Hornsby is the Bushland Shire, a moniker which can evoke feelings of beautiful wilderness and rugged greenery. With that comes a thriving wildlife; but not all our native creatures are cute and cuddly.

The Advocate spoke to experts on local creatures, as well as a local pharmacist, to find out what reptiles, insects and arachnids are lurking in our bush – and how to cope quickly and easily if someone is bitten.

Local pharmacist tells what to do if you are bitten, HERE

Brendan Neilly, a senior officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, said while many residents were accustomed to seeing scaly, hairy or bearded critters in their yards, surprise encounters could often startle people.
“Generally these creatures don’t want to interact with people and someone’s reaction is critical. The vast majority of snake bites occur when people try to kill or capture reptiles,’’ he said.

“Reptiles are mating and may be seen basking in morning or afternoon sun to raise their temperatures.”
The most common and dangerous reptiles in the shire are the brown snake and red-bellied black snake, both of which have important roles to play in the ecosystem.

“They feed on reptiles, frogs and mammals and get rid of rats,’’ Mr Neilly said.

Harmless green tree pythons and diamond pythons may also appear throughout the shire and Mr Neilly advised residents to be tolerant of their co-inhabitants.

“If you don’t want snakes entering your property, cut back overhanging growth and long grass.”

Funnel-webs and red-back spiders are also common to Hornsby and can inhabit shoes left outside or get into filter baskets in pools. Other spiders to be seen include orb weavers that spin giant webs.

Mr Neilly said bushwalkers in the holidays might have the pleasure of encountering goannas, one of the largest predatory species in the shire which could reach 1.5m in length.

“They tend to eat just about anything,’’ he said. “They scavenge and hunt and catch small rodents.’’

Summer is also breeding time for many birds. Mr Neilly said the best way to encourage wildlife to visit was to make water available. But he cautioned one native animal would encourage another and so on up the food chain.

“People can’t expect to be too selective in who comes to visit,’’ he said.

Other local inhabitants with slightly less sinister intentions include the eastern water dragon, blue-tongue and goanna.

www.hornsbyadvocate.com.au
5 January 2010

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 4:25 am and is filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.