Bushwalk Australia

Working in Cradle area and came across these spiders under same rock. What are they please?
The black one was quite a nasty piece of work, his mate a bit quieter and 'nicer looking' - closeup ie


And then this beauty was under a log we moved. It had a very striking underbelly. I've never seen one of these and no idea what its called other than a lizard.


This crossed our path too - I do know what they are called

I don't think I've seen so many wombats in one place before. We saw 6 in one area.

regards

I am not much chop at identifying spiders but this site might help you

http://www.tasmanianspiders.info/families.htm

Did the black one rear up at all. Looks eerily like a funnel web. Mind you trap doors look very similar. Either way I wouldnt have picked that one up (as someone who's home back in Sydney had loads of funnel webbs. Nasty little #%@&*) As the family spider catcher and remover I always hated dealing with them. In the wet of last summer it was almost a weekly occurrence

Thanks Phil.
I looked through that extensive list. Didn't come to a conclusion.
Yes Bluegum Mic the black one did rear up when provoked but mainly just ran around my mates (gloved) hand.
The black spider is very hairy on legs and has a mean front end.

They were both under same large rock and had a hole leading into the ground that wasn't covered at all. No need when you had a hefty rock for a lid.

Bluegum Mic wrote:Did the black one rear up at all. Looks eerily like a funnel web.

Certainly does....
http://www.tasmanianspiders.info/027.htm

One thing's for sure, I certainly wouldn't be picking it up. Gloves or not.

That's why I asked. It was my usual quick way of working out what I was dealing with. If the little blighter reared up at me then I knew to be very careful lol (as we did also have some trapdoors).
Your mate must have very thick gloves or coconuts the size of...

Thanks - Funnel Web.
I gather they are mum and dad.

My mate says he used to collect spiders as a kid. He didn't have any fear of these at all.

They were not easy to photograph as it was under scrub and a bit dim and they wouldn't stay still!

Any ideas on the lizard?
Here's another image

He was just so placid


regards
Richard

Well the lizard is a skink for sure, but which one I have no idea. They tend to change appearance, just as snake, and are hard to identify, so I don't know.

no 2 looks liek a funnelweb, i've seen a funnel web bite. guy was bitten on the back of the hand, the whole back of his hand swelled up and went blue and purple

The Skink looks like it is either a Northern or Southern Snow Skink was it in a boulder field area or heath/wooded area ? Northern can be placid and Southern not .
Both are common in the Cradle area.
corvus

It may be a metallic skink : it's the most common one, and according to this : http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=5414 , "Many Metallic skinks have a ventral colour of metallic rose to deep orange. This colour may be found on most but not all specimens of both sexes."

Definitely a She oak Skink. Usually found in mixed forest areas. Range in colour from slate grey to copper in colour. Sadly they are often mistaken for snakes and killed due to their shape and inconspicuous limbs

Hallu wrote:It may be a metallic skink : it's the most common one, and according to this : http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=5414 , "Many Metallic skinks have a ventral colour of metallic rose to deep orange. This colour may be found on most but not all specimens of both sexes."

Very much doubt that it is a metallic skink as they are so numerous(including in my garden) that I suspect taswegian would have recognized it as most Resident Tasmanians would
corvus

The length doesn't seem to fit any of those. I'd guess it's about 250 mm overall.
It was off the north east end of airstrip at Cradle.
A grassy spot. Plenty old logs etc, not too wet.
I'd thought that underbelly would have been a giveaway. Elusive beauty.

Cyclodomorphus casuarinae a tassie endemic, i was stoked to get two under a log last time i was down there. nice lizard.

taswegian wrote:The length doesn't seem to fit any of those. I'd guess it's about 250 mm overall.
It was off the north east end of airstrip at Cradle.
A grassy spot. Plenty old logs etc, not too wet.
I'd thought that underbelly would have been a giveaway. Elusive beauty.

