The Octonauts

It is pretty surprising that I haven't written a post on The Octonauts, considering both my children are fanatical about the series. This has to be one of the best natural history children's series on the planet and I am amazed I didn't think of it myself!

Basically the action takes place under the sea and a mother ship - the Octopod - is where the crew spend most of their time. Inside this appropriately named vessel (yes that is right it has eight legs) we find more interesting submarines like the GUP-A, GUP-E and now, in the new series, the GUP-X. 

The show features Captain Barnacles - a polar bear, Kwazii - a cat, Peso - a penguin, Dashi - a dog, Shellington - a sea otter, Tweak - a rabbit, Professor Inkling - an Octopus and a load of Vegimals, which are a sort of animal/vegetable hybrid!

The episodes introduce and reinforce the principles of team work and assistance, whilst teaching children about really interesting marine species like the Vampire Squid, Lemon Shark, Dwarf Lantern Shark, Remipedes and more. I love the way the show's creators have not shied away from tackling some really interesting denizens of the deep in favour of the more commonly seen critters. 

We all love this show and it is well worth a look if you want to get your children interested in the natural world. We were browsing toys the other day and noticed that new additions from the latest series are already gracing the shelves. My eldest was very taken by the Gup-X and I think Santa may have to deliver one this year. 

My eldest son was always very taken by marine wildlife, but this show has definitely strengthened his passion for working with creatures from the sea.  My youngest also rates this as one of his favourite shows and related a lot of what he had seen to our adventures at the seaside. 

Please read earlier posts entitled 'The Highest Tide' http://www.putdownthexbox.com/2012/04/highest-tide.html and 'The Octopus' http://www.putdownthexbox.com/2012_08_01_archive.html, which focus more on the wonder of Davy Jones's Locker!

Full marks to Meomi for conjuring up this wonderful series. 

Scrumping!

Well alright we didn't actually go scrumping (stealing apples!), but we did head out into the sticks to a beautiful orchard and pick a truck load of the tastiest apples I have ever encountered. We then paid for said apples! Increasing numbers of young children have absolutely no idea where food comes from, they are used to the supermarket providing all their requirements. A visit to a local 'pick your own' farm is a fantastic opportunity to educate youngsters on the variety of produce harvested each year. 

The rain was positively lashing down when we arrived and, unsurprisingly, we were the only ones bold enough to head into the orchard and start sizing up our apples. They were preparing to shut up shop (replace the boundary fence and prevent vehicle access), but agreed to hang on while we filled our bags to the brim. 

After stowing our pomaceous fruit in the car, we headed off down to the river for a stroll. There were deep puddles everywhere and, with the boys kitted out Norwegian style in all the latest waterproof accessories, we allowed them to splash to their hearts content. Puddles and kids are simply the best of friends. 

A couple of weeks later we headed back with some friends and picked some equally delicious fruit. This time the weather was kinder and we were able to explore the area in more detail. One of my children found a badgers sett under a tree. 

The badger, who dug this hole, knew exactly what he was doing - tonnes of fruit on tap for a good couple of months. Badger setts can run for hundreds of metres and accommodate several animals. Not many people realise that the humble Badger is the largest UK carnivore, much heavier than the average fox and adult males have been known to weigh in at 15 - 20 kilos, the biggest ever caught was as round as a beer barrel and weighed more like 30 kilos! Take a look at this clip for an idea of who is the daddy when Mr Fox meets Mr Badger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfZkuMfQdHU 

At this time of year badgers continue to feed as much as possible to ensure they store adequate fat reserves ready for winter. Badgers don't fully hibernate, but they do sleep a lot more and during the coldest parts of winter it is rare for them to leave the sett. 

We planted a couple of small apple trees in our garden last year and they have produced a few pieces of fruit, but nothing compared to the ridiculously laden branches of the trees in this orchard. You always need two apple trees in close proximity or there is less chance of generating fruit. Apple trees (genus Malus, which means wicked in latin and seemingly someone has been reading a bit too much snow white!) will not self-pollinate but that doesn't mean you must have a pair right next to each other. Often a neighbour will have a tree or two kicking about in the garden or even in a pot on the patio, which is good enough when the insects come calling. 

