Green vs Brown

I took these photos in my shed last night. The frog is a green tree frog [litoria caerulea]. This is a very common frog in the Biosphere. They can grow up to 100mm long, and be green or brownish, and be quite chunky. They have a really ‘dreamy’ look to them. They can live for up to 20 years. It is a very popular ‘pet’ throughout the world. Very docile, they are generally nocturnal: with a distinctive call….a sort of Waark, Waark noise, which often echoes in downpipes. They also have an alarm call which is a loud screech. They mainly eat spiders and insects. Predators include snakes, birds and some lizards, however we can add cats and occasionally, dogs to this list.

The snake is a brown tree snake [Boiga irregularis] probably my most common snake. They are nocturnal, can grow up to 2 metres long and tend to have a prickly personality. They have a large head, bulging yellow eyes, a slender body with orange underbelly and dark bands above. Wildlife of Greater Brisbane by the Qld Museum has a lovely description…”Pugnacious if provoked, rearing head and neck in “S” posture and striking with mouth agape.” They are Colubridae, meaning either no fangs or fangs at the back of the mouth. They do have poison, but you would need a really large individual to inject venom into human. They also have notoriety in that they are one of the few reptile species that has become an introduced pest. The brown tree snake was introduced into Guam in World War two, where it has multiplied to great numbers…much to the detriment of bird fauna on Guam. Guam did not have snakes, and this skilful predator has had a field day.

Anyway, the good news was that this small brown tree snake had a look at the frog and decided it was too big for him, and just kept on going….