Dear Rick, G’day from topsy-turvy Australia! It might be late fall back home, but down here it’s almost summer. (Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, so seasons here are the opposite of ours in the United States.) Seasons aren’t the only things that are different Down Under. I’ve never met so many strange animals in my life. There are mammals that lay eggs! Birds that are taller than humans! And it seems that everywhere I turn, there’s an animal with a dangerous bite. Naturally, I LOVE it here! Can’t wait to show you all the photos I’ve taken of my new Aussie friends. More later—time to head back to the Outback! (That’s the dry, wild middle of the country.) Wish you were here, Scarlett by Scarlett Fox, with help from Hannah Schardt ALL PHOTOS FROM MINDEN PICTURES, PAGES 6–13: JÜRGEN FREUND/NPL (6L) >; BROOK WHATNALL/NGCREATIVE (6M); THOMAS MARENT (6R); ROB DRUMMOND/BIA (7L); KEVIN SCHAFER (7M) >; MARTIN WILLIS (7R) black-headed python eastern water dragon sugar glider emu quokka dingo AUSTRALIA ANTARCTICA ASIA EQUATOR NORTHERN HEMISPHERE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 7 6
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Dear Rick,G’day from topsy-turvy Australia! It might be late fall back home, but down here it’s almost summer. (Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, so seasons here are the opposite of ours in the United States.) Seasons aren’t the only things that are different Down Under. I’ve never met so many strange animals in my life.
There are mammals that lay eggs! Birds that are taller than humans! And it seems that everywhere I turn, there’s an animal with a dangerous bite. Naturally, I LOVE it here! Can’t wait to show you all the photos I’ve taken of my new Aussie friends. More later—time to head back to the Outback! (That’s the dry, wild middle of the country.)
Wish you were here,Scarlett
by Scarlett Fox, with help from Hannah Schardt
ALL PHOTOS FROM MINDEN PICTURES, PAGES 6–13: JÜRGEN FREUND/NPL (6L) >; BROOK WHATNALL/NGCREATIVE (6M); THOMAS MARENT (6R); ROB DRUMMOND/BIA (7L); KEVIN SCHAFER (7M) >; MARTIN WILLIS (7R)
black-headed python eastern water dragon sugar glider emu quokka dingo
AUSTRALIA
ANTARCTICA
ASIA
EQUATOR
NORTHERNHEMISPHERE
SOUTHERNHEMISPHERE
76
G’Day, Zelda!
Australia is full of your cousins—
marsupials! As you know, marsupials
(mar-SOO-pee-ulz) give birth to tiny,
helpless babies. Most have pouches for
carrying their babies until they are old
enough to follow Mom around. Opossums
like you are the only marsupials in the
United States. But Australia has more than
150 kinds! Love, Scarlett
The cat-sized spotted-tailed quoll is the largest meat-eating marsupial in mainland Australia. (The Tasmanian devil is bigger but lives on only one island.) The quoll is happiest in Australia’s rainforests, where there are plenty of trees to climb and insects, birds, and snakes to hunt.
Like its kangaroo cousins, this yellow-footed rock wallaby hops from place to place. Its long, striped tail helps it keep its balance in steep, rocky places where other animals would struggle to get around.
TO:Zelda Possum
101 Oak Tree Lane
Deep Green Wood, USA
MARTIN WILLIS
JOH
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JÜR
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A Tasmanian devil makes a loud, growly
scream when it feels threatened. It’s the
size of a miniature poodle, but it can catch
prey as large as a small kangaroo.
A numbat is only as big as a squirrel. But it eats as many as 20,000 termites a day. Its long tongue and sticky spit are just right for slurping up the ant-like insects.
LUC
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TEIN
/BU
ITEN
-BEE
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HEĄR IT!
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With the body of a beaver and the bill and feet of a duck, the platypus is an animal oddball. It’s a mammal—but the female platypus lays eggs. And the male has sharp points tipped with poison above his back feet!
This weedy sea dragon looks showy up close. But from a distance, those “weedy” bits along its back and tail look just like pieces of kelp. So this seahorse relative blends right in with the waving seaweed around it.
Dear Rick,Did you know that most of the
animals in Australia’s oceans are
found nowhere else on Earth? The
rivers and streams here are also
packed with amazing critters.
Just today, I got nose-to-bill
with a platypus. I’m just glad it
wasn’t a crocodile!
More soon,
Scarlett
TO:Ranger Rick Raccoon
Hollow Oak Tree
Deep Green Wood, USA
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The blue-ringed
octopus is smaller
than a grownup’s
hand. But it is one
of the deadliest
animals in the sea.
When it flashes its
bright blue rings,
watch out! It may
bite—and its little
body holds enough
venom to kill 10
people.
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These guys may look fierce. But Australia’s freshwater crocodiles are smaller and calmer than the more famous saltwater crocs. A “freshie” spends its days lounging in an inland creek or river. But when a tasty fish swims by—snap! The croc’s bite is lightning fast.
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WĄTCH IT!
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Over 2,000 species of grasshoppers live in Australia, but the Leichhardt’s grasshopper must be the most beautiful. It doesn’t get around much, though. It lives its whole life on a single plant, working its way higher and higher as it snacks on the leaves.
When a frilled lizard is relaxed, the flaps of skin around its face just hang loosely. But when it’s scared, the frills pop open like a sideways umbrella. That makes the lizard look bigger and scarier. If that doesn’t work, the lizard turns tail and races for the nearest tree.
If the platypus isn’t strange
enough for you, meet the echidna (ih-KID-nuh). Like the
platypus, it seems to be a mish-mash of other animals:
Like a bird, it lays eggs. Like
a koala, it has a pouch for its
babies. And like a hedgehog,
it has sharp spines on most
of its body. When it spots a
threat such as a dingo, the
echidna uses sharp claws to dig a shallow hole for its
soft underside. Only its sharp
prickles stay exposed. That
dingo may decide to have something else for dinner! =