Discovering Nature with Rob

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G'day folks,

As those of you following my progress will be aware, I have been on a long expedition through the Tasmanian outback in search of the Thylacine.

Its been a long and trying hunt through varied and changing landscapes and I've met many furry little critters along the way.

Through study and field exploration I have become an expert on Australian mammals and I would like to take you all on little journey through the Tasmanian outback to share with you some of the things I have seen.

The best way to experience this is to see it rather than me describe it so I'm going to let the pictures tell the story on this entry.

Enjoy!

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Photos

Nothing too unusual
This is a Bennetts Wallaby, a common sight in these parts. On the mainland they are known as the red-necked Wallaby a solitary animal that spends its days in the forest and feeds from late afternoon

Echinda
Australian mammals can be divided into 3 groups Monotremes, Marsupials and Placental Mammals. This is a Monotreme, classified as such because its babies hatch from eggs. This funny little fella waddles when he walks and uses that long nose and sticky tongue to pull ants and termites from their nests.

The Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)
All though they don't spin round on the spot like the cartoon would suggest this little guy does seem to like running around in a big circle, every time I thought I'd missed him he looped round to come and see me again.

Heathland leading to lake
This would have been a territorial area for Tasmanian Tigers but I saw none here, probably too open and exposed these days so I moved on.

We all recognise this guy
The Koala. Eats shoots and leaves

Having eaten, this one leaves
Luckily for us he didn't have a gun. It's actually rare to see them move as these guys sleep for 20hours a day.

Poor old devil
Much older than the one we bumped into earlier, this old girl hasn't got the energy to run around in circles she more content just sitting under a hollow log.

Agile Wallaby (Macropus agilis)
This is one of the larger members of the Wallaby family with the males weighing in at around 19kg there are several similar species but this is the most common

A snowey Joey
Wow this is a much less common site, you won't see too many of these hopping about

A Common Bushtail Possum
I bumped into this little fella on my way to a new locataion. They're mainly nocturnal and this little fella's sleeping so we wont disturb him, lets move on.

Perfect drinking spot for a Thylacine!
So I lay downstream in two inches of water covered with ferns for camouflage and my camera poised. I stayed there for 19 and an half hours but all I found were leeches. Unfortunately I only discovered them when I finally got up and passed out through loss of blood.

Felineis Toofati
This is a big cat but not the one we're looking for this ones preferred habitat would be a coffee table trying to hide under green foliage. I found him in the reception area of the hospital that I regained consciousness in, he has no legs! time to get back on the road.

Dinosaur Eggs?
No. This nest belongs to an Emu but she's nowhere to be seen. She's probably gone fishing, it takes her a while as she has no Rod to do it with these days.

I'd'd forgive you for thinking this is a rat
It's not. It's Long-nosed Potoroo (Potorous tridactylus). It's like a miniature kangaroo, the males are bigger than the females but still only 38cm tall not including the tail I weighed this fella at 1180g.

The Wombat
They will grow to up to 115cm in length and weigh up to 39kg but this little fella's just a baby probably about 8 or 9 months old.