Other Animals List Jan-Mar 09 Kleinton

It's not their fault they don't have feathers! Doesn't make them any less interesting. And just like the birds, it's good to know what species are about locally at any given time.

There's expertise within the club and beyond on most aspects of our local fauna. Let's tap into it.
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Brendon & Judi Gray
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:08 pm
Location: Kleinton, Queensland.
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Other Animals List Jan-Mar 09 Kleinton

Post by Brendon & Judi Gray »

Since we have been living full-time at out Kleinton Property we have been lucky enough to have seen a wider variety of animals than we did previously on day visits. I do keep a record of any animal seen here and this is just from Jan to March 09. The most unfortunate find was a large carpet snake that I found inside our Galah's cage early one morning a few weeks ago, and alas no galahs any more. After consuming my two "rescuee'" Galah's it was then trapped in the cage unable to get out. It was rather a shock and would have been far more interesting if I wasn't so upset. Anyway i opened the door of the cage and let it out and watched it for around an hour and a half to see where it went etc, a really amazing creature that was just after the too tempting "Easy meal".

The two Galahs that I had were ones that I had taken on from previous owners that no longer wanted them. One in particular was rescued from a wedge-tailed eagle in Western Qld over twenty years ago. Very tragic end for a bird that usually out-lives it's owners!

REPTILES:

Lace Monitor
Robust Velvet Gecko
Common Bearded Dragon
Eastern Water Dragons x 2
Burtons Snake Lizard
Eastern Brown Snake
Spotted Brown Snake (Black Snake)
Bandy Bandy (Snake) (Photos if any one is interested - really pretty snake)
Blind Snake
Carpet Python.
Eastern Long Neck Turtle x 3

MAMMALS:
Sugar Gliders x 2
Brush-tailed Possum
Koala x 1 February 2009. (Last previous sighting of one on our property was 13 months prior).
Echidna x 2
Bandicoot
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Red-Necked Wallaby

FROGS:
Green Tree Frog
Emerald-spotted Treefrog
Broad-palmed Rocketfrog
Spotted Marshfrog

and a few other frogs that I have not identified! any help from local frog experts appreciated! Photos taken.

INSECTS/SPIDERS/BUGS/DECAPODS:
Slender Yabby
Rhinocerous Beetle
Christmas Beetle
Garden Mantid
Titan Stick Insect
Dead Leaf Grasshopper
Longheaded Grasshopper
Millipedes
Wolf Spider
Jewelled Spider
Golden Orb Spider
Flower Spider


BUTTERFLIES & MOTHS:

Orchard Swallowtail (Male)
Caper White
Lesser Wanderer
Meadow Argus
Granny's Cloak Moth
Rod Hobson
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:03 am

Local yabbies

Post by Rod Hobson »

Dear Brendon and Judi,

It's great to see contributions on our forum on matters other than those avian. Your list is very interesting indeed. Just a single query; are you positive that the yabby you listed is Cherax dispar, the Slender Yabby and not the locally common, and very similar Common Yabby, Cherax destructor? The Slender Yabby is confined to the eastern drainage system, especially rivers or streams flowing through sandy, Wallum-type country. It seems to prefer acidic water. I used to record it (and Cherax robustus) regularly in the Wallum on Fraser Island when I was working there. It is very unlikely that it occurs in the western drainage including streams and waterbodies in the Kleinton area. The only yabby known from this area is Cherax destructor.

East of the range the Common Yabby is replaced by the Orange-fingered Yabby (Cherax depressus). This is the yabby that you find in the streams at the base of the Toowoomba Range; in creeks such as Murphy's Creek and Flagstone Creek. It is very, very similar to the Common Yabby. Just to confuse the issue, the Common Yabby has been introduced into waterbodies east of the range by recreational fisherman, and now it's quite a chore to distinguish destructor from depressus in areas like the Lockyer Valley, especially if the crustacean is taken from a farm dam. I've recorded destructor in farm dams around Gatton a few times now. Another Cherax species that has been introduced into SE Queensland is the Red-claw Crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus). I've recorded it in Apex Lake at Gatton but it is a native of northern Australia.

These are the only Cherax species known from SE Queensland but there are other genra of freshwater crayfish here including several spiny crayfish (Euastacus spp.) and the tiny Swamp Crayfish (Tenuibranchiurus glypticus). This last critter was, for a long time, believed to be the world's smallest freshwater crayfish but recently a smaller one was discovered in the USA.

Fascinating creatures, indeed.

Regards,
Rod Hobson
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Brendon & Judi Gray
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:08 pm
Location: Kleinton, Queensland.
Contact:

Yabby's

Post by Brendon & Judi Gray »

I will send you a photo of the Yabbies that we had as I most probably have miss-identified them. I looked in the Wildlife of Greater Brisbane Book for it. Will email it asap. Thanks Judi.
Rod Hobson
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:03 am

Cherax destructor vs Cherax dispar

Post by Rod Hobson »

Dear Judi,

Thanks for the photo and, yes, they're the Common Yabby (Cherax destructor) for sure. Some conspicuous features that are apparent in your photo, which distinguishes this crayfish from the Slender Yabby (Cherax dispar) are:

The rostrum (the pointy bit between the eyes) is quite smooth-edged in destructor and spiny/serrated towards its terminal point in dispar.

The telson, that is the middle segment in the tail fan, is quite a bit shorter in dispar than it is in destructor.

There are also other, more subltle differences between these species that are not obvious in your photo. There's the question of distribution and habitat preference between the two species as well.

It's great to see that there's someone else out there in Birdland interested in these fascinating crustaceans.

Regards,
Rod Hobson
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