All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
19 03, 2013

We have Frogspawn in the Office Pond

By | March 19th, 2013|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories|0 Comments

First Batch of Frogspawn is Spotted

The first frogspawn has been spotted in our office pond.  This is approximately eight days later than last year and rather on a par with 2011 spawning records.  The frogspawn produced so far is from a single pair, we have not seen the number of frogs in the pond that we saw last year (a record ten), there have been as many as six individuals counted but so far we have not observed the frenetic activity that accompanied last year’s spawning.

Frogspawn

The spawn was laid in an extremely shallow part of the pond, so shallow in fact that only about one third of the mass of eggs was covered in water.  We were concerned about the eggs drying out should there be a period of prolonged sunny weather (some hope)!

Ensuring the Safety of the Eggs

To ensure the safety of this spawn we have carefully  made sure that the egg mass has been fully submerged.  It now resides in a slightly deeper, adjacent part of the pond.  The spawning probably took place in the early hours of this morning, according to the old folk tale, if frogspawn is found in shallow parts of a pond, that means we are in for a wet spring.  This is bound to please the farmers – not.

19 03, 2013

Saltwater Crocodile Shot after Fears of Attacks on School Children

By | March 19th, 2013|Animal News Stories|0 Comments

Community Lived in Fear of Crocodile

The remote community of Palumpa located in the Daly River Reserve (Northern Territory, Australia), can breathe a sigh of relief after local wildlife rangers and police officers trapped and shot a four and a half metre long Saltwater crocodile that had been threatening to attack school children.

Saltwater Crocodile

The crocodile, the second four metre plus specimen to be captured in the Northern Territory this week, was trapped and shot at a small billabong on the outskirts of the town.  Locals had reported that the crocodile had been in the area for about two years and it sometimes took up residence at a river causeway crossing used by children on their way to school.

Having to dodge the attentions of a large predator, getting on for fifteen feet in length would have been enough to deter all but the most determined scholar.  Unfortunately, attacks by Saltwater crocodiles (sometimes also referred to as Estuarine crocodiles), are becoming increasingly common in the Northern Territory as the crocodile population continues to increase after the imposition of a hunting ban some forty years ago.

The Difference Between a Crocodile and an Alligator

Crocodile and Alligator comparison.

Crocodile (top) and Alligator (bottom).

A Call to Reinstate Hunting of Crocodiles

A number of Government officials have called for a reinstating of the permit system to hunt crocodiles, others favour a formal crocodile cull to reduce the threat of crocodile attacks.  For the school children at the small community of Palumpa, some 150 miles south-west of Darwin, their daily school run just got a little safer.

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