7-2-2007
Okay. In response to some nagging from my sister Christine, here is my quasi-comprehensive rundown of the various interesting flora and fauna that I have encountered thus far…
Flora first. By far the coolest flora specimen that I have encountered has been the Strangler Fig. So birds eat the fruit of the Strangler Fig and then defecate into the canopy of the rainforest, right? Well, the seeds from the Strangler Fig start growing way up in the canopy by using the nutrients in the bird poop. Eventually, as they start sending their roots down toward the ground, they are able to sap nutrients from the host tree in which they are growing. Depending on how high up the tree the fig starts to grow, it can take up to 30 years for the fig’s roots to reach the ground. However, once they do, the roots (which now are hanging down all around the tree much like the ridges on a piece of licorice) thicken and completely envelope the tree. So now you’ve got a tree growing on top of and around another tree. Depending on how nutrient-rich the soil is and how much sunlight the fig is getting, it can completely consume and kill the host tree in as little as 150 years. Well, what happens when the host tree dies and decomposes, you ask? The Strangler Fig lives on. Hollow. The coolest part, however, is that the fig doesn’t completely envelope the host tree; there are all kinds of openings and areas that weren’t completely closed up so you can see into the fig tree where the host tree used to be. In fact, I actually climbed into the middle of one and started climbing up the inside of the fig tree just as if I were climbing a ladder. Quite cool, eh?
Among other cool flora are huge Black Booyong trees that grow really cool roots called buttresses that look like… well… take roots, flatten them out until they’re about 2 inches thick and 4 feet wide, then set them up on edge so that they stick out of the ground, and then make them undulate all over the place. Quite unique. Scientists aren’t quite sure what the advantage to having buttresses is, but they speculate that the increased surface area of the root helps with oxygen exchange in the saturated ground, as well as helping to stabilize the tree better in windstorms. They also think that it helps retain dead leaves around the base of the tree in order to increase the amount of nutrients available to the tree. So there.
We also have a stinging tree that is called thusly because it stings you if you touch it. Brilliant naming system, no?
Lastly but not leastly, we have about 25 different species of really cool ferns ranging from tree ferns (ferns that are literally trees) to ground ferns much like the ones in western Oregon to 3 species of epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants [like parasites] but do not damage the host plant— it’s not a true state of symbiosis because the ferns don’t benefit the host tree.) So you get ferns on the ground, fern trees, and ferns growing way the crap up in the middle of the sky, hanging off the branches, vines, and trunks of large trees.
Ok, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Fauna!!! Of course, you’re all wondering about the snakes and spiders, right? Well, be ye not dismayed, fair readers (I kind of feel like Jonathan Swift after typing that…) because I have had encounters with both! Among the snakes that I have seen are a 3-metre python, a Bandy-Bandy (non-poisonous), a Steven’s Banded Snake (lethal), an Eastern Brown Snake (lethally lethal) and a Red-Bellied Black Snake (very poisonous, potentially lethal if not treated).
Unlike the snakes, however, I was only able to locate the spiders’ webs, not the actual spiders themselves. The big two to be concerned about in my part of this fair continent are the tree-dwelling funnel web spider and the ground funnel web spider. Oddly enough, I found a tree-dwelling funnel web and a ground funnel web within about 4 metres of each other. I was unable to entice either of them out into the light, but that was probably ok, considering that the people that I was taking on tour that day were very uncomfortable with the situation. City folk from Hamburg, Germany.
The birds are the main attraction down here. Of course the classic, most iconic bird of the area is the Regent Bower Bird (the symbol of O’Reilly’s, nonetheless). I don’t have enough bandwidth to upload any pictures today, so you’ll just have to google these on your own time, but we also have Satin Bower Birds, Crimson Rosellas, Australian King Parrots, Paradise Riflebirds, Pied Currawongs, Superb Fairy-Wrens, Red-Browed Finches, Wompoo Fruit-Doves, Noisy Pittas, Albert’s Lyrebird (and the award for “most exotic” goes too him!), Crested Shrike-Tits, Lewin’s Honeyeaters, Black-Faced Monarchs, and Australian Brush Turkeys. The only ones that are really interesting to read about are the bower birds, specifically the Satin Bower Birds. The males, after having taken 7 years to develop adult plumage, build what is essentially a bachelor pad called a bower. They make the bower out of twigs and form it into a sort of tunnel without a roof. They then proceed to collect as many blue objects as possible (usually straws, buttons, and other man-made items) and place them all around the bower. The blue complements the dark blue in their feathers. Anyway, so the bower bird with the nicest, bluest bower gets the ladies. The mating ritual is typified by a lot of prancing, dancing, and hopefully a bit or ro-man-cing as well, then it’s over. The female leaves to raise the eggs on her own, and the male keeps up the good work. I’d say the birds have got this whole “relationship” thing worked out! Although, I suppose that if a human male were to have a nice big mansion with a sports car and a nice boat parked out front along with a whole bunch of diamond rings and fur coats lying about, even he might get some attention from the ladies, yeah? 
Finally, the mammals. We have wallabies like nobody’s business. They only come in one variety here, though, and they are the red-necked pademelons. Imagine a kangaroo that’s only about a foot tall. There you go. They poo everywhere. We also have at least two platypuses that live near the guesthouse, a few koalas (which are quite difficult to spot) and two different kinds of possums (mountain brushtail possums and common ringtail possums). We’ve got bandicoots, too. And Sugar Gliders, which look a lot like possums with membrane-y wings. They can glide over 50 metres from tree to tree.
So there you go. Happy, Christine?
Anyway, I start my second week of work tomorrow, so it’ll most likely be a few days until the next post. I can only post from one computer here, and the only time I can get on it is when the guy who normally uses it goes on his lunch break. Cheers!
