
- I didn't realise we had bats down here. There are 4 species in the sanctuary alone. We heard the mastiff bat and saw another one flit past, not sure which species it was tho.
- One thing pointed out was a grasstree/balga/blackboy/xanthorrhea with just a little new growth. Apparently the 20 parrots have learned that the bit at the base of the leaves is very nutritious. Unfortunatly the destruction they cause kills the blackboy. It's interesting to see that kind of evolution in progress. I'm not sure what the generation time of the blackboy is but seeing as the grow 1cm a year I can't imagine it's awfully quick wheras the parrots breed quickly and pass on the knowledge. Outcome, the plant loses. But hey, who knows what might happen?
- They've gotten rid of all the cats and foxes (unfortunately you can't really eradicate the mice and rats), now their main predator problems are wedgetailed eagles and carpet pythons.
- 2 Rainbow lorikeets have been spotted there. Bloody things are that far east *sigh*.
There was some other stuff. I KNEW I shoulda written it but I didn't, damn. The guide (who lives in Greenmount by the way :) showed us a blackboy that was just beginning to grow a new head. They do this if the base of the leaves gets damaged. As she commented everyone sees this after the fact but not many see it actually happening, so she's keeping an eye on this blackboy. And I thought, "Alot of people would find that really stupid and boring but I understand your excitement about it all." I think I could volunteer there. I'd love to just go and sit there for hours and watch the birds and other critters.
Some critters I saw
- Woylie (Brush tailed bettong)
- Grey kangaroo
- a wallaby I can't remember the specific name of
- Tamar wallabies
- Southern brown bandicoot (Quenda)
- a bat (there are 4 species of bat in the sanctuary, dunno what sort this was)
- Brushtail possum
- Magpie
- Redcap parrot (5 of them!! purrdy)
- 28 Parrot
The roads up there are VERY dark. Here I am going along and thinking I'm doing a decent pace, certainly not wanting to go any faster. I pass a sign that says the limit is 80. I look at the speedo and see I'm doing between 40 and 50. This is why I bitch about speed limits. I drive at what I consider a "safe speed". This may be 40 in some 90 zones and 100 in many 70/80 zones.
