This past week I went on a “walk-about”, a 5 day trek through the eucalypt savannah of central Queensland. My trip began at Undara Volcanic National Park where I encountered literally hundreds of Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Agile Wallabies, a Burton’s Legless Lizard (my first pygopod), and above all else a gorgeous Western Brown Snake characterized by a jet black head, tan ground color, and orange dorsal blotches. I then journeyed west to Georgetown, a small enclave full of several species of cockatoos and parrots. From there we journeyed south to Forsayth coming across two species of whipsnakes and a gorgeous Blue-tongue Skink. This brings me to my story…
Driving along a dirt track just outside of Forsayth I saw something in the road and jammed on the brakes. I hopped out and saw a beautiful Blue-tongue Skink! I raced over to where it laid basking in the road and it took off underneath the vehicle. I quickly ran around the other side but saw nothing. I peered underneath the truck…nothing. Then, to my astonishment, I saw movement inside the rim of the rear left tire! The large skink (18 inches in total length) had managed to squirm its way inside the rim and showed no sign of leaving its makeshift refuge. Parked squarely in the middle of the road I feared the approach of a road train, a semi towing 3-plus trailers with a length of over 150 feet. Yet I was unable to move the vehicle with the skink in the rim and dove underneath to attempt to remove the lizard. Twenty minutes of work under the vehicle and I finally managed to pry the Blue-tongue free. Lizard in right hand, shifting with my left (Aussie vehicles have the steering wheel on the right side), I was able to move the vehicle off the road and safely analyze my capture. It was a beautiful skink, brightly barred and possessing that colorful lingual appendage that gives it its namesake. My most targeted member of the Scincidae family is now crossed off my list.
The rest of the trip was successful, seeing several monitors, a freshwater crocodile, a tree kangaroo, and a dingo. Unfortunately I had to leave the beautiful western landscape and head back to Cairns to return the vehicle (and to school), yet I departed with a sense of satisfaction. Roughing it in the remote dry country of Australia for a week was an amazing experience, one that I will never forget.
