Stuff Snipped Here

Interestingly, the loose ashy mitchell grass downs country is about the
only
place where you will find a Collets Snake, which is a close relative of
the
King Brown & Red-Bellied Black Snakes. Collets are very shy, and no
doubt
lethal if they bite. They live in the large cracks that develop as the
ashy
soil dries out. Local Parks Officer told me very few people have seen
them
in the wild. Very pretty snake.

**WOW**!!! Gee, got any pics?

I'll see what I can do about some pics of all this; including the
plovers
guild if they are still there tomorrow.

Cheers,

Rod....Out Back.

Thanks for a brilliant post, Rod! I never cease to be fascinated by Other
People's Gardens and your backyard sounds a lot like the sort I'd like to
have!
Please give my best to Sgr Toiletto Frogoli and his dear Aunt Psycho! ;-D

--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Trish,

Thanks for the kind words; I appreciate them.

I doubt our home is ever going to win Home Beautiful house of the year, and
parts of it are what may be described as delapidated (as many outback
homes). However, it is home, as well as home for all the wildlife who take
advantage of it. Most days this is a joy, but the damn christmas beetles and
these bitey little mini-bugs (they go through gauze with ease) are making
life a bit of a trial at present.
It gets very dusty in dry weather, hot in summer and very cold in winter,
but I wouldnt swap it for anything.

I had an interesting 'Episode' with Mrs Psycho this morning.....

I emptied our her private swimming bath (large peanut paste jar with
rainwater in it), and filled it up again. For reasons unknown to us
mortals, Mrs Psycho decided to spend the day camped beside the jar; probably
to keep an eye on it. She watched me refill her jar, but didnt budge an
inch...The jar sits on a ledge outside one of the doors to the house; the
coldroom door is just beside her ledge.
Some nights there are up to 5 frogs in the jar together having a soak(I have
pics of this), despite there being an ice-cream container of rainwater on
the floor nearby. 5 is getting to be a bit of a squeeze, and this is after
we upgraded to the largest peanut paste jar they make!

As I was about to leave, I (stupidly) tapped her on the head with my pointy
finger. Before I could get my hand away, she had latched on, and had her
jaws over the first knuckle! I was so suprised at her quick reactions, I
didnt do anything for a moment. In this time, she wrapped 2 chubby little
hands around my finger, and proceeded to get another knuckle down the
gullet. As I looked in surprise and horror, she was eyeing off the next
knuckle, and obviously thinking about it. I wondered about how she might
cope when she got to the hand...
It was about this time, I started to wonder if she might win! I started
waving my hand about, and this damn frog was firmly attached to the other
end!
Anyway, after I had waved the hand around a couple of times, I put her back
down in the jar of water, and she decided to let this dinner opportunity go.
After returning my finger from her gullet, she proceeded to croak at me
indignantly, and then sank into the water for a restorative soak. I fed her
3 large hawk moths as a peace offering, which she ate with great relish.
I think I took 5 minutes washing my finger after that.

I see she is still out there this evening; glaring at all who venture out to
the coldroom.
Weird, dangerous, and scarey animal.

It's probably why I like her...

I was wandering over to the laundry pre-dawn this morning at 5am(mustering),
and I saw a big fat frog realising the mistake of jamming a big green
christmas(stink) beetle into his gob. He had just encountered that horrid
moment when you realise what an awful mistake you have just made. As with
all nasty battles, the fighting degenerated into chemical warfare, of which
the beetle had plenty. A very hasty reversal of the whole swallowing effort,
and the beetle ran away unharmed. When I returned some 5 minutes later, the
frog was sitting with his tongue still hanging out. I gathered he didnt
want it back any more...
I expect he wont be doing THAT again for a while!

We did have a fossil expert here living in the other homestead for a few
years. He was very informative, and did a lot of assessments of what fossil
were in the area.

I do have pics of most of the animals described, although none yet of Mrs
Plover. I do have a pic of a Collets snake that I took at a reptile exhibit
at an ag show 2 years ago. Ours are the same as this one; just more
inclined to bite, as the show ones were bred in captivity, and handled
regularly.

Problem is (and this is going to sound stupid), but I dont know how to post
them to a binary newsgroup, and link them so people here can view them. If
anyone can give me a quick rundown of how to do it, I'll post a few pics for
you. I'm using Outlook express V6.

Cheers,

Rod.