Adventures in Flora and Fauna
I knew when we purchased the property we now call home that by it’s very nature we were going to be up close and personal with a large variety of wildlife and plants and it hasn’t disappointed. The gardens are lush and tropical with a wide variety of plants. There’s a frangipani tree outside of my office door that has the most amazing orchid growing in it. It’s massive and it’ had these beautiful displays of flowers in it for the past few weeks.
There’s a myriad of butterflies. Some the most amazing colours and then some that seem plain but have these stunning patterns in their wings. There’s a herd of wallabies that pass through the property on a regular basis. The other morning I woke to this little guy outside our window.
There’s a family of scrub turkeys that like to come and forage in the yard as well as a big collection of lizards that live in amongst all the rocks.
It’s been such a blessing to be able to call this place home and I try not to take it for granted that we’re the custodians of this piece of land and therefore have a responsibility to look after it all. It’s going to be a big job to get it all healthy and back to a predominately native landscape, but I’m excited for the challenge. Especially because I’ll have Mum and Dad here to help us out.
It’s going to be an adventure and I hope you enjoy this little peak into life here in the tropics of North Queensland, Australia.
Australia Summed Up in One Photo
I start this tale with the statement: I don’t like frogs and I like snakes even less.
I have a rule with frogs, as long as they’re not near me I don’t go near them. I’m more than happy to leave them to do their little froggy thing but if they get too close one of us has to go. (Usually it’s me running off squealing!) When we moved in there was a green tree frog that lived above our front door. We called him Pierre.
Pierre and I had a truce. He stayed above the door and didn’t jump on me and I let him stay there. Then one day Pierre brought home a girlfriend. No big deal I said, everyone deserves to find love, and so I told her the same thing I’d told him. Stay where you are and no one gets hurt. (It’s a turn of phrase, I’d never hurt an animal!)
Life was good – the frogs had their place and I had mine. Then the rains came.
I went out one day to get something for the house, I can’t recall what because the trauma has caused a partial amnesia. When I got home it was pouring down rain and so I ran from our carport, down our garden path, towards our front door. When I got to our front porch I noticed a fat green frog just at the edge of it. I stopped dead in my tracks.
Right. How am I going to get over/around that and to the door….
As I was standing there contemplating the first frog, I noticed the second frog. He was laying splayed out on the tiles with his back legs out behind him. I was stumped. A thousand scenarios ran through my head. Did they have a lovers fight and she murdered Pierre? Did they have a little froggy love time and he was all tuckered out? Why was he laying like that???
I stood there for a good couple of minutes thinking about the life and times of these frogs and how I’d get to the front door when I decided I needed to take a photo and send it to Hubby to show him and complain that I was standing in the rain with no way to get to the front door.
Camera out, poised to take a photo of the frogs when I notice something long, skinny and yellow against the door….
SNAKE!!!!!
I took the photo (of course!) and ran so fast back to the carport that I don’t even think Usain Bolt could have caught me. See Exhibit A below. That be 2 frogs and 1 snake at my front door. (Just for context that snake is close to 2m long, if not longer…)
I did 2 things when I got back to that carport. 1. I rang the local snake catcher. He informed me that it would be a $100 call out fee for him to come and get the snake. I replied “It’s either pay the $100 or burn the house down… I’ll pay the $100.” and B. I called my Mum.
I waited for the snake catcher to arrive. Just me and the snake…. I kept my distance and kept an eye on it’s location at all times. After awhile it went up our front door and positioned itself on the window ledge above the door; Pierre’s old haunt. Then, much to my horror, it went vertical and disappeared into our ceiling right. before. the. snake. catcher. arrived.
By the time the snake catcher had arrived so had my Father, Husband and Son. The four of us stood in the carport as the rain fell softly and I mentally ran through how much it would cost me to leave all I owned and never return.
When the snake catcher arrived he was very helpful and pleasant but there wasn’t much he could do as the snake had disappeared. We weren’t quite sure where he’d gone but the expert said he’d likely returned to the trees around our house. It wasn’t until after he’d gone that we noticed the hollow knot in a ceiling plank near to where he was sitting that we realised he went back into the ceiling cavity.
While he was there he pointed out that the snake likely came down to get Pierre and his Missus. Unfortunately for Pierre and his bit of fluff this meant their days above our door had come to an end. The snake catcher very kindly agreed to relocate our froggy couple somewhere safe and far enough away from our house that they wouldn’t be inclined to return.
