Thylacoleo Gal
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Post by Thylacoleo Gal on Apr 23, 2008 21:20:53 GMT 10
Questers, Here are some images that our cams collected a few weeks ago near Candowie Reservoir - St. Heliers in Gippsland. Can't tell what the critter might be, so looking for a few ideas here. First up, an early frame to give an idea of relative scales. A dog comes into the FOV a bit further back from where the critter appears.  |
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Post by Thylacoleo Gal on Apr 23, 2008 21:21:53 GMT 10
Next, an empty frame just before the animal shows up ....  |
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Post by Thylacoleo Gal on Apr 23, 2008 21:23:33 GMT 10
Then the mystery critter comes along the path. What is it? I'd say, probably, maybe, a wombat?  The dark area at bottom right is a wombat burrow so, OK, there are wombats about. But then this critter is out & about in the daytime. Wombats are nocturnal. Its ears seem to point forward (wombats' don't). It seems to have a long body ... as can be seen from the before & after empty frames. It's coloured black, not brown & it's dog sized. Way too big for a bobuck or cat. Does its head look 'not quite right' for a wombat? Its right foreleg looks rather muscle-bound? Ideas?  |
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Post by Thylacoleo Gal on Apr 23, 2008 21:26:02 GMT 10
The frame after is empty. This is the sad story of the Quest for Thylacoleo. El cheapo cams, critters appear briefly, then disappear.   |
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Post by mingle on Apr 23, 2008 21:43:18 GMT 10
Hi Debbie,
I'd put money on it being a feral pig...
Although I'm not sure if pigs are known to be present in that area (but I guess they do get around...)
The elongated head and snout kinda give it away...
Wally, your opinion on this would be great - I'll be you've seen (and bagged) a few of those critters...
Mike.
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Post by mingle on Apr 23, 2008 21:49:28 GMT 10
Debbie,
Forgot to ask:
What camera setup are you using and do you have any higher resolution images?
Cheers,
Mike.
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Post by mingle on Apr 23, 2008 21:53:20 GMT 10
Hmm... Actually, looking at it closer, it does look like a wombat... I'm trying to see if the right 'ear' of the critter is actually just an 'illusion' created by shadows/the background... Those vines/weeds hanging down over the track don't help either! C'mon - take your whipper-snipper next time! :-) The Gippy wombats are quite dark and glossy (at least the ones down towards Wilson's Prom are). See my extremely crappy and quick effort at highlighting the ears, eyes and snout...  The body does look a bit too barrel-shaped to be a hog... Mike. |
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Post by Wally1 on Apr 23, 2008 22:03:20 GMT 10
Im afraid I am of no help.
Bigcats do occupy wombat holes.
Would the dog be chasing the crittter and it went to ground
wally
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Post by Thylacoleo Gal on Apr 24, 2008 7:04:31 GMT 10
What camera setup are you using and do you have any higher resolution images? Try here --> www.thylacoleo.com/forum_pics/image33_march2008.jpg (108K) The setup was just the normal one for a Quest shoot. The auto camera was plonked on the ground facing up the game trail and left for a week or so. Debbie  |
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Post by Thylacoleo Gal on Apr 24, 2008 7:06:01 GMT 10
Hi Debbie, I'd put money on it being a feral pig... Although I'm not sure if pigs are known to be present in that area (but I guess they do get around...) The elongated head and snout kinda give it away... Wally, your opinion on this would be great - I'll be you've seen (and bagged) a few of those critters... Mike. Never heard of wild pigs round there. |
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Post by molloch on Apr 24, 2008 8:04:28 GMT 10
100% Wombat.
We have a few on our property here and they are out during the day often, especially when its sunny. They come out and lie in the sun about their burrows sunbathing.
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Post by youcantry on Apr 24, 2008 8:38:24 GMT 10
Yep - looks like a wombat to me. Mingle outlined the head - the rest of the body is up and right of the head (in the frame). The colour looks like a dark brown, not black - shadows are on parts of the animal, and the shadow of the animal drops off towards down-left. Colour can be misleading anyway in photos - especially once they are then rendered on computer monitors. I wouldn't worry about the ears standing up - unless that helps distinguish whether it's one of the hairy-nosed wombats instead of a common wombat.
