July News - Bennet's Wallaby?

[Thylacoleo Gal]

hi Questers - about the July News, I'd be really interested in opinions about the Wallaby. Bennet's or Swamp? If Bennet's it'd be good cuz I don't think it's been confirmed in the Gurdies b4. These pics aren't conclusive but we can hang out for the next lot. It shows phototraps are good at picking up critters that normal surveys miss. probly coz the more timid critters avoid spotlights and traps. With traps u have to return each morning so there's always recent disturbance that animals can detect?

The other two - maybe a potoroo or bandicoot?
Hah and what about the Mystery Pic @ end of page?
Debbie

[cantona]

The Mystery pic is really intriguing. I've blown it up, and although it didn't help much, I think I can make out a kangaroo/wallaby head. Could this not be another wallaby in a very unusual position?

Really interesting picture that hopefully somone can decipher.

[JeffJ]

Hi Debbie!!!!!Finally back after my 80 gig hard drive was hacked and destroyed-and replaced with a bigger fortress to keep out the barbarians. Einstien-you were so right. Maybe the spyplane can catch the monsters we like, as well as the human monsters we don't . Good way to catch forest killers at work. Get em'! The mystery pic looks very much like a roo leaning back and grooming the belly area(you know that goofy pose they take when they toss one arm over the side while rocking back to lick the offending area->to the roo anyway) I saved the photo and will shave away the background-and send it to you later today. Hi Wally, got your email-will respond soon, thanks. Deb-do you still have a donations link? I couldn't seem to find it. Jeff

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Thanskz J & C! yeah i think it'd hafta be a roo. Trouble is the ground level there is only just above the lower level of the bracken - the brown stuff the "head" appears above. So it must be a mighty tall, skinny roo or else he's standing on a stepladder?

Heh, well the Sky Spy has a ways 2 go yet so the loggers & co. don't have to start worrying any time soon unfortunately. We wanta build our own gizmos because they'll need to be reasonably cheap and expendable. U r bound to lose a few during testing. The cheapest ones commercially available, with gyro stabilisers, are ~ $1200. Way too much to write off. We're gonna power the test models with electric motors cuz they'll only need ~10min flight time for testing. The final ver hopefully will have a 20km range so will need a petrol engine. The body/wings are made of balsa, styrene & some thin Al sheet. The tail is a funny shape @ this stage cuz the elevators & rudders are operated by stepper motors, not the usual bellcrank mechanism.

Good news about ur HDD. Sygate seems like the best firewall around @ the mo'. Took the donations link down - hey! u ain't thinkin' wot i think ur thinkin r u Jeff?

best - Debbie

[Deleted]

OK here's chuckin my hat in the ring.

The first one, the ratlike animal with the long nose...
Possibly Bush Rat or Swamp Rat since it looks a bit big for an Antechinus and the tail looks hairy rather than ringed as in the normal domestic rat. Is there any way you can get these critters to hold rulers in their mouths so we can measure them?

The wallaby; probly Swamp Wallaby since they're well known in the area from plenty of squashed specimens on the roads. They vary but some of them do have that dark brownish yellow underbelly as in the pic.

The last mystery critter - looks like a Triantiwontigongalope
And why not; this bush is about halfway between the Bunyip River and the Wonthaggi Monster so expect the unexpected........

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Hmmm. OK. General opinion = swamp wallaby. Dunno, these little fellas looked a bit too light coloured to me. Every swampy i've ever seen was a dark, chocolate brown sorta colour. Like the ones in the image rollover on the QfT index page. Oh well ...
Debbie

[wally1]

I agree with Debbie. The subject resembles more a small wallaby I found in the Grampians and for want of better name I called a brushtail. It had a hairier tail than the swampie. Of course it was a red neck.
A feature is the toes. They are of equal length and once I spent a long time tracking one thinking that I was following a sambar, the tracks resembled a sambar's slots.
A positive way to differentiate between a swampie and a red neck is the taste test. Red necks are far better eating than the swampie.
Regards Wally

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Wally! Really! Better not let the Greenies and Animal libbers find out where u live ...

[wally1]

About 50 years ago I was trapping rabbits between lake Frome and the Border fence. Whilst in transit on the way to a new camp I was stranded by torrential rain.
I remained stranded for 2 weeks before I could move again and tucker had run out. Fortunately I had a pet kangaroo.
An extract from my Border Fence Bandits series of stories reads and I quote.
It is surprising how long that little roo lasted but I was on very short rations, although I admit that by the time I could move again the remains were getting somewhat tainted.
The moral of this story is, if there is one, is if one chooses to live this lifestyle keep a pet roo, you do not know when it will come in handy. Unquote.
Cheers Wally