Today I Saw a Native Animal

[Deepseeker]

I thought I would start a thread where we can show pics of native animals that we might see when out in the field, detecting, panning, fossicking etc. Occasionally I come across something that stops me in my tracks, and I have to put the detector down and get my old flip phone out and take a photo if I'm quick enough.

I'll start with this lizard that I saw today in Kingower Vic. Not sure if it's a Shingle Back, Maybe Nightjar will know. Anyway, he wasn't in any hurry to be anywhere and was happy to oblige while I hunted around in my back pocket for my phone.

I didn't find any gold, but this little guy put a smile on my face

 

[grubstake]

Yep, that's a shingleback (aka bobtail, sleepy lizard, two-headed lizard). We now know that uniquely among lizards, a pair mate for life although they only hang out together in the breeding season. Also, they can live for 25 years! Very cool lizards, these fellas.

 

[aussiefarmer]

All the shingle backs here are pure black, so your is interesting to me.

 

[OzzieAu]

Ive posted this little guy before..... he came into my camp on the Oodnadatta track in 2018 and kept me company on and off for a couple of days. The most beautiful natural animal to cross my path in the bush/ desert.

I felt so lucky that he happened by me.

 

[Eldorado]

We have a frequent visitor to our backyard.He lives in a drain and comes out on warm days to bask in the sunshine.Little Eldorado found him out the front near the road so we took him back into the backyard before he got run over.

 

[hippyhunter]

Found this little feller when i decided to pick up an interesting rock in tarnegulla. Im glad it stayed on the ground and not on the rock i picked up. It seemed fairly aggressive towards the phone when i took the photo so im sure they wouldn't hesitate to sting ya

 

[Sandta]

Im not sure if it was on here , but have seen pics of scorpions , they (some) fluoresce under a black light :Y:

 

[Nightjar]

Deepseeker, You certainly found a "Bobby", friendly little fellas.
Think I have already mentioned, when I was kid on the farm, my Pop used to take me out with the single shot Lithgow to shoot rabbits. We saw a bobby on one of our hunts and it posed in the usual way with its mouth wide open. My Pop said if I put the barrel of the .22 in it's mouth and when it clamped on it, if I put my foot on Bobbies tail and pulled the barrel out of its mouth it would peel metal off the barrel. Pop had me fooled for years. :lol:
Learned to always stuff my socks in my boots when camping on the ground, scorpions' love smelly old boots to doss down in for the night. More than once over the years, awoke to see a scorpion perched on one of my socks.

 

[Deepseeker]

I can See why they would also be called a two headed lizard Grubstake, when I first happened across him/her I had to have a second look before I could figure out which end was its head. I didn't realize either that some of us humans have so much in common with a lizard! Mrs Deepseeker and I have mated for life, but we only come together at the end of the Prospecting Season :lol:

Aussie farmer, it's interesting that you say your local Shingle Backs are pure black. Maybe it's an evolutionary response to habitat? It's easy enough to see the one in the photo I took with it cropped down, but in real life against a vast area in the background this Shingle Back was not that easy to see at first, with it's mottled dark and light areas seeming to blend in with the dark soil and scattered chips of quartz that were laying around.

I love your dingo photo too OzzieAu. A beautiful animal that I've never had the fortune to see in the wild. I can't believe that terrain either- I will never complain about Ironstone again!

Nice Blue Tongue photo too Eldorado. They were quite common at the last place I lived in Victoria, but sometimes they scared the bejesus out of me when out of the corner of my eye I thought I'd seen a Tiger snake. I didn't realize either, that we had scorpions like that in Victoria hippyhunter! I saw a tiny little one once as a kid, at the caravan park down at Sorrento where my folks had a caravan. It was reddish in color and was under the groundsheet of the annex when we packed up. It looked rather harmless, but by comparison the one in your photo looks much bigger and ready for business. Does anybody know if they are poisonous? Enough to make you crook or kill you even? Either way, I'll take Nightjars advice from now on and stuff my socks in my boots when I kip down :Y:

 

[Manpa]

Keeping with the shingle back or stumpy lizard theme, this bloke spotted in the Stirling Ranges WA

This fella spotted on the road to Mt Victoria in the Grampians Vic

Another from the Grampians.

And this little bloke was in the dunes at Cactus Beach SA.

 

[grubstake]

Aussie farmer, it's interesting that you say your local Shingle Backs are pure black. Maybe it's an evolutionary response to habitat? It's easy enough to see the one in the photo I took with it cropped down, but in real life against a vast area in the background this Shingle Back was not that easy to see at first, with it's mottled dark and light areas seeming to blend in with the dark soil and scattered chips of quartz that were laying around.

I'm pretty sure that is the case, as WA shinglebacks usually have some amount of red/orange amongst the grey, no doubt reflecting their red WA dirt habitat.

 

[Jaros]

Nice pic no.1 mate.

 

[Manpa]

Got a bit grubby on my belly taking that one, he was pretty compliant at one stage coming right up against the lens.

 

[hippyhunter]

Scorpions in australia arent lethal luckily
Like getting a bad bee or wasp sting usually. Some people feel unusual for a while because they have a panic attack because of not knowing if they are going to die or not. I have seen the smaller ones in the dunes around gippsland before a few times. But i got a bit of a shock seeing the one at tarnagulla as i didnt realise they where inland.

 

[Bjay]

Im not sure if it was on here , but have seen pics of scorpions , they (some) fluoresce under a black light :Y:

Heres one I prepared earlier.

 

[Dave law]

A couple of visitors in the back yard.

 

[Brumble-Gum]

Found this native animal in my scoop one day, when out detecting.

 

[Deepseeker]

Damn your eyes Brumble-Gum. I'm holding you responsible if you get Nightjar showing his demented collection of 8 legged pets

 

[Adrian ss]

Get a few of these in the back yard now and again.
These are regulars that we have named Harry & Meghan.

 

[Nightjar]

Especially for Deepseekers enjoyment.

You have to be very lucky to come across one of these friendly little fellas - Mountain Devil

Came across an Echidna who immediately rolled up into a ball and I had to sit very still before he unrolled and I could get these pics.