Mount Dale

You will need a good map as it is just outside the Perth area off the Brookton Hwy.
Be careful with the road signs as you could easily get lost. We have seen a great amount of wildlife here especially reptiles, insects, birds of prey and micro bats. There is a large variety of trees and plants depending on where you go and a good amount of wildflowers in spring. Unfortunately there is a lot of dumped burnt out vehicles, and bad sign posting. And I would avoid going here on Friday night.

Update; I have returned here several times and enjoyed the variety of wildlife that this huge area has to offer. It is great for both walking or taking a slow drive. The roads are suitable for 2WD and recently there has been an effort to put up more sign posts.

	This Eucalypt was flowering and was covered in different insects. On a lower branch you could see introduced and native bees, march flies, and other flying insects and a small species of beetle enjoying the nectar and pollen.
This shield bug was seen in the day time. It is possibly from the Pentatomidae family and produces the foul smelling odour to avoid being eaten by a bird.

On my last trip out there in early December I stayed through until it was dark and enjoyed watching these creatures. Please drive very slowly on the roads at night to avoid hitting anything.

This is a large grey and brown cricket. This cricket would only walk and not hop like you expect crickets to.

This is a large soft bodied cricket called Pareremus from the Gryllacrididae family. It probably lives in burrows and feeds on seeds, leaves or may be predatory.

There are plenty of Huntsman spiders out on the prowl for food at night up here. Many are seen running around on the roads. These spiders are not dangerous to humans although they can bite and they do leap.

Go here: To see our page on Western Australian spiders.

Scorpions

Both these common brown and the smaller black scorpions were seen several times on the roads as well.

Just after photographing the cricket above I got back into my vehicle and up on the road in front of me was this guy. It is a Death Adder and is deadly to humans. I knew they were in this area and have always kept a close eye out for these snakes as they are responsible for some of the deaths to humans due to the way they like to hide under leaf litter. It has a triangular head and is a medium sized snake and is both diurnal and nocturnal. This may have been a male snake on the hunt to find a female as they females don't move around much until the end of summer.

What I wasn't expecting was how fast it could move. Any slight scuff of my shoes on the stones and this snake would bolt forward. I made sure I kept my distance and when it turned and faced me with its little tongue flicking in and out I knew it was time to leave it alone.

Check out our pages on Death Adders

Driving around where there are some water catchments I heard and saw possible Granite Froglets.

Text used: "A Field Guide To Insects In Australia" By Paul Zborowski and Ross Storey

"Reptiles and Frogs Of The Perth Region" By Brian Bush, Brad Maryan, Robert Browne-Cooper and David Robinson