iHerp Australia Issue 9 | Page 22

A lot of our time was spent finalising the students’ research projects, but there’s always room for a little exploration, and in the evening I came up with something a little different – a pair of frogs! I’ve only recently been introduced to the joys of frogging as my partner is a keen ‘frogger’. These frogs were none other than Desert Tree Frogs (Litoria rubella) and true to their biology were hanging out around a puddle next to a water tank. I showed the frogs to several of the students, some of whom were surprised that amphibians could survive in such an arid environment! 1. The better part of our final day at the station was spent packing up. Although this wasn’t the most stimulating of activities, it was enlivened 2. by a few interesting critters that showed up during the process. While having a bit of a breather, I noticed a small scuttle in the garden next to a car. After a heated chase through leaf litter and spikey plants, and with the help of a student who had been walking past, we were able to capture a little South-eastern Morethia (Morethia boulengeri). In reality we were lucky to apprehend the fast-moving skink after it bolted up the student’s sleeve! The excitement didn’t end there, as a group of strange caterpillars appeared on the side of a building. Although individually they just looked like your typical hairy caterpillars, these were processionary caterpillars, and were absolutely mesmerising as they moved in slow circles, trailing 2 x qtr page ads