I do love autumn. The multitude of falling colours signals the start of colder times, but tied up with the oranges and browns we find the sweet, sugary taste of blackberries and apples. Who doesn't like apple and blackberry crumble? Then the children have all the excitement of halloween and bonfire night, before the big one - Christmas - enters the fray. Every season is beautiful and special in a different way. 

Cunningham's skink

Many, many years ago, when I was an impetuous youth, I had the pleasure of owning a pair of rare Australian skinks. The species in my possession was Egernia cunninghami or Cunningham's skink. Only found in south eastern Australia, a country that completely prohibits the export of native fauna, these spiny-tailed beauties found their way to Europe and were captive bred during the 80s and 90s.

Skinks are a family of lizards typically characterised by large, robust heads, short necks and relatively small limbs. They often have a bulky, almost comical appearance but members of the Egernia genus tend to have slightly longer more powerful limbs, which take their appearance a touch closer to the true lizards (Lacertidae).

Cunningham's skink is not especially tame, unlike many blue tongued skinks (see pics below), but depending on the level of human interaction they do become much calmer and some individuals are happy to be picked up or fed by hand. I collected my two from a local reptile store in Streatham, London (J G Reptiles). They had been kept together for several years in the hope they were a pair, but I don't think this was the case. In hindsight they were probably both female. 

Below: Blue tongued skink doing an impression of Yoda. We like this one!

I parted with them in the end and regretted it ever since. I had long been on the look out for more examples but during the last 15+ years they have become rarer than the proverbial hens' teeth! There are almost none in the UK, they are like gold dust. You can source examples on the continent, but even they are in limited supply. 

After many hours of searching and discussing with various people, I finally located what is probably the only breeder of E.cunninghami in the UK. This species produces live young in relatively small numbers, which probably goes some way to explaining why they practically died out in the space of two decades. 

This helpful chap didn't have any babies available and when he did I was not in a position to buy. We stayed in contact, however, and he put me on the trail of two adult examples, which had been living in an out of the way reptile shop up north for the last three years (they were CB 2009). This business did not advertise stock on the internet, but in any event he had just kept them as pets in the store. One day he received a call from me and was convinced to sell. 

Now this was fortunate enough, but beyond knowing they had grown up together and always got on like a house on fire, I had no way of confirming the sexes. Skinks are notoriously difficult to sex and short of seeing the hemipenes ejected you need to observe behaviour or hope for examples with typically feminine or masculine appearances. The vendor always assumed  his  two were a pair. On arrival I sized them up and one was slightly bigger and broader in the skull and back, but not significantly. Hemipenal transillumination (effectively shining a bright LED through the base of the tail to highlight internal structures, see pic below) did not reveal any obvious hemipenes. The tails were simply too full of pigment. Besides I think this technique is extremely unreliable! The principle is shown below but I have proven it doesn't work. 

Shortly after I made this great find, I was googling for E.cunninghami and noticed a wanted advert re the same species. The individual had only just created an RFUK (Reptile Forums UK) account and this was his first post. It was a very strange coincidence as adverts re this species occur literally years apart. I contacted him asking more re the nature of his interest and established he owned a lone male and had been unable to locate a mate. After discussing reptiles for a while I advised my skinks were not for sale, but offered to purchase his. My initial offer was rebuffed but after further consideration he agreed to sell. The animal was far from cheap but I knew this was my best chance of establishing a breeding group that could potentially produce offspring the following year. This animal also had two advantages - it was definitely male (hemipenes and sperm plugs had been seen on several occasions) and was very tame, which is a significant bonus with regard to this species. 

On arrival the physical difference between this fella and the two upstairs was marked. His head was far broader and deeper; he had a chunkier appearance, thicker tail and basically looked every bit a male skink. I read a reptile book back in the early 90s, which suggested male E.cunninghami tend to have more salmon coloured spots or flecks on their throats. I haven't read this anywhere else since but it was interesting to note that on close inspection the animal in front of me had definite salmon coloured speckles on the throat. The other two had far less or none but I don't think this is an indication of gender at all. He was also a much deeper, darker black than them, but this doesn't indicate gender and just made him more attractive! He was an extremely impressive animal and worth every penny. 

