thought to be only moderately venomous, Collett’s snake is now known to have been responsible for severe envenomation, with cases proceeding to rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury. Toxicity and symptoms of the venom resemble that of the mulga snake (P. australis). Early symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and headache, an anticoagulant coagulopathy, with risk of rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury within 24 hours if fluid replacement and black snake antivenom are not given. Despite the danger, its attractive markings have led it to being a popular snake in captivity.
– The main diet of Collett’s snake consists of amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. Cannibalism is also known to occur in Collett’s snake.
GHOST BAT
ghost bat used to be distributed across most of inland Australia but it is now restricted to tropical northern Australia. It is believed this is caused by isolation and long-term climate change and changed land management practices.
– As well as insects, they will eat birds, bats, small mammals, frogs and geckos. Ghost bats are known to take their food back to their cave to eat in safety.
– The ghost bat was once widely distributed throughout Australia, and became restricted to a sparser population across northern regions. The species was recorded three more times in the twenty years that followed its discovery, two at Alice Springs and one in the Pilbrara.
– It is estimated that several thousand ghost bats remain in existence today. Declines in population are expected to be reversed in part because of increased survival rates, not because of immigration from other isolated areas. There are very few national parks that strive to protect the species at this time.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
MALEE EMUWREN
– The current estimated total population size is approximately 4,000 birds. Although this species is widely dispersed throughout the Murray Sunset Reserve its home ranges are patchy throughout the 488 square kilometres reserve. Recent studies have concluded that the species is more widespread than previously thought. However, the species is much rarer in the southern regions of the preserve.
– The Mallee Emu-wren is one of Australia’s smallest birds. It weighs only 6.5gm and is a tiny 13cm to 14.5cm long. With a tail of 8cm to 9.5cm in length its body size is only 5cm to 6cm. It is this distinctive tail, with has six long emu-like feathers, which gives the Mallee Emu-wren its name. The Mallee Emu-wren has a back and upper wings which are a grey-brown colour with dark streaks. Its underparts are an orange-buff colour.
– Large-scale wildfires are a pervasive threat to the global status of the Mallee Emu-wren, and the risk to remaining populations is exacerbated by the adverse impact of prolonged drought and the potential for altered fire regimes caused by global warming.
SATIN FLYCATCHER
– The Satin Flycatcher is fully migratory, breeding in southern Australia and migrating to northern Australia and New Guinea. The monarch flycatchers have a mostly Old World distribution. In the western end of their range they are distributed through sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and the islands of the tropical Indian Ocean. They also occur in South and Southeastern Asia, north to Japan, down to New Guinea and most of Australia.
– Satin Flycatchers feed singly or in pairs through the forest upper strata, they are incessantly on the move taking food (grasshoppers, beetles, blowflies and moths) on the wing either in mid-air or among upper foliage after darting out from a perch, usually a small horizontal twig beneath the forest canopy, to seize prey. Stays at the perch are brief with the tail quivering up and down; the tails ways side to side when landing.
– Found along the wet eucalyptus forests of the east coast from Cape York to western Victoria and into Tasmania. In March to April the Satin Flycatchers migrates north to Cape York Peninsula and southeastern New Guinea to spend winter there and in adjacent islands. They return in September and October travelling in ones and twos, possibly at night.
BOLAM’S MOUSE
– Diet consists of seeds, fruits, blossoms, grasses and herbs as well as invertebrates such as beetles and spiders. Increased capture rates have been made in areas with a high cover of bluebush (Maireana spp.), with the seeds recorded as a food source.
– Bolam’s mouse is the size of a house mouse although slimmer in appearance with larger eyes, feet and ears with a longer tail. It is also quieter than a house mouse when handled and lacks a musty odour.
– Plant material including leaves, floral material, stems and roots generally make up more than 30% of the diet. Invertebrates make up more than 10% of the diet and fungus makes up less than 1%.
– They are found to inhabit areas that have loamy, clay, gravelly, sandy or calcareous soils where they are able to burrow. They also occupy vacant goanna, bettong and rabbit burrows and underneath fallen timber.
TASMANIAN PYGMY POSSUM
– During cold weather, especially below about 6° C (43° F), Tasmanian pygmy possums have the ability to enter torpor. While in this state, body temperature drops, and oxygen consumption falls to just 1% of normal.
– In captivity, Little Pygmy-possums have been paired, but they are usually solitary in the wild. Because of their small size, pygmy-possums have a difficult time maintaining a high body temperature when it’s cold or when there is not enough food available.
– Cercartetus lepidus takes about 20 minutes to regain full activity after being in the torpor state (Collins, 1973). Cercartetus lepidus is a nocturnal animal that stays in its nest under dense cover during daylight.
– Little pygmy-possums also prey on a wide range of invertebrates including spiders, scorpions, and insect larvae. Small lizards are also included in their diet. The little pygmy-possum secures the prey with its forepaws and tears away portions with its teeth. Daily food consumption is about 7% of its body weight.
TASMANIA
BROAD TOOTHED MOUSE
