Today I found this gorgeous Bobtail Skink (Tiliqua rugosa)
wandering in our backyard. It poohed all over our brick paving as I
picked it up, and I was fascinated to notice several snails in it’s
faeces! An excellent native snail-killer, and a good reason not to use
snail pellets.
This
female seemed enormous and as I pressed her belly gently, I could feel a
couple of large shapes inside. She was almost certainly carrying
babies, ready to be born in Bunura (early Austumn) this year. Unlike
most of their reptile relatives, Bobtails give birth to live young,
usually producing 2 or 3 once they are fully grown. The young are very
vulnerable to predators including native ravens and introduced cats when
they first emerge, and can stay with their mother for up to 2 years for
protection!
Bobtails
have been on the move since about the beginning of Djilbah (late
winter, August), and unfortunately many get run over on our roads. They
can often be hard to see when basking in the mottled shade on the road
and so get hit accidentally, but other times drivers deliberately swerve
to kill them. The main thing you can do is be aware that they are
active when the wether starts to warm up, and watch the road carefully!
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