Deadliest of Australia- 2 (Killer seas)

Image courtesy of [by digitalart]
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 But, if you are under impression that Australia's seas aren't dangerous and you can freely venture on those islands having a great time, think again.
The largest in the world, majestic, island of Australia boasts not only deadly terrestrial creatures, but also vicious marine killers. 




The biggest among carnivorous sharks- the great white shark is one among the deadliest sharks which we should avoid.There were large no. of reports of sharks injuring and even killing humans near to them, but the truth is that these marine killers confused humans as their prey like dolphins or seals.

Beautiful in appearance but vicious by nature,the blue-ringed octopus is another deadly killer characterized by blue- rings on its white body. 

We can even get a nasty sting if we step on the particular stones which are found in Australia's underwater. Don't mistake them for stones; they are the stone fishes, most venomous fish.

Same is true, for those surprise stingers found on Australia's beaches, the box jellyfish is no exception in being the deadliest known for many injuries and fatalities.

Deadliest of Australia - 1

Image courtesy of [by digitalart]
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The smallest continent and the largest of the islands- Australia is known for its rich wildlife. But the key ones are marsupials- kangaroos, koalas, wombats etc. Even, there are other remarkable reptile species like the frilled lizard which is found only in this country, nowhere else.

But, be careful. Not to worry of crime rates, as they are low, but its vicious  wildlife which are daringly lurking around even in human settlements. So, a person visiting Australia should be careful of these deadly ones.

Image courtesy of [by M-Pics] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The largest reptile Salt- water crocodile (Estuarine crocodile) or salties called in short in Australia are actually one of the top predators in the Australia's riparian(rivers, billabongs, brackish waters) ecosystems.  
These reptiles are superstars in ambush attack. Any animal walking beside them, they come out of the water with great force and brings it down. They are also masters in jumping out of the water and snapping with their jaws in the cases when they are coerced with baits.
Infact, there are two species of crocodiles in Australia- Salties and the smaller freshies (fresh-water crocodile). Freshies too are dangerous but less harmful to us, but salties are deadly vicious.

Not to forget, even the slithering, scaly creatures like snakes are deadly killers as this country boasts many species of venomous serpents like Eastern brown snake, Inland taipan, Tiger snake etc. 

Don't underestimate spiders as they too are another group of deadly killers and are not smaller harmless ones.They are medium sized ones capable of inflicting pains to humans causing nausea and other feelings which require medical help. But, fatalities are rare.

Dead as Dodo

As we know that many animals have gone extinct.There were birds, mammals, reptiles etc. Here, birds are to be talked. Extinct birds were many and this blog is going to talk about a flightless, extinct bird which used to be in millions but all vanished at once. One with a peculiar shape of the beak - the dodo.

By BazzaDaRambler [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It is known that dodo was a flightless bird used to inhabit the island of Mauritius. Coast birds, there were millions of their eggs and they were preyed upon by dogs, cats who came to the dodo's island. Thus,their eggs kept on declining so as their numbers, with hunting by humans. 

This went on and on.  And this bird had to say goodbye to planet earth when the last one was hunted.

Have you heard of Dodo museum! It's in Port Saint Louis, in Mauritius!

Misnomers - 2

Continuing on misnomers, the largest of all the living reptiles- the salt water crocodile again stumps people about the habitat it lives in.  

 Image courtesy of [by anankkml]
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The salt water crocodile, prefers fresh-water habitats like rivers too in addition to coastal habitats. Its distribution  includes coastal areas and rivers of India, South-east Asia and Australia.

The mountain lion, as the name tells inhabits mountains a lot but its habitat range list is huge ranging from mountains to grasslands.

Image courtesy
of [by M- Pics]at
 FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

And of course, the most cuddliest mammals of Australia- the koalas are lovingly called as koala bears due to their appearance like bears, but are not bears by reality.
In fact, they are marsupials like kangaroos, wombats etc. but belong to their own family of marsupials i.e. of koalas.They too have gained a lot of popularity from people becoming the icons for Australia's wildlife along with kangaroos.