Goannas
Submitted: Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 08:16
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Member - John and Val
Mick O has been drawing our attention to some of the reptiles that we come across on our travels. Goannas are among the more visible of our reptiles, being often large, and bold enough to hang around camping areas or anywhere there is the possibility of a feed.
I have put together a short blog
here
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We have had several memorable goanna encounters. Once when walking along a bush track on the NSW south coast we saw large scratch marks, about the size of a hand, on the ground. We followed the tracks but were astonished to come across their maker, a huge fat goanna maybe 5 feet long. We watched him for some time (keeping
well back) as he basked in the sun oblivious to our presence. Sadly, no photos.
Another time we came across some 44gal drums used as rubbish
bins. The ground around was littered with rubbish and disposable nappies were scattered everywhere. We did a bit of a tidy up, muttering darkly about untidy disgusting humans - then we saw what was making the mess. A couple of big goannas were finding the
bins irresistable (especially the nappies) and were dragging out and scattering around anything that smelled interesting.
Hopefully others will have their goanna stories and some photos to add. Maybe someone can ID the goannas in the blog too.
Cheers,
Val
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Reply By: Bushranger1 - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 08:39
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 08:39
G'day Val,
No photos I am afraid but a good short story about one.
We live in the bush & have goannas come right up to the house.
Came
home to find my ladder leaning up against a tree & cut marks made with a saw in the side of the tree?? Now what was this all about??
It turns out that our 10 yr old daughter had seen the goanna climb the tree & was attenpting to save the baby Eastern rosella chicks which were in a hollow part way up the tree. She grabbed the goanna by the tail & pulled it down at which point it escaped into the bush. She then got my bush saw out & tried for some time to cut the tree down above the hollow with the thought of rescuing the chicks from the hungry goanna. Giving up on that she then "stood guard" at the base of the tree to prevent the goanna coming back.
He came back & got them the next day unfortunatly, but to this day the Rosellas still use this nest tree. It now has a sheet of steel wrapped around the base to stop the goannas climbing it to get the chicks.
Cheers
Stu
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Reply By: MartyB - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 09:22
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 09:22
We live on a bushy block and are having a problem with at least 4 different goannas stealing the chook eggs. The chooks simply roam around in a yard that has a 4ft pailing fence around it. The goannas squeese themselves between the pailings to get into the yard. Does anyone have any legal ways of getting rid of the goannas so we can have some eggs too? I have thought of trapping them and taking them for a drive into the bush.
from Marty.
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Follow Up By: Bushranger1 - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 10:59
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 10:59
We made our chook cage goanna proof by continuing the side wire walls horizontally out from the ground just under the surface of the soil. They try to dig under the walls but strike the wire just under the ground & give up.
Either that or buy some extra chooks so you can share some eggs with them!
Cheers
Stu
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Follow Up By: Member - Paul B (WA) - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 11:49
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 11:49
When I was a kid Mum had problems with a blue tongue bobtail eating her strawberries so she picked it up, put it in a bucket & got Dad to take it a couple of
miles away to a patch of scrub up the paddock. The next day there another bobby knocking off her strawberries so Dad got the job again. Same again next day so she began to suspect it was the same bobby so after hopping into Dad for not taking him far enough away, sprayed him with some silver frosty spray paint & sure enough he was the same one, making the 2 mile journey each day!
She fixed the problem by taking him about 10
miles away, but he still came back, but not for quite a few days and by then all the strawberries had ripened & been picked. He became a bit of a fixture around the place and we called him Frosty and as kids used to cart him around like a little pet. But come strawberry season he always got taken for a 10 mile ride. Frosty, what a character!
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Reply By: Wayne David - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 10:11
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 10:11
We live with bush on 3 sides & down a dirt track so we see plenty of these guys getting about, especially on those baking hot Summer days.
It's actually interesting how varied their behaviour can be too. For instance when we had ducks the goanna was very much the villain and behaved accordingly. They liked the eggs & the ducks (liver), and when we fronted-up they took off like thieves in the night. But you could always bet that they would be back.
