Fascinating Animals in Australia.
This website showcases interesting animal species in Australia such as the koala, kangaroo, wombat, cane toad etc.
Bat | Bandicoot |Cane Toad| Emu |and more ....
The Bat is the only mammal which can actually fly. Other mammals like the sugar glider can only glide. It has a very thin skin attached to its arms which act like the wings of a bird. It flaps its arms to fly. It hangs upside down when resting. This is called roosting. It usually folds its wings against its body when roosting. It roosts almost anywhere where it is warm and humid even inside roofs. It hunts for insects in the night and uses its ears like a radar to find its prey. The bat is one of two placental mammals native to Australia.
The Long-noosed Bandicoot is grayish brown in colour and has got a really long pointy nose. It is a nocturnal marsupial. It busily sniffs the ground and squeaks a lot while looking of its food. It digs little holes in the ground and sticks its snout down these holes in search of insects, grubs and worms. It makes its nest in a shallow hole lined with grass and leaves. It hides the entrance to the hole with leaves and stuff.
The Cane Toad was brought to Australia in 1935 to protect the sugar cane fields of Queensland from the cane beetle But guess what? It didn't work! Scientists warned the farmers not to bring the cane toad to Australia but the farmers didn't listen and brought them in anyway. The cane toad has no natural enemies in Australia and lives up to 20 years. A female cane toad can lay up to 40,000 eggs (while the native frogs lay only about 1,000). Most native tadpoles can't live in the same water as the poisonous Cane Toad tadpoles. The cane toad is highly poisonous. It carries toxin in two large bulging glands on its shoulders (see them in the picture). Native animals that normally feed on native frogs try t o eat the cane toad and die. Even grasping the toad in their mouths is enough to kill. Because they are multiplying so rapidly and because they will eat almost anything that will fit in their mouths they are devastating the native ground dwelling micro-fauna (small ground creatures).
The
Emu is a large flightless bird. It is found only in Australia. It is the second
largest bird in the world (the ostrich is bigger). It is as tall as a man. It
has a long neck and small head and very long legs. It can run very fast and can
also swim.
