SPECIAL PROJECTS

We have a number of projects for which we need long-term volunteers, students and interns.

Amethystine python just released. It was found trying to get into the bat refuge twice, however it was caught and driven a couple of kilometers away.

Amethystine Pythons Project: Amethystine pythons (Morelia amethistina) are very common large pythons in the area. These can reach lengths of 8 meters (24 feet), but most snakes of this size have paid the ultimate penalty for eating someone's dog. We wish to set up a radio-tracking project in conjunction with Dr. Rick Shine of the University of Sydney. This project is aimed at recording the animal's movements within the Cape Tribulation basin, including their body temperature, and their activity. At the present time, we have three transmitters and the facilities to record snake body temperatures continuously for 24 hours over the experimental period, which will be at least 12 months.

Most pythons are caught as they attempt to get a free feed at the flying fox enclosure (pythons love flying foxes!). They are also very easy to handle and rarely if ever become aggressive.

Anyone interested in this project must have their own funding for room and board; however, the Station will provide all the technical material (receivers, transmitters, loggers and computer gear, as well as the veterinary gear for implantation). They must be hardy types who do not mind spending hours thrashing around in the forest - when volunteers are available, they will have some volunteer assistance.

Ginger Pollination Project: Etlingera Australasica. (=Achasma) This very odd member of the ginger family (and which is amazingly common on the Station property) produces flowers which are borne on underground rhizomes, with the result that the flowers are often some distance from the stems and lie scattered like so many red flags. We have no idea what their pollinator or seed disperser might be, but whatever they are, they are certainly effective. This ginger flowers from September to December.

We need someone with infinite patience to unravel the secrets of this one - it has a close relative in Indonesia in which the flowers are arranged in a circle and resemble a bright red sun on the forest floor.

The Station has all the required equipment including micro-syringes and refractometers for nectar measurement.