On the other hand, just North of Coffs at Bruxner Park
lookout, there's a group of fat goannas that are clearly used to people stopping-by to enjoy the view, have a picnic and share their lunch.
The Bruxner Park mob had us standing on the picnic table as they circled below like a pack of labradors after a snack. The trick we came up with was 'toss the sandwich & then run to the car'.
I haven't been to Bruxner Park now for years.
Cheerio - Wayne
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Reply By: get outmore - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 10:39
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 10:39
V. Rosembergi south east coast
Juvinile V. Tristis??
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r308/wudinna/P1020061.jpg
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Follow Up By: get outmore - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 10:42
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 10:42
sorry that should be Juvinile V. Tristis?? far NE wheatbelt
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Follow Up By: Mick O - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 11:20
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 11:20
Bloody great photos. Got any more?
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Follow Up By: Member - Paul B (WA) - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 16:46
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 16:46
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Reply By: Sir Kev & Darkie - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 11:40
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 11:40
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This fellow was in the
Campground at Mt Moffatt (
Carnarvon National Park) during our stay there in
Easter 2009.
The local birds were really going to town with it's presence :)
Cheers Kev
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Reply By: Kris and Kev - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 11:49
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 11:49
Lots on Fraser Island. Generally not scarred of humans and they will find any scraps you have left behind, even if in
bins if they can get the lid off. It can be a bit uncomfortable when you are sitting at a picnic table and they come up under the table! Watch your toes!
They are also very good at eating dead animals, no matter the size, or the species, if you know what I mean.
This one got into our bin when we were last on Fraser. The bin was on the veranda and all that was in there was the paper we had used to clean the BBQ. Ended up with shredded paper everywhere.
I still love them and love coming across them. (Except when one found a hole in our chook yard fence and stole the eggs! My fault, have now fixed the fence.)
Kevin
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Follow Up By: SDG - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 21:55
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 21:55
A while backwhen I was on Fraser we had one walking around the
campsite while we were having lunch. All the girls locked themselves in the tents. I just sat there eating my lunch while watching it. Walked around the tents, poked its head in the tents that were open, walked under my chair, and even helped itself to one of my sandwiches which were on my lap.
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Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 13:49
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 13:49
Hi Val
Great post and very different to flora. We have encountered them a number of times during our travels and I am sure that I have taken more images than I have.
This first image was on the banks of
Ral Ral Creek, north of
Renmark.
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I first spotted it on the ground and as I crept close to it it darted up the tree and then the closer that I got to it, the higher and faster it ran up the tree.
The second image was south of Geosurvey
Hill heading down to the Geographic Centre of the Simpon Desert. Anyone that has the great EO Stubby holder will recognise this fellow.
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All the Best to you and
John.
Cheers
Stephen
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Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 19:53
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 19:53
Hi Val
I have been searching and had completely overlooked this important little fellow, the Heath Goanna that is found on
Kangaroo Island. Lays its eggs inside
termite mounds and then departs never to see the
young again, and when they hatch, the
young can be a meal for older goannas and other prey....
They saved the Island from the invasion of rabbits and are and are found over the whole island.
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Cheers
Stephen
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Follow Up By: get outmore - Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 12:33
Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 12:33
That heath goanna is actually pretty unique in that its the same species as the rosemburgs goanna I posted a
pic of. The unique thing is they are found in at least 3 areas of australia but are geographically seperated by 000s of km
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Follow Up By: get outmore - Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 16:29
Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 16:29
another sad bit of trivia about the KI heath monitors was a study was done placing radio collars on some of them to track movements and the study had to have a cat eradication program first as all the collars were being found in cat lairs
a goanna keeps a regular route daily looking for food and cats were just working it out and laying in wait
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Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 20:17
Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 20:17
Hi Get Outmore
Thats for that, very interesting. Don't speak to me about feral cats, my favourite animals that I have an instant disliking to and it is the only time that I wished that I owned a firearm.
Cheers
Stephen
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Reply By: Member - Joe F (WA) - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 14:25
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 14:25
Image Could Not Be FoundImage Could Not Be FoundImage Could Not Be FoundImage Could Not Be FoundG'day Val and
John
Nice story, I can testify to "muttering darkly" at human beings often of late, but when it comes to creatures in their element,
well it can get quite humbling, especially when they show no fear of you being right there.
