Monday 13 June 2011

Whose poo?

You can probably work out the answer to this one*. Our cassowary has been feasting on whatever fruit is available. Right now, that's lemon aspen (Acronychia acidula), which is not an aspen but does taste citrusy. The fruit is also popular with topknot pigeons and tree kangaroos. The tree is common here and so productive that there is plenty to go around in season.

Pre-splat

Splat!

The cassowary has also been consuming Davidson's plums (Davidsonia pruriens), hefty fruit that it swallows whole.


All the other forest frugivores peck or nibble. (Like lemon aspen, this fruit also makes a delicious jam, but I've yet to see the pademelons master that skill.)


The fruit-eaters have carefully eaten around the seed. (A better picture of the seed here.) I'll chuck it into the forest, where there's a good chance it will germinate. There's no shortage of Davidson's plums on this block. And no shortage of Davidson plum-eaters.

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* Avoids joke about constipated mathematician.