Russell the growling grass frog (AKA Big Russ) is back with a brand-new single, ‘Have you ever heard the cars?’ Inspired by a visit to Jacana Wetlands on the Moonee Ponds Creek, the noisiest site in Melbourne where his threatened species (Litoria raniformis) is known to persist, Russell sings about the challenges of being an…
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At last – the final installment of this intriguing trilogy! The third reason that frogs and roads don’t mix is that the noise of road traffic (cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles) can make it difficult for frogs to be heard by other frogs. Anyone who has listened to a group of frogs calling at…
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Frogs are small animals that hop or walk along the ground. Roads are long stretches of gravel, concrete or bitumen that allow vehicles like cars, trucks and motorbikes to go from one place to another. These vehicles are often large and heavy, and travel very fast – much faster than frogs can hop or walk. …
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The city of Melbourne, Australia is home to about 14 species of frogs, depending on where you draw the boundaries. And the boundaries of Melbourne are spreading outwards at a cracking pace, with new suburbs being built on its western, northern and south-eastern edges. Melbourne is already one of the most sprawling cities in the…
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Flying-foxes are big bats – the biggest in the world! They belong to a group of mammals known as the Megachiroptera (pronounced “megga-kai-roptera”) or megabats. Unlike their smaller cousins (the Microchiroptera or microbats), they like to eat fruit, pollen and nectar rather than insects. Megabats are only found in the southern hemisphere, and they mostly…
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