Living on a farm can be fun in a scary kind of way sometimes. Not all our native creatures are always friendly, and sometimes they really don’t get along with each other, seeing each other as rivals or, more often, dinner.
Two years ago on my old farm I witnessed a Redback Spider killing a Blind Snake (I was later informed by several leading Australian reptile experts it was in fact a Lerista Skink that the spider was chowing down on). That was quite the sight to see!
Yesterday on our new farm I saw two other native Australian creatures in conflict that I never expected to be enemies. These were in fact a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo and a Lace Monitor.
The Monitor, a solid 2 meters in length, had been sniffing around our duck and chook pens looking for some eggy snacks, but when I approached quickly scaled a nearby tree, where he camped for a while.
But his belly must still have been rumbling because soon he caught the scent of the nest of eggs the Cockatoo had several branches above and decided to slowly sneak his way up for a snack.
This short video shows the Cockatoo taking issue with this. Whilst not silly enough to attack the Monitor head on, the Cockatoo did its best to ward this raider off. It did this by shrieking loudly, flaring its wings and crest and attempting to bite the Monitors tail with his beak. He eventually does a quick fly-by and gives it his best shot.
So enjoy this ‘Battle of the Natives’ in this video: Cockatoo vs Goanna.
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The things you see on a farm are sometimes rather amazing. What a brave bird. I really hope the lizard didn’t get its eggs. Its pretty amazing anything ever survives in the wild. Fantastic video & write up Trev 👏👏👏
Cheers Marg, wait for part 2 tomorrow 😉