1.
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Society, about people’s endeavours to keep Thorny
Devils alive and thriving in captivity for extended
periods of time. The obvious limiting factor is the
ability to keep these creatures well fed - a huge
challenge when all they will eat are ants, ants and
only ants - and the Museum maintains several ant
colonies just to feed this little lizard. There is also a
naturally landscaped ‘Forest Gallery’ which houses
breeding colonies of birds such as amazing bower
birds and the really gorgeous Regent Honeyeater -
another cool departure from the usual still life
museum displays. The exhibit that took our breaths
away was the fossil of a huge extinct tortoise
carapace, Megalochelys atlas. It's billed as the
largest chelonian to have ever lived. Even though
I'm a herpetologist, I didn't know it’s from the Siwalik
Hills in India!
Our experiences around Melbourne weren't limited
to private and captive collections alone. Adam
Sapiano and his mate Adam Elliott had a real treat
in store. Elliott has caught reptiles all over the
country and has an uncanny sense of where to find
what, which of course only comes from long years
in the bush.
We drove two hours into the countryside to a place
called Stony Rises. On our wish list were copper-
heads, Tiger Snakes and brown snakes. Eventually,
we pulled off the road at an abandoned, overgrown
farm. We walked slowly around looking for places
where a snake might be hiding. And there were
plenty of potential hiding spots; tin sheets and tyres
littered the place.
A few minutes later I turned over a promising piece
of tin and, lo and behold, there was my very first
wild Tiger Snake. Well, the snake was faster than
1.
Copperhead. Image supplied by Rom Whitaker
and Janaki Lenin.
2. Meeting a Serval at Werribee Open Range Zoo.
Image by Adam Sapiano.
3. Euan Edwards with Janaki and Rom in granite
country near Tenterfeld, NSW. Image by Scott
Eipper.