WE’RE JUST WILD ABOUT OUR AUSSIE ANIMALS
GRACE ROZENDAAL, EBONY BAIN, ISABEL TATTI, COEN BITA, LILIA AMAMOTO, YEAR 4 OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS
ON Monday, July 19, Roaming Wild came to OLHOC to visit Year 4 to tell us about a couple of Australian animals.
A lady called Talia showed us some incredible exotic animals such as a saltwater crocodile, a bush cockroach, a blue tongue lizard and a tawny frogmouth.
We also got to learn some facts about cassowaries which will help us with writing an information report this term.
The first curious creature she told us about was the blue-tongue lizard. Talia told us all about what the lizard does in order to protect itself, and how it loses its tail. They have a blue tongue to say “I’m poisonous” but they are not poisonous at all.
Ashton Mauldon got to hold the blue tongue lizard and show it around to everyone and let them have a feel. Talia told us its name was Slushy.
Our next amazing animal was the world’s largest cockroach also named the rhinoceros cockroach. Talia took it around so everyone could have a look and a feel of it.
Then she showed us the black-headed python which was non-venomous and not harmful.
They stick their blackhead out of the ground because black can attract the heat, so they only stick their head out of the ground.
Isabel Tatti got chosen to hold the snake. She was very brave. We learnt that the snake wraps its body around its prey then gets tighter so it can’t slip out.
Talia wrapped it around Isabel and said Isabel was the mouse. Then she stood aside, and everyone watched the snake get tighter but it didn’t choke her because it was at her chest area.
Later Isabel carried it around the class so everyone could feel it. Its name was Noodles.
Next, Talia told us about the cassowary, which is what we had been researching. She only brought a picture of the cassowary because of our safety.
We learnt that the cassowary’s scientific name is Casuarius casuarius johnsonii. It is a ratite (flightless bird) that can jump up to 1.5m high and can run to 50km/h.
She showed us what its dung looks like, what it eats and what their eggs look like, which is a pale green colour.
Cassowaries are important to our ecosystem because they help germinate plants. These facts were helpful because Year 4 is writing an information text about the cassowary.
Finally, she showed us the night jar also
known as the tawny frogmouth. Talia showed us how well they blend in with tree bark.
She told us that they are nocturnal animals, which means that they sleep at day and are awake at night, like an owl.
She told us what they eat and told us about its habitat. Charlotte, Connor and Elleah got to feed the Tawny frogmouth. There was one last animal, but Talia did not have time to tell us about him. He was a parrot named Captain with beautiful blue and yellow feathers. We were very annoyed by him chirping the whole time.