1.July.2016 (Day 26)

The road less (rarely?) traveled

It feels hard for anything to top the excitement of yesterday. I don’t know how many chances I’ll get to be within inches of crocodiles longer than my car.

Luckily, fieldwork is a constant adventure. There’s been plenty of exhausting nights with swarms of bugs in my eyes (why do they love flying into your eyeball?!?, never-ending sweat, and clouds of mozzies. 

But there is yet to be a night where I haven’t found some awesome animals.

I couldn’t help myself, before the sun went down I had to check on my original field site at the dam.

As you, no doubt, suspected…

Yep, still on fire

Getting to the new site is, ummm, interesting at times (is 'gnarly' still a thing? I think that's probably the best description). I wouldn’t call the road out there ‘well worn’ by any measure. I’m just glad I don’t have to take my old 88’ Honda CRX out for this (RIP white lightin’), I probably wouldn’t make it past the first cow paddie.

Part I

Part II

My new spot is treating me pretty, pretty good though, so I really can’t (err shouldn’t?) complain.

White-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)

I didn’t see this bad boy at my field site, but I was glad to finally see one. I’ve had my eye out since we heard about aboriginal folklore in Canberra (Say it with me now, like a true Ozzie, Can-Brr-ah). The original natives around the field station called themselves the Mak Mak, which is also what they called these birds. The group and the birds depend on healthy water systems for fishing so they’d follow the eagles to find good habitat.

Forest kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii)

These birds can be pretty rugged. I didn’t get a chance to get a good photo of one in the act, but when they catch bugs they bash them against tree branches to kill them before eating.

Common tree snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus)

I’ve had my eye out for one of these since I got here. Unfortunately I didn’t read up on them much and when I grabbed it, I quickly experienced one of their main defensive maneuvers, probably the worst musk smells ever. There are a few snakes I won’t pick up anymore. Not necessarily because they’re dangerous and/or bitey, but because of their terrible smell. Garter snakes, water snakes, and I can now officially add common tree snakes to the list. They’re pretty to look at, but I don’t think I’ll be grabbing any more while in Australia. Pee yew!

Saint Andrews cross (Argiope sp.)

They’re not listed as ‘dangerous’, but this is yet another example of a terrifying spider that love to weave webs at face height. Luckily there aren’t too many real hazardous spiders around here. I’ll be the first to admit that I give a pretty good squeal every time I walk through a web and think about one of these on my neck. Ick.

Bynoe’s gecko (Heteronotia binoei)

Not only do they blend in remarkably well, but in certain parts of Australia these geckos reproduce by parthenogenesis, meaning embryos grow and develop into young without any fertilization by males.

No boys allowed.

Green tree ant (Oecophylla smaragdina)

These ants build balloon shaped nests in the trees out of leaves. Their larvae secrete a silk that workers use to weave their nest (hence their other common name: weaver ant). I haven’t experienced it personally, but I hear if you piss them off they’ll bite you and then squirt a burning fluid onto the cut.

As much as I love driving the roads at night looking for snakes, there is no radio stations out here and the 2 albums I have downloaded on my phone are getting a little old. Another perk to my new field site is that once you get here it’s mostly old fashion hoofin’ it to find the snakes I’m after.

Walking along through the grass, bushes, and leaves is more productive than you might think. This place is really rich with diversity, even during the winter dry months while I’m here (I still get confused and have to remember I’m in the southern hemisphere).

Children’s python (Antaresia childreni)

All told I managed to wrangle up 12 snakes last night! Eight water pythons and four children’s. Not bad new field site, not bad at all.

A pretty good haul

30.June.2016 (Day 25)

Here be dragons

This morning I thought it would be a good idea to take a local river boat cruise up and down the Adelaide River. I’d heard good things about the local wildlife visible from the water and there was even a rumor I’d get a chance to finally see a saltie.

I opted to go with a smaller outfit in the hopes that it would be less crowded, which was true, and still be a little classy, which was false.

Still nicer than a port-o-potty

It was a beautiful day in the NT. The weather was perfect and it felt amazing to be out on the water.

Adelaide River, Northern Territory

There were birds in every tree, mud-skippers on the shore, and only about 10 people on the pontoon boat, even an adorable baby that made me miss my wife and daughter dearly.

Wishing I had Olivia in my lap…

Birds, fish, and babies are great and all. 