We have had a few inquisitive big lizzards wander into the house yard and gardens lately, as their natural habitat has been obliterated by the expansion of the so called light industrial area, only a few hundered metres from my front door, little wonder "I mutter darkly" these days.
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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 14:43
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 14:43
Gary JJunction Road 2008.
Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival,
Cape York, 2009.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome
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478618
Reply By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 14:58
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 14:58
Here's a couple from me. Gould's Lizards/Perenties/Bungarras call them what you want.Image Could Not Be Found
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Not a goanna per se but a nice frilled necked lizard & a Ta Ta lizard just for fun.Image Could Not Be Found
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The top Gould's Lizard or Perentie was at the side of the road and reared up on its back legs watching the world go by. About 2 km further on we stopped at an
old shearing shed for lunch and we must of spotted about 9 wandering around. When we arrived the biggest and ugliest perentie I've ever seen crawled out from under a dead steer it had gorged that much that its belly dragged on the floor even with its legs at full extension.
The Frilled necked lizard was in the Big 4 in
Kununurra & the Ta Ta at
Cave Hill.(not really goannas I know)
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Follow Up By: get outmore - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 16:11
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 16:11
Just for information the perentie is a totally different goanna to the goulds goanna.
None if those pics are of a perentie
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Reply By: The Explorer - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 16:14
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 16:14
Hi
Some of my pics from around the place..
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Cheers
Greg
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Follow Up By: get outmore - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 17:38
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 17:38
interesting youve found a goulds bunbury way. ive been trying to figure out their sothern extent when they are replaced by rosemburgs . i thought it was about mandurah going inland
i guess maybe theres more overlap than i thought
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 19:27
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 19:27
Hello Dave
As an ex DEC employee you should be aware of
NatureMap?
Handy source of info - I have downloaded records for both Varanus gouldii and Varanus rosenburgi and made the following map...
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As you can see there is a significant overlap...records for gouldii as far south as
Busselton and
Albany and for rosenburgi to
Perth and across to
Hyden.
Cheers
Greg
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Reply By: AlbyNSW - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 21:10
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 21:10
Great pictures and thread, my son is a reptile keeper / breeder and the monitors are a favorite
They are wonderful creatures
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Reply By: Rockape - Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 22:21
Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 22:21
Val,
a couple of years back we were having a Barbie on a standard 4 burner setup.
Behind the Barbie was our cold room style esky which was a similar hieght and size to the barbie.
Much to the delight off my mates I walk up to the esky to get myself a cool drink but unbenowance to me there was a goanna on the other side checking out his next meal that was cooking. He must have thought to himself, no one is going to take my tucker and he then proceeded to jump on top of the very hot barbie plate, run over the top of it and the esky and launch himself at me.
Well I lost about 30 years in age took of like a scaulded cat ducking and weaving so he couldn't get a hold of me.
Lucky he never got me but my mates thought it was a great joke. He kept harressing us until we got a hose and wet him down. That slowed him up as the wind chill factor cooled his blood down.
Have a good one,
RA.
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 01:24
Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 01:24
Good story, didn't take any pictures or video by any chance? LOL :))
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Follow Up By: Rockape - Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 01:53
Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 01:53
John,
no pics or vids but there were a lot of laughs. I still get ragged about dancing around like a teenager on eckies whenever a big gecko is around.
Someone may have a
pic of the big bugger. He had to be relocated as he was becoming very aggressive to all. People who feed them is what normally causes the problem.
Have a good one,
RA.
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Reply By: Member - John and Val - Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 20:16
Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at 20:16
Thanks everyone for great photos, info and anecdotes. Those big goannas are quite majestic - I especially like the photo of the one standing up on hind legs.
Sad to hear though of feral cat depredations on KI, and we would have to assume the same thing is happening all over the place. Still its heartening to see that at least some survive and grow to reproduction age. Whether their capacity to live around humans is a good thing though is probably debatable.
Cheers,
Val
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