So it was time to introduce him to the vivarium inhabitants - something that  must be done very carefully indeed. Skinks don't need much incentive to fight and same sexes generally fight worst of all. They will fiercely defend their territory against intruders - male vs male aggression tending to be more pronounced. Introducing adult Egernia species is very difficult and it is generally recommended to raise a colony together from a very young age. 

I carefully opened the door and, as usual, the two skinks fled towards their log hide. The large male began to taste his surroundings and immediately headed in the same direction. I watched carefully as he entered the hide and froze.........nothing for seconds, minutes even. Suddenly the top of the hide burst open as a skink exited at warp speed and stopped suddenly, held by the jaws of the new male. He had clamped on to its leg and I felt compelled to intervene. The grip was gentle enough and relinquished without fuss. I watched as he followed the skink, of sex unknown, around the tank - sniffing and tasting their body. He proceeded to nip their tail, flank and neck. It was clear this was not a merciless onslaught and also clear that the skink was not retaliating. They opened their mouth slightly but never attempted to bite him or escape. 

Things were tense in the enclosure for about a day, while the others kept a low profile and the new male established himself as group leader. He found a favourite basking spot and sleeping hide, hogged the food dish and generally put his weight about. At no time did the other skinks attack him or show a united front. Bear in mind they had lived together since birth and, with E.cunninghami being a colonial species, would be more likely to try and drive a single animal away than vice versa.

Over the coming days the other skinks came out and basked within close proximity of the new boss. Everything stayed calm. As the week progressed the others were soon basking with him (or at least underneath!). To cut a long story short – peace reigned. It truly appeared that all the skinks had accepted each other and agreed to form a group. I have heard many stories re the difficulties of introducing adult Egernia, but I had got away with it! If there are going to be problems then you see them very quickly. If an animal is under threat it does not relax and cuddle up near the warmth with an enemy.

My own theory, as to why it was almost too easy, is that the two skinks living together for three years were both female (best to be optimistic eh!).  The male had lived alone since birth (about 5 years). His initial display was sexual and designed to announce himself to the females he suddenly found in his midst. Being a colonial species he was more than happy to find others of his kind. Likewise the others knew he was male and did not feel unduly threatened as a consequence. 

Take a look at the picture above showing the definite male (right) and an unknown on the left. These two have the same SVL (snout vent length) and the difference in head size is obvious. I am told by Dr Adam Stow (Egernia cunninghami expert from Macquarie  University in Australia) that males have bigger heads than females, but it can be subtle and you often need a male and female with the same SVL for the difference to be obvious. In fact Dr Stow has a paper referencing head size under review at the moment: Hughes, C; Repaci, VP, Stow AJ. "Large male head size does not confer a reproductive advantage in the sexually dimorphic cunningham's skink". (In review). 

I have heard the reports of keepers never being able to introduce adults harmoniously and was certainly concerned by the prospect. All three skinks were sexually mature and same sexes could have caused big problems. 

Only time will tell, but the success of this introduction hopefully bodes well for the future. The reality is that they could just as easily be three males!! Let's hope that is not the case.

As an interesting aside the flighty twosome are now much more relaxed and seem to wait for signals from the new leader. He is a calm animal and can be handled with ease. It is unusual for him to flee when people approach the vivarium, so the others see no threat. Thus far his presence has been nothing but positive. 

Above: Blue mountains, south eastern Australia.

Update 09/08/2015 - All three were male. Amazing that I was lucky enough to avoid fighting but there was no point keeping them all. Two were sold (not the largest, most impressive animal,as that is my son's pet) and a definite female will arrive from Germany at the end of 2015. We will see how that goes. 

The Octopus

We have just returned from a delightful break in the South of France. The weather was a glorious 32 degrees every day and, having two young children, the days were very much a routine of breakfast, beach, lunch, swimming pool and bedtime. Some episodes of Disney's Duck Tales were discretely tucked in amongst the swimming and splashing - I am not sure who enjoyed them more, the kids or me!

We are extremely fortunate that my mother-in-law knows someone with a property near Nice. The location is perfect - panoramic sea views, a swimming pool only one minute away and a little beach at the bottom of the hill. Steps lead down to the picturesque garden, which is full of butterflies and amazing hummingbird moths. There is even a National Trust (French equivalent) walk a few minutes down the road. 