But I was after crocs.

I don’t know if you’re sick of it yet, but I sure am getting tired of finding the world’s smallest large animals.

My first saltie…

...was about 2 feet long…

Just a wittle guy

Our humble boat driver had some meat to throw on shore to try to get the little guy riled up. Unfortunately he wasn’t quick enough and someone else swooped in.

Black kite (Milvus migrans)

Fairly disappointed with the mornings catch so far we continued on. One thing about the river is that there is a lot of floating detritus. Branches, logs, algae, and lilies are constantly floating by.

Some of the driftwood looked a little strange though…

A few too many bumps and ridges…

And sometimes floating against the current…

Something in the distance

As we got closer it became pretty apparent that this thing was a monster, easily 3+ meters (~15 feet) and didn’t move at all like I thought it would. There wasn’t splashing, thrashing, or awkward movements. For something so large, I was amazed to see how gracefully they moved. And how quick. This big fella got within reach of our boat within 10 seconds and with little visible effort.

Big animal, little ripple

If I haven’t mentioned it before, dinosaurs were a big deal to me when I was a kid (who am I kidding, I still love dinos!) so seeing an animal this close that looks like it comes straight from the Jurassic was pretty incredible.

Remnants of an age long gone

As it got even closer and I could see into its eyes our boat captain pulled out a huge chunk of meat, chopped some up and put it on the end of a long hook.

I think it's staring into my soul

I should have realized sooner that while these were wild crocs, they have become pretty accustomed to being fed by meat hooks multiple times per day. And they’re normally ready and waiting as soon as they hear the engine coming down the river.

I’ll have the raw beef, please

The speed, power, and height these animals can jet out of the water is incredible. Not to mention the sound their jaws make. It sounds like a mix between a heavy wooden door slamming and a tire popping.

Nothin’ but teeth and muscle

The bite force of a saltwater crocodile is one of the strongest ever measured. Humans can bite down into a steak with a force of 890 newtons (~175 psi), a lion can bite down at around 4,450 newtons (1,000 psi).

A saltie can slam shut with a force measured at 16,460 newtons (3,700 psi)!!!

Most of their power is in closing their jaws around chunks of prey. I’ve heard that if you jumped on one and held it’s jaws shut, it wouldn’t be able to open back up and nip you (/swallow you).

I’m gonna go ahead and not try to experience that little factoid first-hand.

Modern crocs are incredibly similar to prehistoric ones, and it’s startlingly to think what kind of impact they’ve had on the landscape over the millennia.

We went around feeding several other crocs, most of which turn out to be female. There’s normally a single male that dominates a pretty large stretch of water and scares away any competing males.

Purty little lady

I am in total awe of these animals. Their power is something you have to see for yourself to fully understand. The size and strength, I’ll never be able to completely describe.

Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)

I think it’s safe to say I won’t be doing any swimming in the area.

29.June.2016 (Day 24)

Home again

It is hard to admit defeat, but there are some endeavors better put to rest. Times to admit it's best to move on to better and brighter avenues. 

After nine days on the road chasing toads all over the NT I assumed it would be safe to try my same ol’ field sites again. With miles behind me, my old haunts would feel good to explore again.

The fires couldn’t possibly still be going, how could there be anything left to burn?

Apparently there's still plenty…

Still up in flames

After 30 toads, 23 water pythons, and 5 children’s pythons it was time to say goodbye and search for a new field site to call home for the rest of the summer.

The hunt was on and I found a few promising prospects.

Most of them already had occupants who didn’t look too pleased to share the wealth though,,.

Grumpy water buffalo

With the sun going down and the moon coming up, it was easy to lose faith.

Moon-rise over NT

But with a lot of determination and even more luck we found a patch of road near a pond with 5 water pythons in a few hours.

Not a bad night.

I’ve been in toad-mode for so long that I almost forgot how great it is to cruise the roads at night and marvel at all the amazing Australian wildlife. 

Instead of being a big baby (like last time), my snake-o-vision is getting better and I was able to quickly spot a slatey grey (Stegonotus cucullatus) and pick it up for a few unabashed-selfies.

Look! I’m a big boy now

That’s not to say he wasn’t a little bitey and I was a little jumpy. 

Making for some pretty embarrassing/priceless candid shots.

The face of pure elation

This new site seems pretty legit and has some of the classic characters.

