Wednesday, December 31, 2008

They grow 'em big here!


Happy New Year! I hope everyone is well back home. I'm continuing to get to know the general area and getting acquainted with all forms of wildlife...I've been lucky enough to view such amazing things as sugar gliders (they look like squirrels, but are actually marsupials…do a google search to check them out). Their incredible feat is leaping from one tree to another right around dusk, and they glide on this web of skin between their front and back legs. (Not unlike the guys that do BASE jumping...must have been fashioned after these gliders.)

I saw five kangaroos hanging around in the shade, but of course did not have my camera on me, sorry. There are kookaburras right here by Jen’s place, along with more ibis than you can imagine, down by the beach. They are about the size of Canada geese, are a native animal and very common. I’ll snap a pic soon. The white pelicans hang out on the light posts everywhere and of course there are egrets and herons.

But so far the biggest, baddest thing I’ve seen is the golden silk orb-weaver spider, are also commonly called giant wood spiders or banana spiders, in the backyard here, see attached picture. They are not kidding about “giant.” The body is about the size of my thumb, and the legs are almost as long! The funniest part is the male of the species—look closely at the pic, and see the teeny spider above the giant one…that is her mate! You can guess who is the boss here!

1 comment:

  1. I bet the little one kicks butt....lol. did u get my pics!!

    ReplyDelete