Category: Animals

Australian Squirrels

  • November 4, 2021

I was doing some research for lecture preparation the other day and learned something I never knew: Australia has had squirrels! And there’s a small chance the country still does…

Grey squirrels (the same ones common in our backyard!) were introduced into botanical gardens in Melbourne in 1880, and Ballarat in 1937. They spread into surrounding suburbs and gardens but were never truly successful, and apparently died out within a few decades. It’s possible the last remaining grey squirrel in australia was a pet which lived for 9 years (and was fed breakfast cereal)! I can’t find much information about why they died out but it may have been a combination of a small initial colony, lack of suitable food, competition from possums and natural predation (including from lizards and birds).

Needless to say this experiment will never happen again, as grey squirrels (along with all non-native mammals) are prohibited from import into Australia.

The case of the Indian palm squirrel is a little more surprising. Along with several other species (including fish and birds) these little guys were introduced into Perth in 1898 to make the area more livable for colonists. Almost none of the introduced species survived, but palm squirrels established a thriving colony in the grounds of Perth Zoo.

There they lived for over 100 years, being popular with visitors and a tasty snack for the zoo animals (there are accounts of the squirrels being eaten by monkeys, brolgas and leopards). The squirrels slowly spread out from the zoo into neighboring suburbs, a golf course and a high school and it has been estimated that the colony contained at its peak about 1000 squirrels. Some were even imported east to set up a similar colony in Taronga Zoo (in 1920) but these died out within 50 years due to predation and because the squirrels were frequently caught in the traps set up to control rats.

By all accounts the squirrels in Perth were quite popular – especially at the school – and well known by the locals. But the squirrel was eventually deemed a threat to native wildlife and agriculture, and about a decade ago an eradication program was initiated. This was very successful (apparently they’re easy to catch) and within three years the squirrels were reduced to ‘undetectable levels’

It’s not known if they’re truly extinct in Australia, but if any still live their numbers are likely too small to allow the colony to survive.

So there you have it! Australia did have squirrels, and for over 100 years at that!

Now about the reports of errant ghost kangaroos in the USA…

Rain Of Frogs

  • August 16, 2021

I sent Bernard fifty frog postcards at the same time!

I started by numbering them all. The cards were, of course, unique:

I then hand-addressed and stamped all fifty:

At first I was unsure what to write on each of them, but a quick amazon search gave a handy alternate solution:

The (exactly fifty!) frog stickers were then applied, and I wrote the lyrics to Rainbow Connection across all fifty cards:

This took some time as you may imagine, and the cost was about $40 for the cards, stamps and stickers. Given Bernard only paid $20, he got quite a deal.

“Paid?”, you ask? This was part of a deal i offered him: 50 frogs for $20. I never mentioned it was postcards (or indeed any details at all), but he gladly accepted regardless 🙂

I sent them all on the same day from a variety of post offices and mailboxes. Four days later he received 43 in the mail, and I expect the remaining 7 will arrive today. I hear they were a hit with him and Lakshmi. Overall I deem Operation Rain of Frogs to be a grand success!

I’ve still got a few frogs – and many toads – left. If you want one, indicate as much in the comments!

Safari!

  • July 18, 2021

Yesterday we visited a local animal park. We’d been twice before but due to covid they were a bit different this year. Specifically: they’d turned themselves into a drive-through safari!

After paying it was a short drive from the entrance to the first gate, beyond which we saw this:

Yes those are camels, and amongst them were also ostriches. In seconds we were mobbed!

We had little cups of food and the animals knew it. They were absolutely fearless when it came to getting the food of us, and didn’t hesitate to stick their heads right into the car.

Yes that’s a gigantic camel helping itself to food from the caddy between us in the car!

The animal flocked around us (and every car) so much that we couldn’t move until the attendants scared them away just long enough for us to drive forward a bit. Of course the cloud of camels and ostriches simply moved to the next car in line 🙂

A bit further along were some zebra! I hastily closed the window because of all the animals in the safari this was the one with warning signs. Apparently zebra can bite!

Next we drove into a forested section full of fallow deer, sika deer, albino deer, llamas and a certain evil bird (see below). This part overloaded with cuteness, mostly because of all the pretty deer and their big dewy eyes.

Of course had no food left since the ostriches and camels had taken it all!

The evil birds were these guys:

I have an ancestral fear of these (as do all Australians) so we closed the windows when they got near. This guy was tapping on the window with his razor-sharp beak as he stared at me with murderous intent. I gibbered as we drove on…

The last section had rhea, oxen, and a few other unusual cow like things. Alas we had no food for we surely would have fed the elegant rhea! They came right up to the car and looked at us with their lovely gray and blue eyes.

It took us a little under an hour to drive through and it was much better than we expected! They did a great job of converting their zoo, and the density of animals was hilarious. A great time was had by all 🙂