Cool geckos? Yep

House gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus)

Terrifying spiders? Sure

Wolf spider

But does it have cool birds too? You betcha

Large-tailed nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus)

It’s sad to say goodbye to Harrison & Fogg Dam. But something tells me I’ll feel right at home in this new spot. 

24-28.June.2016 (Day 19-23)

Toadsville, Population: 6,879(- 130)

Even after reading all about the cane toad invasion, after hearing about it from countless experts, and seeing firsthand how resilient they can be, it still astounds me how determined they are to belligerently hop into parts of Australia that I never would have guessed tropical toads would survive.

The third long drive in a week went relatively smoothly (especially considering I’ve been up and down long stretches of this highway six times already).

The route

We were heading for a small campsite without a name. 

Keith and his son were after rocks. I was after toads.

The closer we got (which is a pretty relative term since we were out in the middle of nowhere) that deeper the pit in my stomach. Exactly a week earlier I had driven a similar distance, into a near identical habitat on the opposite side of the territory, only to be skunked and find no toads.

Fool me once…

Most of the roads were unmarked too, so we had to go off kilometer distances and the cars odometer.

“Okay, we’re hitting the ‘town’ of Top Springs (Population: 2 old curmudgeons), reset the odometer and we’ll take a left in another 104km”

It's happening in Top Springs, Australia

By the time we turned off the paved road and started driving through the bush I was getting pretty worried “You sure you’ve seen cane toads at this spot Keith?”, “Should we start making a backup plan for the morning?”

 My neurosis aside, you have to give me some credit, this wasn’t looking very toad friendly.

Desolation wilderness (Aus ed.)

Every once and a while we would see signs of life, normally crowded with insects and birds trying desperately to survive.

Yellow lupine (Lupinus luteus)

Just like a mirage, in the middle of nowhere, was a grove of trees and our campsite. There’s not a whole lot that will shut me up in most cases. Finding this body of water out in arid Australia can definitely go on that list (my wife is taking notes).

Oasis (noun): a fertile spot in the desert, where water is found

There were birds, fish, mammals, amphibians, and a few reptiles, all crowded around the only body of water for 100km (~60 miles).

There were plenty of my, hands down, favorite Australian birds the rainbow bird-eater.

Fresh from a little dip in the pond

I was so excited to see what I thought was a ‘rare’ flock of white cockatoos

Western corella (Cacatua pastinator)

Turns out, these weren’t in any way, shape, or form and oddity to see. And turned out to be the world’s most annoying alarm clock.

Where’s the snooze on this thing?

There were some cool black ones too. While chasing them frantically with my camera I ran into some other campers who asked if I was “after the white or black cocky’s?”.

Umm excuse me? I guess I'm after the black cocky.

Red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii)

With the sun slowly setting and bird pictures stored safe in the camera I also decided to follow the pond up to find if it connects to a larger water source (in case the campsite proved toad-free). The place stunk of sulphur the farther I went up and I eventually found a small pool of water that bubbled up under the roots of a tree. It was a natural spring! Meaning there’s water here all year. Which means if toads found this spot they’d have a place to breed. Which means toads and toads and toads! (If you can’t tell, I was pretty nervous and excited at this point).

The source of all life in the area

With renewed confidence and a mild sense of relaxation, I was able to sit back and soak in the beautiful NT sunset.

As the sun goes down, the toads come up

Three different researchers at the station were interested in having toads from this area. As far as they knew, this was probably one of the more southern populations of toads in the NT. My 30 toads included, I was after ~125 adult toads, equal numbers of males and females. When it finally got dark I went down to the water and was semi-discouraged to only find a handful soaking up some early evening agua.

She had no idea what was coming…

Thinking I would have trouble enough collecting my 30, I resigned myself and starting thinking of an apology for my colleagues “Sorry mate, only enough for my experiment, I hope you understand.”

I had heard about a phenomenon that most likely helped toads cross the dry regions at the Gulf of Carpentaria. Word has it, and there was even a paper published  (with one of the greatest titles ever), that they use cow dung (or cowpats as the Ozzies say) to stay hydrated and make it through the hotter regions of Australia on their way to more permanent water sources.

Walking back to camp with a hard won bag full of 20 toads I finally witnessed what all the fuss was about.

Insert corny dad-joke here

What a crappy life.

Did you hear about the movie Constipation? It never came out.

