Critters in our firewood
Submitted: Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 15:14
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Member - Duncan W (WA)
On a recent trip into the GVD we had our usual fire going and one of the guys spots movement at the end of a hollow burning log. This is what we found
.

Spiny tailed skink
We obviously rescued it and put it in a safe place so we could photograph it in the morning and then safely released it none the worse for it's experience.
Yes those spines are pretty sharp.
Cheers
Dunc
Reply By: Notso - Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 16:01
Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 16:01
I was going to ask you what he tasted like till I read the rest of the post!
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Follow Up By: Member - John and Val - Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 16:36
Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 16:36
Little critter was probably hibernating in there, probably thought summer had set in rather suddenly. Good advice re firewood is not to burn hollow logs, as they provide shelter for all sorts of critters. Even though we try to follow that advice its not foolproof as small animals will also hide under bark and in cracks. I recall a tiny gecko saved from the flames a few years ago after it wriggled out from a crack in the wood. I would have felt bad if i had cooked it - and even having rescued it there is no guarantee that it didnt subsequently die of shock.
Cheers,
Val.
| J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
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Follow Up By: birdnerd - Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 17:20
Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 17:20
What a gorgeous little skink. Glad he was ok. Yes agree with Val and
John re hollow logs.
Amanda
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Follow Up By: Lostkiwi - Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 17:51
Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 17:51
These wee critters obviously hang on pretty tight to their bunk as we had the same experience about 10 years ago. Dead branch was dropped out of tree and placed on fire, got moved a few times before the little chap jumped out and got himself liberated.
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Reply By: laurie b1 - Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 19:41
Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 19:41
Spiny Tailed Skink. A threatened species. Special little creatures.
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589500
Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Aug 22, 2015 at 10:35
Saturday, Aug 22, 2015 at 10:35
Hi
There are several species of spiny-tailed skinks, which all look similar. This one is most probably Egernia depressa (southern pygmy spiny-tailed skink) based on the fact its from somewhere in the GVD. It is not a threatened species (good), but very interesting none-the-less.
Cheers
Greg.
| I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874 Lifetime Member My Profile My Blog Send Message Moderator |
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Follow Up By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Saturday, Aug 22, 2015 at 16:21
Saturday, Aug 22, 2015 at 16:21
Greg is correct. If you click on the photo I've identified it as such.
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Sep 12, 2015 at 10:43
Saturday, Sep 12, 2015 at 10:43
Well as fate would have it - here is a (sub) species of spiny-tailed skink that is threatened - Egernia stokesii badia (Western Spiny-tailed Skink). Listed as Endangered on the federal list and as Vulnerable in WA.
Found the little bugger in the middle of the road in the north central wheat belt (WA) yesterday. When I tried to grab him/her it ran into my wheel rim - took a bit of time to extract it but all good in the end - Took him a few hundred metres back into the bush to live another day.

Western Spiny-tailed Skink
Cheers
Greg
| I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874 Lifetime Member My Profile My Blog Send Message Moderator |
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Follow Up By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Saturday, Sep 12, 2015 at 10:55
Saturday, Sep 12, 2015 at 10:55
That ones a tad bigger than the one we found Greg. Good save.
Cheers
Dunc
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Reply By: Raider28 - Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 23:22
Friday, Aug 21, 2015 at 23:22
Back in the early 80's I went to Central Australia with school and we were
free camping quite often, Every time we had a fire we would be rescuing little skinks and gecko's from the end of logs.
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