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| Part IV: Lara and More
in the Tablelands |
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We
headed back down towards the Tablelands in the
morning, getting an
early start to the long drive south. Along the
way, RobRoy
spotted a few herps, including a coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus),
a Tommy
Roundhead (Diporiphora
australis),
a two-lined dragon (Diporiphora
bilineata), and a small skink. RobRoy
danced a bit with
the taipan, but he couldn't keep it on the road long
enough for us to
see as we caught up with the first vehicle. We
did get a shot of
the small, red-headed agamid as he climbed up a
tree. |
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We
stopped in Lara for a bit of herping, mainly with the
hope of
finding some Nephrurus
asper.
We stopped at the pub in Lara, where the boys enjoyed
a long overdue
cold beverage. The birds around the town were
very cool as well,
and included rainbow lorikeets, galahs, and a medium
sized dark bird
with a blue mask that I hadn't seen before. It
was fun to watch
the galahs eating some seed that was thrown to them by
a local.
We set up camp at the roadhouse and headed out for
some herping.
We started looking around dusk at a rocky area close
to a large panel
of Aboriginal drawings. We searched into the
night, seeing only a
couple Gehyra
geckos. |
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We
also took a look at the rock art by torch light, which
was pretty
amazing. There were many cool animal figures,
including an
echidna and some fruit bats, and some interesting
friendly spirit
figures. As we headed back to the car, walking
through the
parking lot, I found a nice pair of northern velvet
geckos (Oedura
castelnaui), which I didn't
get a chance to photograph. We headed back to
the roadhouse, and
RobRoy and I went back out to look for some
geckos. Roadcruising
was a little slow, but we found a box-patterned gecko
(Diplodactylus
steindachneri) and a
fat tailed gecko (Diplodactylus
conspicillatus). I was a little
disappointed at not having
found an asper,
but the
weather was not really cooperative and everything was
bone dry.
We could see the lightning and thunder on the other
side of the
mountain range, but it didn't make it over to
Lara. With no
immediate changes in the weather in sight, it was time
to move on again
down to the tablelands. |
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First
stop was the Melaleuca Crocodile farm, run by Steve
Slark.
Steve showed us around all the pens and we got to see
the whole
operation. It was amazing seeing so many
crocodiles in one
spot. It is amazing to see a breeding business
at such a
scale. Steve was a personal, entertaining, and
just exuded
passion for his work and reptiles in general.
Steve invited us
back the next day to help move a big problem croc,
which invitation we
eagerly accepted. |
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We
found a place to stay in the tablelands and set up
camp. The
jungle right next to our camp looked pretty promising,
so Rico, RobRoy,
and I checked it out. I, of course, was hoping
to find a carpet
python, but again, no luck. We did find a nice
Boyd's (Hypsilurus
boydii), which was a nice example of the species with
some nice blues
on the head. Other than that, there were not any
more herps to be
found in the small fragmented patch of forest. |
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After
checking out the forest, we headed out for some road
cruising. Lake Tinaroo is a good spot for jungle
carpets, so we
made our way for the loop road that makes it way
around the lake.
Shortly after beginning the drive along this road, I
spotted a robust
snake on the side. I don't think I have ever
flipped a b so
quickly. Sure enough, a feisty jungle was
waiting for me on the
side of the road! Finding a jungle in the wild
had been a dream,
which was now a reality. It was fairly cold, and
we had just been
discussing the fact that we weren't going to find any
snakes with it
being around 72˚F. Glad we were wrong! The
4 foot python
struck repeatedly as we took picture after
picture. It was not
the bright yellow and black of the selectively bred
jungles in the US,
but it was a nice looking snake. I was just so
excited and
thrilled to be able to see at least one carpet, which
would turn out to
be the only one I was able to see in the wild.
Well, check one
off the bucket list for me. Shortly after the jungle, a slatey gray (Stegonotus cucullata) crossed the road and posed for a couple pictures before moving the rest of the way off the road. After that, things were slow aside from a couple frogs. We next headed for the Curtain fig tree boardwalk to have a look. |
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We
didn't find any herps along the boardwalk, so we
headed out to go
back to camp, thinking things were done for the
night. As I
drove, I noticed a black and white striped leaf which
looked a little
strange on the road. I turned around to check it
out, and to our
surprise and dismay, a recently hit chameleon gecko
was there before us
on the road. What a shame! Our first
Carphodactylus and it
was a DOR. I didn't even realize they went on
the road.
Well, needless to say, this fueled our herp energy and
we spent the
next hour or two walking up and down the road looking
for more
chameleon geckos (Carphodactylus
laevis). Although no living individuals
were located, we
did find a very nice leaf-tailed gecko (Saltuarius cornutus)
and a juvenile
Boyd's forest dragon (Hypsilurus
boydii). Happy with the nights finds,
we headed back to
camp. This would be a night that would be
ingrained in my memory
forever. |
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The
next day, we headed for a drive through Kuranda, which
wound around
and along tall hills and plateaus, which made for some
dramatic
views. We spotted several lace monitors (Varanus
varius) along
the road, which climbed high into the trees by the
time we arrived on
the scene. The first car spotted a large male
water dragon, which
of course disappeared into the dense undergrowth
before our car pulled
up. The same thing happened with a coastal
taipan. Growing
tired of missing out as the following car, we quickly
made our move to pass
as the lead car was pulled off the side of the road.
Around
a few bends, directly in the road, was a huge male
lace
monitor. He knew he was tough and even stuck
around for a few
pictures. He was an impressive specimen! |
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After
the drive through Kuranda, we headed out to the croc
farm to help
move the rogue male that kept killing females he was
set to breed
with. It was a blast pulling the giant reptile
out of his pen and
into a giant crate for moving. The strength of
that animal was so
impressive! After the move, Steve and his wife
Lavina invited us
out to their place for a barbecue (no, they didn't put
any shrimp on
the barbie, haha). We got to check out their
amazing collection
and eat some amazing food. They are great
people, and we had a
blast. After dinner, a few of us headed out for some road cruising. Things were a bit slow, but we did find a gravid Tommy roundhead on the road, soaking up some heat, a nice velvet gecko, a Burton's snakelizard, a large White's treefrog, and an ornate burrowing frog (Ophisthodon ornata). I was a little sad that we didn't see any jungle carpets or stimsons pythons, but on the way home, we came to a rapid halt for a huge scrub python (Morelia kinghorni) across the road. Luckily it was in the other lane, or it could have been bad. I imagine Rico would have been torn between killing us all or running over the snake. It was nice to see a big wild scrub. I love Australia!!! |
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We
headed back down to Cairns to the hotel for the
symposium. It
was a great day of meetings and I met some great
people, including some
Australian herping legends. The meetings were
fantastic, and the
Australian Herpetological Symposium was a big
hit. Next years
meeting should be great as well, and I am looking
forward to it! At the conclusion of the symposium, a group of us headed out to a secret spot, where we found a treasure trove of chameleon geckos (Carphodactylus laevis) geckos. Between the two cars, we saw a total of 10 of these bizarre geckos. Cool stuff! Along the way, our car made a trip to the Curtain Fig tree, my third exploration of this area, where we found another leaf-tail gecko (right on the curtain fig) and another Boyd's. This also ended our time in the Cairns area. |
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| Page 5,
Off to Alice
Springs |