Is this stool taken?

I can do this all day, but I’ll stop before it gets corny (last one, I promise).

Cowpats are my new best friend, we rustled up 125 toads in no time once we realized that was the toad watering hole.  

The other places I’ve sampled toads were relatively devoid of other life forms. I was happy to see a still functional ecosystem despite a hefty toad population.

Rockhole frog (Litoria meiriana)

These frogs have a really cool call that sounds just like Morse code (I should also note that they’re quite the jumpers and not easily captured).

And as usual my gift/curse for finding the smallest example of large animals won out again.

Freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus johnsoni)

Known by the Ozzies as freshie, they’re not nearly as deadily (or man-eating) as saltwater crocs (saltie). Males and females are normally over 2 meters (~6 ft.) and are considered ‘small’ crocodilians. They’re known to be fairly shy, so I was pretty pumped to see this little guy. The main characteristic that lets you know it’s a freshie is the narrower snout.

The moon hasn’t been rising as early lately, which also gave me a chance to soak in the stars. I think I could stare at the NT night sky all night if I didn’t know I had full day of rock collecting ahead of me.

Night sky over NT

Keith and his son Jake were excited to go find rocks and I joined along. There were beautiful chunks of quartz scattered across the desert along with all manner of strange colored stones strewn about in haphazard fashion. 

Quartz

Rock-hounds (or fossickers to those in the know) enjoy barren stretches of desert and grassland that don’t necessarily do it for me. While I was honored to be part of the expedition, I won’t lie to you, the midday heat (and general weariness of walking slowly in circles picking up rocks) got to me eventually so I curled up under the shade of a tree for one of my favorite leisure activities.

Nap time

Toads, check.

Rocks, check.

~10 hr drive over with, check.

3 of 4 field sites done with and I couldn’t be happier.

23.June.2016 (Day 18)

A light at the end

I don’t think I ever gave a very good explanation why I’ve been driving so far the past week (and even more so this weekend, but more on that later).

The plan

As a refresher: the cane toads were first introduced to Queensland (site 1, green square) in the 1930’s to help control a pest of sugar cane. This spot is really lush, green, and wet. Very similar to their native habitat in Central and South America. They wasted little time spreading throughout the area.

They didn’t spread very far south because it gets so cold in the winter and it was assumed it was too dry for them to spread very far west (aside from Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent).

Nature loves to find a way though.

In addition to being one of the driest, Australia is literally the lowest and flattest continent on the planet. When it rains, all the rivers swell and burst sending water (sometimes not very deep) over huge areas of land. 

That’s the golden hour for cane toads.

Every wet season they scatter across the countryside and follow the water. As the water starts to dry up most of the toads dry up with it and die. Some of the toads, however, make it to semi-permanent ponds (or hotels that water their lawns too much) and a new population pops up and waits for the next wet season to start spreading again.

It took them a long time to get past the Gulf of Carpentaria (site 2, red square). It’s very dry, very hot, and there aren’t many roadhouses for them to snuggle up with over the long dry season.

But they made it anyway.

Eventually they made it into the top-end (site 3, green square) where it’s a similar climate to their natural habitat and Queensland. Yet again, they spread out and established themselves all over. Now they’re continuing to head west into yet another dry climate (site 4, red square).

I’m sampling toads from each area to get a representation of their chronological spread and compare wet (1), dry (2), wet (3), dry (4) climates. Last weekend we went a little too far south into site 2, a perfect example of toads spreading out during the wet season and then dyeing off when the water runs out.

I’ve successfully collected from site 3 and 2. This weekend we’re driving ~13 hours to collect toads on the farther western edge of the Northern Territory (fingers crossed we’re successful) at site 4.

I don’t want to ignore my other projects though. Water pythons are beautiful animals but they’re pretty big and really strong. Bleeding a children’s python by myself is somewhat easy, they’re pretty tiny.

Water pythons are another story.

They’re long, strong, and down to get some biting on when you try to take blood from them.

A quick stop at the hardware store bought everything I need to restrain these big boys so I can collect blood from their heart without hurting them.

The struggle is real yo’

Before I forget. Remember those beautiful photos of my field site I showed you?

Paradise

I went back yesterday to survey the damage…yikes

Paradise lost

Tomorrow morning I’ll be leaving first thing to head out to the field so I’ll report back in a few days. Until then.