Cool Creatures in the Outback

We have some more trips lined up for the next few months, so I'm going to use this break to post pictures of some of the cool things I find at work.  I always have my camera nearby, and everyone here is trained to call me if they find something cool.  Everything I know about the following creatures I either learned from someone at work or the internet, so hopefully it's all right.  I know I should be scared of most of these things, but people rarely get hurt and everything seems less dangerous than a bear or a shark, so I just get right in there for a closer look.  Also, they're not in any particular order except the order I found them.  Enjoy!

Bearded Dragon - These guys puff up like puffer fish when they're provoked.  Also the red head is strange, so it might indicate that it's breeding time.

Praying Mantis - I think I was most excited about this find of all of them.  They're just so cool!

Centipede

Western Brown Snake - This was my first real encounter with a snake.  It wasn't actually very big (the next day they caught a massive one), but they are venomous.  Protocol is to have a trained snake catcher come to get it and bring it far away from site.  It took him forever because the snake curled up under some crates, but he eventually got him.  I've got a video of the capture below.  Later that week the guys also caught a baby one in a bucket.

Cotton Harlequin Bug (I think) - Despite the picture, they're not very big (maybe about 1.5-2cm long).

Broad Banded Sand Swimmer (I think) - I think this guy is a type of skink.

Frog - I'm not even going to try and identify which kind it is.  He's covered in mud because he emerged out of a giant puddle.  Supposedly these frogs just live underground until we get enough rain over enough days, then they emerge.  It makes sense, since that week we got the entire year's worth of rainfall in a few days (over 150 cm).  Poor frogs are going to be stuck underground for a long time after that!

Dragonfly - For a few mornings in a row, whenever we got to work there would be tons of dragonflies twitching on the ground.  I'm not sure if they were just cold, or had moisture on their wings or something, but eventually they would get up and fly away.

Redback spider eating a giant bug

Redback spider with a dead praying mantis stuck in its web

Bugs up here come and go in waves, and for a few days there were a bunch of these massive black beetles crawling around.  I don't know what kind it is though.  Right now we have these greenish bugs that supposedly stink really bad if you step on them.  I don't have a picture of them, though.

Triop - These things are really weird, and very hard to photograph.  They live in the water, so they wouldn't stop moving when we took them out.  They have hundreds of little legs(?) that move like a wave when they're in the water.  They're also considered "living fossils" since they have not changed very much since the Triassic period.

Scorpion - I had been really watching out for a scorpion ever since I heard they were in the outback.  They're the reason you don't leave your boots outside overnight!  When I saw one for the first time, though, I was surprised how small it was.  I was expecting a big black one, I guess like I've seen in movies.  Either way, it was still pretty cool!

Unidentified spider - This was a really tough one.  No one at work knew what it was so I had to consult and expert - Ryan's brother Bryce!    His best guess is that it's in the Zodariidae family and that it burrows into the ground and eats ants.  If I learn anything else about it I'll let you know!

Wolf Spider - I've been dying to see one of these!  We were just moving pallets and it was hiding in it.  It was much bigger than I was expecting, and also venomous!

That's all for now!  Hopefully I'll have lots more neat things to show you after our two trips to other parts of the outback.