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Old 03-21-12, 10:11 PM   #1
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

Gorgeous monitor shots as always. You never fail to impress!!

Remind me where these photos are and I might be able to tell you what made those paw prints
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Old 03-21-12, 10:16 PM   #2
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

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Remind me where these photos are and I might be able to tell you what made those paw prints
Coastal New South Wales (eastern Australia).
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Old 03-21-12, 10:28 PM   #3
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

It's hard to tell by the photo what size they are...
At first sight, I though that by the four toes marks I'd say something canine, like a dingo, that maybe wasn't pressing down on the pads of his feet.
But then looking closer it's actually two toes of two different feet together. I'd expect a wallaby or something of the sort to leave a longer foot mark, but maybe one that was hopping/jumping, rather than walking? hence why there aren't any hand prints. That's just my guess though. I'm not from Australia so I'm not familiar with the animals
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Old 03-21-12, 10:41 PM   #4
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

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But then looking closer it's actually two toes of two different feet together. I'd expect a wallaby or something of the sort to leave a longer foot mark, but maybe one that was hopping/jumping, rather than walking? hence why there aren't any hand prints.
Brilliant deductive reasoning, Alessia, and right on all counts.

It's a wallaby, hopping - explaining why the front feet aren't visible and neither are the heels of the hind feet.

Here's a close-up of the first set of prints:


The reason these prints caught me off guard for a moment is their being so close together. This must have been a particularly dainty wallaby, as normally they hop with a bit more space between their feet. Here's a shot of a typical set of prints.


The tiny inner toes (which are actually two toes fused and therefore have two claws) are only used for grooming and are therefore held off the ground while hopping, which is why only two toes are visible in the prints.
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Old 03-22-12, 09:32 AM   #5
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

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Brilliant deductive reasoning, Alessia, and right on all counts.

It's a wallaby, hopping - explaining why the front feet aren't visible and neither are the heels of the hind feet.

Here's a close-up of the first set of prints:


The reason these prints caught me off guard for a moment is their being so close together. This must have been a particularly dainty wallaby, as normally they hop with a bit more space between their feet. Here's a shot of a typical set of prints.


The tiny inner toes (which are actually two toes fused and therefore have two claws) are only used for grooming and are therefore held off the ground while hopping, which is why only two toes are visible in the prints.
Yayyy I got it right!
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Old 03-21-12, 11:42 PM   #6
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

very cool shots there.
Is it weird that I kind of want to see a video of a large Lace Monitor tail whipping one of those pesky turkeys?
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Old 03-22-12, 12:00 AM   #7
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

The monitors get their own back during brush turkey breeding season by occasionally sneaking past the guarding male and stealing eggs. Brush turkeys are megapodes, so they lay their eggs in large ground nests and use the sun and decomposing vegetable matter to incubate the eggs, rather than sit on them. The males are pretty fierce protectors and will usually turn their back on the goannas and kick debris at them, but occasionally a monitor sneaks through when the male is preoccupied.

Away from mounds and outside the breeding season, the brush turkeys are still 'funny' about monitors and so peck them on the tip of the tail when they can.

Here's some more shots of the same behaviour, from a few years ago.

A brush turkey with a really small female monitor I've named 'Weenie'. Weenie clearly gets hassled a lot, for she curled her tail while the bird was still a long way off.



A larger, male lace monitor (Bluey, in fact) being followed by a brush turkey.


At one stage Bluey turned around to look at the bird, so the bird turned away with a look that said "nothing to see here".
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Old 03-22-12, 12:02 AM   #8
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

Is Bluey about as big as adult lace monitors get in the wild? That turkey looks aweful big in comparison.
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Old 03-22-12, 12:29 AM   #9
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

It's deceptive because the brush turkey was closer to the camera than the monitor. Bluey is pretty big, but not huge - probably 1.75m

Brush turkeys are bigger than a domestic chicken.
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Old 03-22-12, 12:34 AM   #10
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

so would Bluey be able to make a snack out of a full grown brush turkey or are they a little too big/the monitors too lazy/wimpy for that?
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Old 03-22-12, 12:51 AM   #11
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

From a purely physical viewpoint, if a really motivated monitor rushed at a brush turkey, it could kill it very easily and then eat bits of it at its leisure. However, nature is all about risk and effort vs gain. Like most predators, monitors are easily put off by threats and consequently don't even think about attacking an adult brush turkey because they just seem like a lot of trouble.
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Old 03-22-12, 06:30 AM   #12
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

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so would Bluey be able to make a snack out of a full grown brush turkey or are they a little too big/the monitors too lazy/wimpy for that?
Here is a "wimpy" monitor for you........

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Old 03-22-12, 09:55 AM   #13
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

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Here is a "wimpy" monitor for you........

ha ha, awesome video! The guy sounds like Jeremy Clarkson off of Top Gear with the way he speaks.
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Old 03-22-12, 06:07 PM   #14
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

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ha ha, awesome video! The guy sounds like Jeremy Clarkson off of Top Gear with the way he speaks.
Trust me David Attenbourgh and Jeremy Clarkson don't sound alike :-)
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Old 03-22-12, 06:19 PM   #15
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Re: A few photographs of my critters - part 1

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Trust me David Attenbourgh and Jeremy Clarkson don't sound alike :-)
I guess all Brits must sound alike.
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