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Australian Animals Photography

This is a chuditch or western quoll. His name’s Charlie and this photograph was taken on 7 July 2012 (four years and nearly two months ago). It’s one of the best photographs I’ve taken of him.

In captivity, a chuditch can live up to about five years. Charlie’s now way up there in quoll years and he’s definitely looking his age. He’s much more skinny and patchy-furred now, and sadly not as sociable.

Anyway, I’ve figured out how to rework the light in my old photos to more natural colours. Hope you enjoy seeing Charlie in part-colour. 🙂

Categories
Australian Animals Photography

This is a chuditch or western quoll who possibly thinks he’s about to get fed. 

Here you can clearly see the bottom-heaviness of quoll physiology which lends itself to a loping “see-saw” run (like a chain of controlled jumps) with a lot of vertical movement on the hips.

You have to be aware of these things if you’re going to animate something, you know…

Categories
Australian Animals Photography

This is a chuditch or western quoll. He is having a kip.

Categories
Australian Animals Photography

This is a northern quoll, very possibly a juvenile northern quoll.

Northern quolls are the largest known mammals to undergo semelparity, in this case male die-off. Much like the more infamous antechinus, northern quoll males go into a mating frenzy and die from exhaustion. This particular instinct can be suppressed with measure such as isolating the male from the relevant female pheromones, or giving him the snip. Or, as one antechinus researcher discovered, accidentally having their knackers ripped off while escaping from a trap.

Categories
Australian Animals Photography

This is not a quoll but it is such a close relative that some of them have spots like quolls. It is of course a Tasmanian devil.

I’m not sure what to say about Tasmanian devils that hasn’t already been said – yes they’re real, no they’re not just cartoon characters, yes they’re only found on a pudendum-shaped island south of Australia for the time being, yes they’re in danger of dying out from a communicable cancer called Devil Facial Tumour Disease, no it’s not cured yet, yes they’re trying to cure it but Tasmanians are running over the vaccinated ones for some reason.