Day 12: Chillagoe

As we left the Atherton Tablelands, we stopped at Granite Gorge to see some cute little Mareeba rock wallabies (Petrogale mareeba). We saw a few frilled dragons (Chlamydosaurus kingii) run off the road. One ran up a tree, while the other ran up a termite mound.

Frilled dragon (Chlamydosaurus kingii).

Mareeba rock-walllaby (Petrogale mareeba).

We got to Chillagoe and waited in a park until dusk. Of course, we couldn’t just sit down and do nothing, so we walked up and down a nearby creek. We saw a few tommy round-heads (Diporiphora australis), Cryptoblepharus virgatus sensu lato, Carlia schmeltzii.

Tommy round-head (Diporiphora australis).

Cryptoblepharus virgatus sensu lato

Carlia schmeltzii.

At night we headed out to some rocky areas to look for geckos. The one species we wanted to find was the ring-tailed gecko (Cyrtodactylus louisiadensis), and we found two fairly easily, along with a Gehyra dubia.

Bynoe’s gecko (Heteronotia binoei).

Dubious dtella (Gehyra dubia).

Ring-tailed gecko (Cyrtodactylus louisiadensis).

While driving back to our accommodation, we saw a water rat that had been hit by the car about 30 seconds in front of us. I’ve looked for water rats in a number of places, and it was quite upsetting that my first good look at one of these amazing creatures involved bashing in its head with a hammer.

Water rat (Hydromys chrysogaster) found dying on road..

The next day we went back to the same rocky area to have a look at it during the day. We saw a few little Carlia skinks: Carlia jarnoldae and at least one Carlia rococo.

Habitat of: ring-tailed gecko (Cyrtodactylus louisiadensis), Carlia munda, Carlia jarnoldae, Carlia rococo, Gehyra dubia.