Definitley Not A Cute Animal.

This is George, an inmate at Steve Irwins Australian Zoo, he is about
16 feet long, and probably won't grow much bigger now.

Steve can have them all to himself as far as I'm concerned, few animals
are better equipped for killing than the Crocodile.

Some Not So Cute Animals

Starting with the latest in a spectacular list of bad choices from our past.

These have included; Rabbits, Foxes, Donkeys, Prickly Pear, Blackberrys
and the list goes on, no wonder we have some of the toughest Quarantine
laws in the world.

The cane toad was imported to help our sugar cane farmers eradicate
pests from their crops.

This very adaptable little critter has instead decided to populate the northern
part of Australia, where he has wreaked havoc to our native wildlife, some by
killing them for his food, (he is a gluttonus bugger) other by poisioning them
when they attack or eat him, (hey can we blame him for this?)

Because the breed so rapidly, a chain of 20,000 eggs per female every 3/4
months, they have decimated our native frogs.

Feral goats had grown to such numbers in some areas that they were being
culled as vermin, somebody then did some research on their fleeces and
their origin.

It was discovered that they were decended from Cashmere stock, they have
since been farmed and now produce some of the worlds best cashmere and
mohair fleeces in the world.

So a new industry has sprung from what appeared to be a very bad situation.

Camels and their handlers from Afghanistan were introduced as beasts of
burden able to handle the harsh conditions encountered when settlement
and exploration of the centre of Australia was undertaken in the 1800s.

During construction of the overland telegraph line, 2,500 miles through some
of the driest and most desolate country on earth they proved invaluable.

Our world famous train, "The Ghan" is an abreviation of Afghan, and pays
tribute to the service of the camels and cameleers of our past.

The remnats of those working camel herds were released to roam wild in
the deserts they helped to tame, there are sizable numbers in some areas.

Another intrduced species that for a short time was a beast of burden here.

For whatever reason they were eventually turned loose to roam free, they bred
into very large numbers in the far north, this would not have been a serious
problem probably if they had not contracded tuberculosis.

This disease spread to the beef herds of northern and central Australia, and as
inoculation of the wild herds was not possible a total cull was ordered, they
were hunted and shot from helicopters until the only survivors were a small
herd that were captured and domesticated, (and inoculated.)

This fellow isn't an introduced species, nor is he particularally nasty, he is a
"Green Tree Snake" a member of the python family, he is not venomous so
unlike many of his kind not a bad fellow to have around, they are among the
best hunters of rats and mice in the world.

Besides I love the photo, it's another taken at Steve Irwins Australia Zoo.

Platypus, The Missing Link ?

Hey, I know I said this site was for photos only, and I hinted that they would
be photos I had taken, well where ever possible that will be the case.

I just got so wrapped up in researching the Platypus that I decided to ignore
rule 1.

If you do not find this to be just as Intriguingas I did let me know so I don't do
it again.

Platypus

Platypuses are covered with three layers of thick brown fur.

Platypuses live near streams and lakes in eastern parts of Australia.

Platypuses eat worms and other small animals that live in the water.

Platypuses have webbed feet, a bill like a duck's, a tail like a beaver's.
The females lay eggs like a snake's and feed their young milk.


Platypuses are mammals that lays eggs. There are only two mammals that do this.
The echidna is the other. Mammals that lay eggs are called monotremes.

Platypuses live beside rivers, creeks and lakes in Australia.

Platypuses have webbed feet and a broad, flat tail about 12 centimetres long
that helps them swim. As they swim, platypuses close their ears and eyes.
They feel for food with their leathery bill, which has special nerves in it to
sense food. Platypuses are most often out looking for food before dawn and
for a few hours before sunset.

The platypus scoops up worms, shrimp, insect larvae and other small
animals that live on the bottom of rivers, creeks and lakes. They store the
food in cheek pouches, and swim to the surface to eat.

When they eat food, platypuses crush it with tough, horny pads on their upper
and lower jaws. They don't have teeth.

A platypus' body can be up to 45 centimetres long. They can weigh up to
2.3 kilograms. Males are larger then females. Male platypuses also have a
sharp, hollow claw-like spur behind the ankles on its hind legs. The spurs are
connected to poison glands. Male platypuses may use them to protect
themselves from predators and to fight other male platypuses during
mating season.

The platypus has webbed feet for swimming. On land, the webs turn back
to uncover claws on the feet which it uses to dig a long burrow in the banks
of rivers and creeks. Some burrows can be as long 25 metres. Each platypus
has its own burrow. Females build a nest of grass and leaves in a chamber at
the end of their nesting burrows when it is time to lay eggs.

Life cycle
After mating with a male platypus, (between June and October) a female lays one or two eggs. She lies curled up with the eggs between her body
and tail to protect them until they hatch. The eggs hatch in about ten days
and the young stay with their mother for up to four months. They drink
milk that oozes from their mother's body, sucking it from her fur.

We Have Some Really Cute Animals

Australia's native fauna is among the worlds oldest and most diverse

Here a "Joey" pokes his head from mom's pouch to investigate what she is
doing, the joey will hitch a ride with mom until he/she is nearly one third her
size before being banned, while carrying their joey the female roo can still get
up to nearly full speed.

Kangaroo's at full speed are a picture of poetry in motion, not as fast as some
of the real speedsters, but pretty damn quick just the same.

Echidnas, these were taken at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, I have a couple of
shots of them in the wild, but they are usually scurrying away as fast as their
little legs will take them, so I settled for this one.

These guys really push the time machine back to its limits, they are one of only
two egg laying mamals in the world, the other is the platypus, guess where they
live? yeah Australia.

Echidnas are covered with sharp spines, they live on a diet of ants and are very
well adapted by nature, they have a long snout and tongue to rumage for their
food, and extremely powerful digging claws on each foot, an alarmed echidna
can and will bury itself in the ground in a matter of 30/40 seconds.

This little lizard goes by the name of "The Thorny Devil" which is something of
a case of bad publicity, they are so cute and docile that you can pick them up to
study them and they just sit and wait for you to put them down again.

They are fairly rare, live in the desert type country that we have so much of
and survive on a diet of ants too, it's just as well we have plenty of ants, and
believe me , we do.

The Wombat is another of the fairly common animals in Australia, but as with
a lot of our native fauna, they are mainly nocturnal, so go by un-noticed by
most.

This fellow was coming out for the evening just a little before dusk on a sand
dune at Wilsons Promitory in Vic. when I took the photo.

This is the animal that gave birth to the saying; "he's just like a wombat, he
eats roots and leaves"