Chris.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2008 8:47:14 GMT 10
I would say a wombat, my guess is that the pic was taken early morning when after a night of carousing he is heading home for a snooze. Although nocturnal wombats often stay up late and catch a few rays before the sun gets too hot. The position of the shadows should confirm the time of day but I don't know the direction or angle of the camera so cannot calculate accurately.
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Post by Wally1 on Apr 24, 2008 11:33:28 GMT 10
I can make out a long black tail.
Only animals i know of in that part of the donga wiith such a tail is swamp wallaby or bigcat.
Enhancing may bring it up
No hairy nosed wombats in that part of the country, they are in SA
Wally
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Post by Wally1 on Apr 24, 2008 12:06:12 GMT 10
Well I copied it, I am out of black so not a good copy/
I copied the copy, trimmed it, blew it up, enhanced it .
A long black tail. the head is not feline, so what else can it be.
Swamp wallaby
Wally
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Post by Dan on Apr 24, 2008 12:17:16 GMT 10
The first photo looks like a Kelpie and the other is a wombat.
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Thylacoleo Gal
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Post by Thylacoleo Gal on Apr 24, 2008 19:32:23 GMT 10
Yup, I'd say wombat too. Pays to ask for a 2nd opinion tho. Just in case?  best - D my guess is that the pic was taken early morning The camera was facing south ..  |
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Post by youcantry on Apr 24, 2008 21:06:59 GMT 10
It's gollem.
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Post by youcantry on Apr 24, 2008 21:17:11 GMT 10
See?  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2008 9:00:28 GMT 10
my guess is that the pic was taken early morning
The camera was facing south ..
Then as the sun appears to be shining from the right the time should be PM.
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Post by Wally1 on Apr 25, 2008 15:53:43 GMT 10
Once I contributed a suggestion to a Pommey forum. Amongst the scarthing replies that I got was that I wasnt lacking in imagination.
I guess the same applies to people here.
Anyway produce this wombat with a long black tail.
When I was a kid I used to stare at the redhot coals of the fire and all sorts of pictures emerged in my imagination. I guess the same applies to a mystery picture.
Cheers Wally
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Post by youcantry on Apr 26, 2008 21:31:50 GMT 10
Good point Wally.
Sorry about Golem. Kat and I couldn't stop laughing however. When I first showed her the photo - something resembling the creature I've created above is seriously what she first saw there.
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Post by JeffJ on Apr 27, 2008 14:45:50 GMT 10
I gotta say, it had me laughing too! Jeff ;D  |
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Post by TC Girl on Apr 27, 2008 16:29:54 GMT 10
It’s a dog! Smack – smack – smackitty – smack – smack! [The sound of five Questers whopping me up the side of the head.] Oh – sorry – you mean the other picture?!? LOL
Yeah – I know what I’d like it to be! But, no, I’m going wombat on this one too.
Although I prefer Gollem. (Good one Chris – LOL)
PS. Whose dog?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2008 23:04:09 GMT 10
You're all wrong. It's a calf. Or a Wallaby, or a Bunyip, or a Triantewontigongalope, but I don't reckon it's a wombat because I've never seen a wombat with ears sticking out to the sides like that, and the shape of the snout seems wrong for a wombat. The site is not far from the location where one of the QFT cameras was vandalised by a marauding roo. Never a dull moment in the swamps of Gippsland... |
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Post by Wally1 on Apr 28, 2008 9:23:01 GMT 10
Well I have looked hard and intently.
In the first pic we see an animal crouched with body in direction of the dog and head turned to face the camera.
The front quarters are too heavy for a wallaby.
Then it turns and has its back to where the dog was, and it has a long black tail.
I thought I could make out a wombats head but the ears discount that.
When I get another cartridge of black I will print the pics out and copy them for enhancement then I will send copies to a couple of old bushie friends and see what they can make of it, but my calculated guess is cat
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Post by molloch on Apr 28, 2008 9:48:31 GMT 10
The wombat actually has its head tilted down at an angle (down the hill) while its body is more horizontal - thus making its ears appear to stand up. I can't see anything in the other 2 pics at all.
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Post by youcantry on Apr 28, 2008 10:02:09 GMT 10
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2008 12:44:24 GMT 10
Is not just the ears what stick out .... ;D
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Post by youcantry on Apr 28, 2008 13:24:26 GMT 10
I agree - I mean, check out those teeth!
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The dark area at bottom right is a wombat burrow so, OK, there are wombats about.
