Watching Wildlfe: The financial and moral issues

One of the things that North Queensland offers is an increased chance of dying a horrible death at the hands/ paws/ claws/ barbs etc. of the local wildlife. The Jellyfish are meaner up here and many of the beaches have complimentary bottles full of vinegar to counteract the intense pain/ imminent death following an encounter with one. They compete for top spot with salties (saltwater crocodiles) . A few more dollars exchanged hands with the promise of close encounters with several of these well here is the best shot of the three we saw on our Daintree river cruise. Another one was just a baby and resembled a stick ,with teeth.



North of the Daintree River ferry and the roadside signs were almost entirely dedicated to the chances of killing Cassowaries. This amusing and no doubt commonly photographed one warned of speed bumps in the shape of an "after " dead cassowary.



Just like all the road signs back home that promise deer trotting happily/ anxiously crossing the road in front of you, we of course never saw one.

Needless to say therefore our best wildlife experiences have been ones we have neither expected or paid for....... including

Lace monitors AKA bloody big Lizards



More birds that fall into the "What is that?" catefgory.



and Australian tree frogs that freak you out when you try to sit out on your apartment balcony to read a book. Note that they prefer "racing green" B & Q chairs in Queensland.



Tina probably petrified the poor frog with all our flash photos and even then we could not get a focussed shot. We were appalled however to see that cane toads (the biggest pests in Queensland) were being used for the sake of entertainment in Cane Toad Races in one of the Port Douglas Bars. We were so appalled we thought we should pay 18 dollars to see what cruelty was being perpetuated. Jessica and Alex were absolutely disgusted that...... their ticket was not pulled out to take part in the races but Jessica still had a chance to kiss one after but declined the invitation. The toad is the one in the middle by the way. For our holidays next year we are choosing between going to the bullfights in Palma or perhaps popping over to China for a bit of bear wrestling.