"You're mad!" I can still hear my words echoing through the damp rainforest somewhere on the top of Mt Nebo. I'd gone up there with my friend Stewart, as he was on a quest to see and tick off 250 reptile species that he has seen in Australia by the end of the year. And so on this morning we found ourselves walking through a combination of eucalypt and rainforest searching for the plain-backed sunskink (Lampropholis couperi) which we came to know as 'Coup'. You might be asking how does the plain-backed sunskink differ from your garden variety little brown skink that are found across Brisbane. The short answer is that for the general observer they are both little brown skinks. It was for this reason that I was informing of my thoughts. We'd driven 50km to look for a little brown skink in the middle of a dark, damp rainforest. The expression regarding a needle and a haystack automatically sprang to mind. Still I didn't mind tagging along. You get to see animals that the majority of people just don't see when you are out with Stewart. He seems to have an uncanny nack of finding what he sets out to find from obscure little brown skinks to amazingly coloured and dangerous snakes. Not only that, but Stewart also promised to treat me to a honeycomb Maxi-bon ice Cream if we found it. With that, I was in.
It was a nice walk through the rainforest. It had rained quite a bit throughout the week and so everything was lush and green (as opposed to the rainforests that are all brown and twiggy?) As we walked along we kept out eyes to the ground. We were looking for the slightest bit of movement in the leaf litter that would betray the presence of Coup. Stewart walked ahead of me using his binoculars to scan the ground. I can only imagine what anyone coming up upon him would think. Suddenly he stopped, "I've got one" he screamed. I quickly came over. Looking at where he was peering with the binoculars at the ground. It just looked like ground to me. There was no movement. "Where?" I asked. "I saw one" he said, "but its gone into the leaf litter". His shoulders sagged. We waited there for a couple of minutes but the little Coup did not come out again. Although Stewart was pleased that he'd seen one, I knew he wouldn't be happy until he'd actually seen if for long enough to photograph. With that in mine and me once again in tow, we moved off deeper into the forest. There were a couple of close calls along the path. I saw a little brown skin by the opening of a log. I called out to Stewart who came running over. In there I pointed to the spider web covered log. He stuck his head in and we both had a good look around the outside but the little skink had gone.
Finally we came to a large strangler fig with a board walk going around it. The tree was enormous and must have been about 10 metres in diameter. Around it the roots criss-crossed the ground under the boardwalk. I stared up into the canopy, lost in the leaves above. "Ryan, I've got one" came an excited scream from the other side of the tree. When I got there Stewart once again had his binoculars pointed at the ground and a big smile on his face. I looked down and saw the little skink wandering amongst the leaf litter, not paying us any attention as if it was an everyday occurrence. Stewart lept over the handrail and landed a distance away with a thud. Now my job began, this was my time to shine. While Stewart inched closer I kept my eyes of the prize and guided him in. I handed over his camera and flashes while he whispered to the skink. The skink looked up and stuck out his tongue then went back to wandering. As Stewart snapped away the skink did not seem to worry. I stood there on the boardwalk watching. I can understand about the thrill of the chase. Finding something new, that you've never seen before. I think it's exciting having another one to tick off. Another one to add to the ever diminishing list. It is good fun although my enthusiasm doesn't quite match that of Stewart. I take it back. He's not mad, just wildly eccentric.
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