# You are not going to believe this



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

I live in suburbia, 8 kms from the CBD, and surrounded by main roads (Mitchelton, Brisbane, and nowhere near forest reserves. The nearest is the Gallapoli Army barracks, about 1.3 km away).

Last week I went for an early morning walk. Just outside there was a lady staring intently into up our big tree eucalypts. My thought was that she had seen a possum, or a bird. We have heaps of each, also green tree snakes and frogs. But no, she was off to work to via the train, and the day before had spied a koala sleeping in one of the big eucalypts. She took a couple of clear photos, and I was stoked.

Since she has seen a tawny frogmouth, and photographed it too. All the neighbours are excited, but not half as much as I. I planted these trees on a bare block (sans now 95 years old Queenslander home, but in my wildest dreams never expected to attract a koala).


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## symo71 (Aug 28, 2014)

How cool is that ! Well done. Great to hear things like this in suburbia.

We have tree frogs after a no spray garden test at home, plenty of native bees and plan for a native front garden instead of grass.


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## Zorba (Jan 22, 2013)

Nice storey


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

How do I get the pictures from paint? (assume no knowledge or computer terminology)


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Finally some Koala and Tawny Pictures

Koala at Home









1st picture of Tawny









2nd picture of Tawny


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Address:

Mitchelton National Park........ also snakes, frogs, lizards, butterflies and some not often sighted birds in the suburbs. These include King Parrots, Scarlet Honeyeaters (bred three times), Golden Whistler, birds of prey including the Crested Hawk, and the common ones such as Pale headed Rosellas, Blue faced Honeyeaters, Kookaburras, Pied Butcherbirds mainly (and the occasional butcher bird), Rainbow Lorikeets, Pied Currawongs and Mickeys, both being quite aggressive. We have had a couple of sightings only of the Mountain Lowry's (Blue Mountain Parrot). Crows are discouraged by throwing sticks at them, which they usually laugh at.

Brush tailed and ring tailed possums, who I swear wear army boots at night as they run across the tin roof. A pleasant place to spend summer afternoons waiting for the storms on the back deck as the shadows of the big trees start cooling the house.

The local kindergarten and primary school used to visit a couple of times a year. The kids loved it.

You're welcome to visit anytime, but I need a bit of forewarning to clean it up a bit.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

I went to walk down my rear stairs this morning, but was stopped in my tracks by these two...........


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

I went out the front way and collected a grasshopper, but at this stage they don't seem interested.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

The grasshopper lasted about an hour and a half. She jumped over the chick and demolished it....supper I suppose. I don't know if she is going to regurgitate it for the chick.


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## Frocklizard (Aug 19, 2010)

You come across as an animal lover 8) then you rip the the wings and legs off another :shock:


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Frocklizard said:


> You come across as an animal lover 8) then you rip the the wings and legs off another :shock:


I was waiting for that one FL. It's a long history.

My family was a bit weird (I know you are surprised :lol: ), but five boys growing up in Wavell Heights, a close to CBD Northern suburb, and we all loved animals. So we captured a bearded dragon, kept it in the house except for some daily sunshine and grass time, and it slept in the lounge overnight.

Obviously it needed food, so my four siblings and I roamed the suburbs every afternoon capturing insects to feed it. Now grasshoppers hop, and fly, which makes it difficult for a bearded dragon to capture one - hence remove the hoppers and tear the wings off (please do not report this to the Grasshopper Protection Society).

They stalk with slow movements and an alternate 'freestyle' type movement of the front legs. This gets the prey used to movement and a more likely successful 'kill'.

You have to be quick to see the 'freestyle movement' designed to fool the prey.






Lawn grubs, caterpillars, beetles all no problem, but grasshoppers need a bit of disadvantaging to make many successful kills.

Anyway, things got out of hand, and we eventually ended up with six bearded dragons in the lounge room, for ten years. We wandered through front and back yards, collecting the insects and grasshoppers, all the while fitting in homework and two hours of swimming training, twice a day. Life is simpler with TV, though we never had one.

Heavens know what visitors thought when they discovered a bearded dragon right beside their shoulder. I'm surer some spilt their cup of tea.

:lol:


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## Frocklizard (Aug 19, 2010)

Geez Trev. Are we related :shock:


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Frocklizard said:


> Geez Trev. Are we related :shock:


Maybe not FL. But I do find the observations of wildlife fascinating.

That was until I was out at the Gneerings off Mooloolaba (SE Qld) last year. when a 40 tonne humpback breached 20 metres from the AI. I was henceforth sitting in a foul smelling liquid for some time.


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