My favourite part of the holiday was our daily trip to the beach. My wife is not too keen on swimming in the sea, but I can't get enough of it. If I wasn't in the rock pools with the kids then I would be patrolling the shallows with a snorkel mask and one of the boys clinging to my neck! 

On one such expedition I was flipping rocks and seaweed, in an attempt to reveal interesting creatures, and I noticed a small stone that had been carefully placed in a nook. Ordinarily I would have thought no more about it - the stone was far too small to conceal anything interesting and the ridge did not look like it could be particularly deep. The stone sat tightly against the rock, but I was so close that I noticed the tiniest sliver of red, filtering through a minute crack.

I decided to move the stone and take a closer look, expecting to discover a sea anemone or perhaps even a sea cucumber. Instead I was greeted with a huge tentacle that quickly reached for some surrounding pebbles and tried to conceal itself from view. This was extremely exciting - I have seen Octopodes in public aquariums but never in the wild and this was a decent size. I replaced the stone and swam back to shore. Having notified Cat and the boys of my discovery, I seized the net and declared I would try and make the capture of a lifetime! 

Snorkel mask in place and green, plastic net in hand, I ventured back into the salty abyss and over to the inconspicuous stone. My eight-legged friend had been decent enough to remain in position and it was now a case of trying to entice him from his lair. There was no option but to gently prod him with the wooden handle of my net and, after about ten minutes of agitation (requiring regular trips back to the surface for air), he decided enough was enough. Tentacles stretched forth like slimy eels and a cloud of ink erupted around me. There was only open water between us and the next pile of rocks and he wanted to tip the odds in his favour with the classic cephalopod distraction technique. 

Unluckily for my new friend I am a human being and not a fish! I was prepared for this onyx cloud and, moving my net in a swift arc, managed to capture the beast. Success! 

I swam back to shore and staggered onto the nearest rocks, cutting my foot in the process, but desperate to take the prize back to my children. We placed him in a bucket and there was great excitement - not just from my family - as others on the beach crowded round to take a look at the alien from inner space. There were a couple of escape attempts, as multiple arms erupted form the plastic prison but we managed to take several lovely pictures before Todd and I carried the bucket back to the rock pools and watched this amazing animal clamber back into the water. 

Octopodes are extremely intelligent animals. In the UK it is illegal to use them in scientific experiments without a government license. They are considered honorary vertebrates and afforded protection not normally extended to animals without backbones. Opening jars, recognising patterns and shapes, even observational learning are all in a days work for laboratory  specimens.   

This experience was simply amazing. I will never forget the waves lashing me, the repeated dives back into Davy Jones' locker, and ultimately the success! As Todd proudly held the bucket aloft he declared 'no one at school has ever caught an octopus, I can't wait to show our pictures to my friends'. My brother and I spent hours in the rock pools as children but we never came close to a find like this. Magical. 

Insect Lore - Live Butterfly Garden part 2

Three butterflies emerged successfully from their transformation chambers and were set free to investigate the garden flowers. One failed to survive the intensive metamorphosis - the cocoon changing colour then starting to shrivel. That is a success rate of 60% (remembering one of the five was eaten), which isn't great, but I suspect it is not much different in the wild.

We started with a caterpillar and we ended with a butterfly. The colours are different, the legs and body shaped differently (we now have a clearly defined head, thorax and abdomen) and a relatively huge pair of wings have erupted from nowhere. That is incredible, and it is not difficult to appreciate that such a sophisticated process will inevitably break down on occasion. 

Speaking of Metamorphosis, our tadpoles are doing extremely well. It is remarkable how well they thrive in a small amount of stagnant water. I only add food once a week and the algae, which has started to grow in these perfect conditions, provides the rest. Some of the slippery critters now have back legs and will soon complete their switch to a more terrestrial mode of existence. Incredible to think that amphibian metamorphosis involves a switch from gills to lungs! More on this soon. 

I will leave you with a parting shot of one Painted lady butterfly, resting happily on our Wisteria, before braving the thermals and meeting the big, wide world head-on. 

Insert Lore - Live Butterfly Garden

Todd received a very cool gift for his birthday - a kit which permits observation of the caterpillar to butterfly lifecyle, in all its glory. The butterfly 'garden' as it is called is essential a cylindrical butterfly net. On opening the kit there is a certificate, which is used to order the live caterpillars, and you can trigger the process by post or via the internet. 

