On the Prowl

 

This Amethystine Python, Simalia kinghorni, was stretched out in our driveway the other morning amidst several Red-legged Pademelons- a wallaby, Thylogale stigmatica, and a number of Musky Rat-kangaroos, Hypsiphrymndon moschatus.

From the looks of it, this fellow needs a feed. Its skinny body suggests that the snake has not been very successful in prey-catching. With cold weather approaching, the snake must have a feed if it is to survive. The snake was about 3 m in length so it has had success in the past!

Pops Has Gone Crazy

 Remember to click on the photo to enlarge

This cassowary cannot believe what is happening. His father has driven him and his two siblings off. Just yesterday the world was right with the four of them together finding food and being protected by the adult but today the world has changed. Pops has decided that it was time for the chicks to go on their own way. They will live a life of solitude for 40+ years if they have learned the lessons their father has taught for the past many months. They will have to forage for fruits, flowers and the odd lizard, frog or carrion. Eventually they will establish a territory and drive other cassowaries away. For the present the three will stay together but eventually they will separate from one another. If they encounter other cassowaries, they will be driven away or set upon.

 For the moment, the normal sounds of the rainforest are broken by the cries of the young adults. You can hear their loud cries at:https://soundcloud.com/user166874042/young-cassowary-distress-call?si=70975ba6069c4ec1ac5ef7808b3fedc4&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing. Normally should the chicks utter this cry, Pops would come running to their rescue. But no more. Growing up is sometimes cruel.