Gone sharkin'

Hooper: "Mr Vaughn, what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that's all" 

Quint: "I'm not talkin' 'bout pleasure boatin' or day sailin'. I'm talkin' 'bout workin' for a livin'. I'm talkin' 'bout sharkin'!"




This is my way of telling you all that I'm headed off in search of a beastie somewhat chunkier than the little white tip reef shark above. In the meantime, as I venture into the area of the map marked "here be dragons" pre-drafted posts are scheduled.

The stripey one

Remember the adorable sugar glider? Well a recent post over at the excellent Mammalwatching blog reminded me that there were other beasties afoot that night. Probably the most surprising and impressive was a striped possum.

These guys would be cute enough with plain fur but the striped patterning is simply spectacular. The first I knew of something being around was a large bang on the tin hide roof before it appeared at the top of the tree. Soon it was muscling the gliders out of the way and feasting on the sticky baits left out for them.

This last shot is probably my favourite. It not only shows you the dorsal patterning pretty well but it also shows you the scale difference between possum and glider.

 

I think the glider maybe edges it on cuteness though.