I followed the internet option and selected a time slot for delivery. The caterpillars arrived on May 2nd and were absolutely tiny. When you see them like this it is hard to believe some of the British species can swell into absolute monsters like the Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar (see previous article where we found one of these true mini-beasts!). 

Unfortunately I took the first picture a few days after they arrived and by this time our five eager caterpillars had trebled in size. 

The species we received were Painted Lady caterpillars (Vanessa cardui) and, unsurprisingly, they turn into Painted Lady butterflies! You get five caterpillars in a sterile pot, which contains enough food (not typical leaves but a special formula) to facilitate rapid growth and subsequent chrysalis construction. You don't open the pot, it is just a case of observation. 

Four of our charges morphed into monsters and effectively constructed cocoons. The fifth didn't manage to build a suitable metamorphosis chamber, largely on account of the other four deciding he would provide an excellent nutritional resource! Yes, caterpillars will eat their own and, of course, the probability of this occurring is higher in a confined space. Thus we were left with four very interesting cocoons and one caterpillar without a head. 

Look at the size of them after only 9 days! 

After about ten to fourteen days the caterpillars crawled up to the container lid and suspended themselves in preparation for metamorphosis. It is remarkable how much silk they produce and it is not something people regularly associate with butterfly larvae, but they were spinning threads all over the place and ultimately reached the top of their micro-habitat by means of this series of biological nets. 

The cocoons/chrysalides have now been removed from the pot and sit inside the butterfly garden, as per instructions. I will post pictures of them shortly, along with the butterflies, which should be emerging any day now. 

Spotted Python Eggs

The Spotted Pythons were cooled down this year to simulate proper autumnal conditions. I wasn't certain copulation was taking place, but it transpired almost all of it occurred in the dark seclusion of the stone cave near the main heat source. 

I caught them tied a few times, as did Todd, and so it was just a case of whether the female had enough body weight and the male was fertile. This year was the first time she was large enough to breed (I had worked hard feeding her up during 2011 to ensure the greatest chance of success). 

It was fantastic for the boys to witness the reality of reproduction. There was no point talking about birds and bees or storks with the amount of questions these two have! Best to let nature explain and then support with additional words. 

Certainly the path from copulation to egg laying has not run according to the text books. They were introduced to each other around November and the temperature gradually reduced (via habitstat control) until it rested around 23 degrees. As the weeks progressed (with food having also been withdrawn) biochemical signals began to slip both animals into breeding mode. 

A female python's ovulation is different to the widely accepted human definition. Rather than releasing the eggs on a regular basis, which may or may not be met by the male's seed, the female snake will ovulate once successful mating has occurred and she is literally ready to push the eggs down to the waiting spermatazoa. At this point a noticeable swelling is observed - as if she had consumed a very large prey item. I didn't witness the event, but it is possible it occurred while she was in the cave or that it was less pronounced and therefore not obvious (which does happen). 

About two months ago we had the pre-lay shed and I kept the faith. It is approximately 30 days from this point until eggs appear. After this pre-lay shed the female normally shows no interest in mating, but I saw them tied at least once more after the event. That is unusual. 

Also the female did not appear at all broad or full, she always remained rather slim looking, and this added weight to our opinion that the pairing had failed.

Anyway 60 days after what we assumed was the pre-lay shed, and with all hope diminished, she did in fact lay a clutch! This caught us all by surprise and I was certain it wouldn't happen this year. I lifted the cave up, in order to confirm she was ok (as no hunting behaviour had been observed), and she was coiled in a perfect spiral. I had never seen her lay like this before and, on shifting her head slightly, I saw a perfect, full, white egg. The female is normally good at deciding which eggs are infertile and removing them from the clutch, so at this time it is looking positive. 

Female pythons are maternal and will remain coiled around their brood throughout incubation. They will also twitch their bodies to raise the temperature and maintain optimum conditions. This is peculiar to the family Pythonidae.

Fingers crossed we are in a position to reveal babies. The longer a female holds on to the eggs the less time they take to hatch, so based on what we have witnessed it could be anything from 38 - 58 days before miniature serpents venture forth into the big, wide world.