One of the big reasons we chose to go to Australia, out of the hundreds of countries we haven't yet visited, is because of the unique wildlife. Sure, everyone has heard of the boxing kangaroo and the cuddly koala, but what about the antechinus or the cassowary?
The antechinus is a rat-sized marsupial that lives only in Australia and Papua New Guinea. I came across the antechinus in my Lonely Planet guide to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. As LP states: "... these [creatures] lead an extraordinary life." The males were basically made for procreating and live for just 11 to 12 months. The first 10 months of their lives are spent being obsessed with eating and growing into adolescent antechinuses. And like all males who reach adolescence their obsession with food suddenly turns to sex. And the obsession with procreation suddenly becomes all-consuming. So in their last month, the antechinus male basically loses his mind, stops eating, and thinks of nothing else but getting some.
As LP says: "by the end of August - just two weeks after the male antechinuses reach 'puberty' - every single male is dead, exhausted by sex and burdened with carrying around swollen testes." Of course, it just so happens that we will be in Tropical North Queensland at the end of August -- I can't wait to see all these dead male antechinuses along the road in Cape Tribulation.
Another amazing creature only found in the primordial rainforests of Queensland is the cassowary. The cassowary is a large, flightless bird with a gray casque or helmet on its blue head. It can be up to 5 feet tall, 120 pounds and has very sharp talons. Not only that, it can run fairly fast and jump high enough to swipe you with its talons (see photo above). I think it was someone in the New York Times travel section who put it best when she likened the cassowary to those scary velicoraptors in Jurassic Park. The bed and breakfast we're staying at in Cape Tribulation has been known to have cassowaries walk through -- we're staying at an exotic fruit farm and cassowaries love fruit!
Pictures will be taken of any and all animals we encounter, and luckily we have a 12x optical zoom so as not to get into close contact with the cassowary -- I'm pretty sure I'd lose that fight.
2 comments:
Seriously, the sex-obsessed rat has to be one of the most hilarious things I've ever read. I'm so glad you're doing a blog about your travels. Have fun doing it, but as I learned blogging in Vienna, it's more important to spend your time living your life than writing about living one. Have a wonderful time, and I can't wait to keep reading!
Have fun, hopefully a male antechinus doesn't mistake your ankle for a female. Make sure to blog copiously since I will likely plan my sabbatical based on your posts :)
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