Goannas

yes abc it was right near there that i saw him. Maybe it was the same one.

The Goanna does seem to be a regular, but somewhat unseen creature around this neck of the woods. Often disguised quite effectively in a tree, they can appear as an addition to a limb.

If confronted by one, I’d suggest not running as they are a rather swift mover, and when pressed will sprint short distances on its hind legs. My Aunt, when she was a child, was chased across the river flats at Jugiong by one. Her only salvation being a nearby Poplar tree that she managed to scramble in front, with the marauding goanna scampering up it. They also rear up when threatened, either chased or cornered, and also inflate flaps of skin around their throats and emit a harsh hissing noise.

It’s interesting to hear that they are in close proximity to residential areas. Makes you really interested to see what else is outside your own backdoor.

troll-sniffer said :

Slightly OT, but an uncommon visitor to these parts has been heard in the inner north the last couple of days, a Common Koel. The call, a sort of cooee, can be heard at quite a distance.

I’ve heard one/them on and off in the Inner North for at least a year now. One was going at all hours of the night when I was trying to sleep. I have even noticed one’s call from inside a busy office on Northbourne Ave.

Can’t say I’ve ever seen a Monitor in the ACT. Seen one at the coast and immediately thought “hope I don’t look like a tree worth climbing!”

I came across a lace monitor near the top on the back trail about 2 or 3 years ago..

It’s the only time i’ve seen one.. plenty of your regular goannas though..

It was near the memorial to the guy who died up top in 2000..

re #s 4 & 6: the koel is a regular visitor to our mornings and evenings since two/three or so years ago, in the inner north. awfully hard to actually see, though! a beautiful, if sometimes too-early, two note piping song – a cuckoo relative, i believe…

CFI – great to hear that a Lace Monitor is around the local district and doing okay (1.5 metres is a good size lizard in these parts). I just hope he’s not someone’s abandonded pet. I see them from time to time – but not in Canberra, more recently we saw one near Thredo over Christmas.

Troll – Yes, we hear the Koel every morning (early!) in the Downer area. The Buzz household has been meaning to get up & track it down, to tick it off the list but hasn’t happened yet.

:o)

We heard the call for the first time last year in Lyneham, apparently they’re moving south from the Sydney area.

Yes CFI you see them around occasionally. saw one camping near Tharwa over christmas. Not common here but it does happen! Beautiful creatures. Keep clear of them though – they can be dangerous.

Slightly OT, but an uncommon visitor to these parts has been heard in the inner north the last couple of days, a Common Koel. The call, a sort of cooee, can be heard at quite a distance. If you’ve heard this bird recently and are wondering what da fook, here’s da clues: http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Eudynamys-scolopacea

See them around occasionally, they seem to prefer to hang around the river corridors. As Thumper says there are a lot towards the coast. Anyone who has camped at Bendethera will have had them wandering around their camp site.

Just south of Tharwa, I found this one trying to get into my back door!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25223017@N00/4204881312/

Great to keep around because they keep the snakes away.