Gone bush

Last week was the final week of the holidays and Stewart and I decided to pack up the truck and go camping.  We were actually panned to help out with a fauna survey that was being conducted in Barakula State Forest which is about 400 kms from Brisbane near the town of Chinchilla.  We set off at about 5 o'clock Monday morning.  That was the plan anyway but by the time the ute was all loaded the time was nearly 6 and the sun was well up.  Still we had plenty of time and stopped for breakfast in Gatton.  We arrived in Chinchilla and followed the directions to the forestry office to meet up with the survey coordinator, Rod.  The dirt roads out there were suprisingly good and although going sideways a couple of times on the more sandy bits there were really no problems.  The camp site was just a part of the forest that was more thinly wooded than the rest and after finding a shady spot we pitched our tents.

The next morning the hard work started.  We had to set up 10 lines of traps.  He had the help of a Dingo with a drill.  When I say Dingo I actually mean a small digger with a hole boring attachment and not the canine variety.  It made things so much easier, especially in the Brigalow.  In the Heath it was just sandy soil while in the Brigalow area there was about half a foot of soil and then the drill would stop.  The traps, which consisted of large buckets about one and a half feet deep would then have to be dug into the hard, dry clay that was at the base. Putting 6 lines in the heath area took about two hours while putting in 4 in the Brigalow took nearly 6.  That's how hard it was.  And this was with a team of about 12 people.  Still once they were in with the lines set up it was time to relax.  

Each morning and afternoon we checked the traps and we found quite a bit.  We found a goanna, legless lizards, skinks, geckos, house mice (and one of the little buggers bit me!) and a couple of hairy looking centipedes.  I took my camera out there and took a few photos of what was out there.

Me holding a Golden-Tailed gecko when spotlighting at night.

A Yellow Faced Whip Snake (Demansia psammophis) that Stewart found under a log while spotlighting.

A Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus) that I found on a stick.  They usually sit on sticks that are close to the ground and when you come close they hear you and can slip off into the darkness.

This Golden-Tailed Gecko (Strophurus taenicauda) was found on the first night.  After spotlighting we came back and Stewart found this one on his tent.  Here he is being released onto a nearby tree.

This Delma plebeia was found in one of the pit traps that were out on the heath that we checked in the morning.