If your measurement is close that is one "big" skink as snout to vent in the northern averages 75mm so plus a long tail of again 75mm is 150mm , your specimen appears to have around 44-48 midbody scales and some dark specimens have been observed so I believe it is a northern one well out of area
I am no herpetologist so I would check this with a real expert
corvus

I am wrong thanks for the correct ID jackhinde it is indeed a she-oak skink

Can a mod put Spider & Skink in the thread title?

I changed my header - thanks

jackhinde wrote:Cyclodomorphus casuarinae a tassie endemic, i was stoked to get two under a log last time i was down there. nice lizard.

Yeah as Jackhinde said, it's a She-Oak Skink, very beautiful and become quite tame when kept as pets (license required).

http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=5308

Funnelwebs in Tassie? I really could do without that.
Certainly one of the Mygalomorphs, but the different species can be hard to pinpoint . . .

One of my brothers, who knows a bit about spiders, suggests that the second one is a male funnelweb or funnelweb-like spider, possibly Hexathele montanus, our alpine funnelweb. However, the other one is a bit harder to tell because the head region is very blurred - might not be in the same group.

here's a few more pics.
The lizard closeup head

Both spiders were in same spot, under the same rock. I assume they are mates.
They just wouldn't pose well for the camera so i had to chase them about a bit, but here's a few equally not so good images, may help ID

And another of the old boy himself.
He was quite a handsome bloke really. Fascinating to watch - with caution. A hairy chap.

This is where they were - rather open damp, myrtle and celery scrub

She Oak Skinks,
Over the past 30 years on & off I have been observing the She Oak Skink in the Cradle Valley area,
They have a wide variety of colours, I have caught 2 that were jet black.
At another site on the West Coast, where there are a large number of She Oak Skinks, it is very rare to find two under the one log or sheet of old roofing iron.
In captivity, if you put two together they will fight.
The longest one I have caught was 320mm, They also have a blue tounge,(not forked) They will open their mouth & flash the blue tounge & hiss if threatened
They move very quickly & fold their front legs along the body, resembling a snake.
They will drop their tail quiet easily so be very careful when handling them,
Sometimes you will see one that has dropped his or her tail & a new tail is growing.
Baby She Oaks are pretty impressive, usually born with little tiger stripes.
Regards Overlandman

north-north-west wrote:Funnelwebs in Tassie? I really could do without that.

Didnt you know we were lucky enough to have them here as well?? My understanding is they are still lethal, but not as dangerous as the NSW species.

taswegian, some years ago we caught one in the workshop up there that was id'd as a funnel web. I'd never thought there would be something that nasty (though not as nasty as those mainlanders it seems)

alex75 wrote:Definitely a She oak Skink. Usually found in mixed forest areas. Range in colour from slate grey to copper in colour. Sadly they are often mistaken for snakes and killed due to their shape and inconspicuous limbs

As this post has only just been approved from a new poster, I decided to quote it so it doesn't get overlooked. See above.

ILUVSWTAS wrote:

north-north-west wrote:Funnelwebs in Tassie? I really could do without that.

Didnt you know we were lucky enough to have them here as well?? My understanding is they are still lethal, but not as dangerous as the NSW species.

That's kind of like saying that a bite from a Tiger Shark isn't quite as bad as one from a White Pointer.

north-north-west wrote:

ILUVSWTAS wrote:

north-north-west wrote:Funnelwebs in Tassie? I really could do without that.

Didnt you know we were lucky enough to have them here as well?? My understanding is they are still lethal, but not as dangerous as the NSW species.

That's kind of like saying that a bite from a Tiger Shark isn't quite as bad as one from a White Pointer.

Hmmm not really. I believe the funnel web in NSW is more poisonous than the ones in Tas.

Same species... you see??

No. Same genus. Different species. They'll still kill you if they bite you, it just takes a bit longer to die.
Which isn't necessarily a good thing.

What? the Tassie Funnel web and the NSW Funnel web are different species?