Table skinks and tomato frogs

King skinks are newcomers to our garden. They first showed themselves as a rustle and disappearing tail in my vege garden. And a tail that was distinctly not snake, which was a pleasant change. Next I came across a big one sheltering in my garden shed. Just today I came across this.

A king skink sunbaking on our garden table. The top slab is made from a huge lump of marri and it sports a large crack along the length of it. A perfect hiding space if you are a large skink. This king skink would be close to forty to forty five centimetres long.

Egernia kingii hiding in the table

These Egernia's are usually found not too far from the coast and love to shelter beneath rocks, in crevices like our table and burrows. They are omnivorous so I'm hoping they may have developed a taste for snails and slaters along with the usual insects and other small animals. I expect they will be munching on the plentiful tomatoes too.

On the subject of tomatoes - we have a plentiful supply of young frogs hanging out in the tomato bushes. I guess they like the humidity there. If they are not careful they may well become king skink dinner. Frog with a side serve of tomato. Delicious??

The frogs are Litoria moorei, or Western green tree frog. They have a distinctive call rather like a motorbike changing gears. Their other common name is the motor bike frog. When there is a moist change on the way they usually start calling about a day in advance. When rain is forecast and the frogs don't call we know the rain is probably going to bypass us.

Littoria moorei