So now I live with a snake in the ceiling. Every time I go out the front door I have to pause and look to make sure it’s not back out and above the door, on the door or at the door. Every time I come home I do the slow walk up the path looking for the snakey snake and scanning the front porch to make sure he’s not anywhere near by.
Snakes are protected species here in Australia which I totally agree with. If he pops back up I’ll do the same again and call the snake catcher so that he can be re-homed. He’s very likely a tree snake which are harmless, but the (strictly indoors) cats and dog don’t know that and so I’d rather him be captured and go to a safe place than stay here and risk a run in with the animals. (Cause it’s all about his safety and not the fact that I’m a big scaredy cat!)
Poss’ the Adventurous Possum
Unlike snakes, I’m a sucker for a marsupial and I was so excited when we discovered a possum living on the roof of our garden shed. I’ve loved possums ever since we were read “Possum Magic” in primary school. Not only is the story super cute and very Australian, but the illustrations are just so captivating and magical. [You can have the story read to you by clicking on the image below.] Turns out I’m in the minority when it comes to loving possums in our family.
Both my husband and father are adamant we shouldn’t encourage the possum as they’re destructive and messy. I don’t care. My rule (when it comes to possums) is that this is their environment first so we have to make allowances for them.
Every time I’d go out near the garden shed I’d look for Poss’. I’m lobbying hard to have a house built especially for Poss’ to call his own.
A couple of times I’ve been out there and he’s been no where to be seen. I’ve just put it down to him roaming. However, the other week we were out and about driving all over town running errands and we got to my parents place and pulled up. We sat in the car in the driveway for awhile while we waited for them to get back home. As they drove in I saw a possum dart out and over behind a tree. I was so excited that they might have a possum as well!
When they came out to greet us I excitedly pointed out the possum and we got to talking about where he’d come from. My Dad said he’d seen him dart out from under our car. While we were discussing it the possum ran off into some nearby bushes and so we went back inside. We had lunch and we talked about the possibility that the possum had come with us from our house in our engine bay.
After a lovely afternoon together we decided it was time to head back home. Dad thought it best to check that the possum hadn’t found his way back into our car, you know, just in case he had travelled with us. I was skeptical, but we popped the hood and after a few minutes of looking we found Poss’ at the bottom of the engine bay just starring back at us.
We tried, rather unsuccessfully to get him to come out of the car but he just hunkered down and hissed at us. We debated what to do and in the end figured we head straight home and let him get back to where he lives. It was a tense drive home with lots of praying that he’d stay safe.
We got home, checked to make sure he was ok and then left him to sort himself out. We figured he got in there ok, he could get out ok.
The next day we had to head out again so this time we pre-emptively checked under the hood for Poss’. There he was, sitting in the top of the engine like he owned the place. It just cracked me up.
We ended up getting him out of the engine bay safely and he returned to the garden. Now whenever we head out we do a possum check to make sure he’s not coming with us. I still can’t believe that he’s been in there with us driving around town on his own little adventure. I just pray that he doesn’t ruin anything in the car or his days at our place will be numbered. Hubby will call in the animal people and he’ll be re-homed!
For now though I’m enjoying the little visits I have with him while I lobby the lads to build him his own home (which might encourage him not to seek shelter in the car engine!).
Townsville Orchid Society Autumn Show
In amongst all the wildlife I’ve managed to also squeeze in some horticultural education. We were invited to dinner in our first week here and while at dinner we met the most lovely Ruth. Ruth is a member of the Townsville Orchid Society and I was so excited to pick her brain about all things orchids. One of my concerns with leaving the Canberra climate was saying good-bye to spring. It was always the highlight of my year to see the flowers bloom and the city be sprinkled with colour. So I was extra excited to meet someone who knew about how to add colour to our garden.
Ruth told my Mum and I about the Autumn Orchid that was happening over the April/May weekend. We decided right there on the spot that we’d have to go and check it out. It didn’t disappoint! I’ve been to Singapore and so I’ve seen orchids before but I had forgotten just how varied the species are and the depths of colours. Mum and I wandered around oohing and ahhing.
I grabbed some snaps of just a handful of my favourites from the show. I wanted to be reminded of the colour combinations that God has created so when I’m next diving into my fabric stash I can take some inspiration from nature. Check out these amazing blooms…
We ran into Ruth at the show and she was so kind and gracious as to spend time with us talking about all the varieties on display and then helping me to choose a couple of orchids for our garden. I’m not sure how I’m going to go growing them, but I’m excited to try.
