Cats and outdoor railways!!!!!!!!

[GWR_fan]

This morning I sought to finish up the long awaited alterations to my outdoor railway. I had to downsize the railway for a potential property sale and yesterday carried out the tracklaying of the reverse loop. This morning I naively thought just a simple wiring job was all that was required. How wrong!!!!!!!

Simply turning on the power resulted in a short circuit. I revisited my tracklaying as of yesterday and as the reverse loop was physically isolated from the main track (no wires attached within the loop) the tracklaying could not be the fault. A couple of weeks ago the main track worked just fine. I started troubleshooting by separating the railway into smaller sections to isolate the fault with no success.

I searched along the line but nothing was shorting out the rails. By perchance I noticed that two of the #6 points/switches which had frogs facing each other were in different positions. Simply by placing both points in the same orientation the short mysteriously disappeared. My two cats regularly walk the rails seeking a nice spot either in the sun or the shade. The Blue-tongued lizards (around 60 cms long) also like to sunbathe on the rails. It seems that something has moved one of the switches causing the short to occur.

An immense sigh of relief came over me as some time ago I had a short caused by a growing tree trunk crushing the wires and causing a short. This took a full day of concerted troubleshooting to resolve, plus several hours resoldering the wires cut in the troubleshooting process.

Now I have a few joins to resolder but am happy to have power continuity once again. Outdoor railways can be both a blessing and a curse.

[GWR_fan]

Did I mention the Blue-Tongue lizards??????? I was just working outside on the railway and came into the kitchen for a glass of water. Happily munching away on the cat food was "Larry the Lizard". He must have passed just a few feet behind me in his search for food. While Australia has some beautiful reptiles, I would prefer them to stay outdoors and not come inside after the cat food. Larry is typical of grown males being around 60 cms in length and are thicker than a man's wrist around the girth. They are basically non-aggressive and will inflate their neck and hiss if confronted by a dog or perhaps an aggressive cat. When Larry sees me he allows me to gently guide him back outdoors. I use a couple of pieces of cardboard to shepherd him out. Alas, his overly large girth and relatively short legs make it hard going for him to cross the smooth timber floor. Larry is a wild reptile and not a tame pet. He visits each year around this time and come New Year will not make another appearance until November next year.

This is mating season so the few males around (they service about a dozen females each) go wandering in search of food. The young are born live, mid to late January. They are a protected species.

[GWR_fan]

Maybe it is global warming but the blue tongue is still hanging around and making the occasional venture indoors. It is a little unnerving when a two-foot lizard suddenly appears from under the lounge chair in search of food.

Normally once mating season is over and the young are born the lizards seem to vanish. Maybe the longer hours of raised temperature daylight have him confused. The lizard is not fooled by all the ranting from our nation's capital about global warming being cr*p (substitute an 'a' where appropriate).

[GaryAM]

good to hear you have the track sorted! If reincarnation is on the cards, put me down for one of those Blue-Tongue lizards

[GWR_fan]

Gary,
Larry the lizard was back again this morning. He scared the cr*p out of the wife even though when he is eating she will sit very close to him when outdoors. It is when he suddenly appears unannounced that he startles you. He is completely harmless (so people say), but apparently if he gets his jaws around a toe or finger he needs a lot of persuasion to release his grip. I am not volunteering to find out how strong his jaws are.

[GaryAM]

lol, that sounds great, I'm one for nature and all that. I'd love to have a house guest like that, I can imagine your wife being startled, especially if you're not expecting it. Does your outdoor layout suffer much with the wildlife?

Gary

[GWR_fan]

Gary,
I live in suburbia so just the usual house guests like cockatoos, rosellas, blue-tongues and those cats!!!!!!! Many of my early You-tube videos were accompanied by the sounds of the parrots in the background.

[GWR_fan]

I had one of the new offspring lizards walking through the house yesterday (lizards are born mid/late January). He is a clone of the big lizard only he is about five inches long (probably about two weeks old). When born the young are independent of their parents and must fend for themselves. I managed to escort him outside where he belongs. He was not happy, standing his ground. His hiss though was more of a gentle breath unlike that of his dad.

[GaryAM]

Nice one! Dad must have told the youngster where's best to go, he was probably after a meal or cosy spot. How many young do they have at a time? You might have to fit a 'dog flap'

[GWR_fan]

Gary,
up to around twenty young, but usually around ten. Over the years I have rarely seen the youngsters (maybe one or two a year, usually in January, our mid-summer month). It seems once born they head off to establish their own territory.

[SyuzanVR]

Thanks a lot for your informative posts. They helped me too.

[Allegheny1600]

Hi GWR_fan,
That is a fascinating story, thank you.
I Googled "blue tongued lizard", they are quite unusual looking creatures (to a north European!) and that tongue is really blue! Amazing. I have travelled around Europe and Morocco quite a bit though, the largest lizard I ever saw was a Moroccan one well over two feet in length and very brightly coloured. All the lizards I have ever seen have proportionally larger legs than your guy - does he have no natural enemies/predators? No need to run away!
As a wildlife lover, I would love to come and visit down under but it's the things with more than four legs that freak me and absolutely terrify the wife and make it a no go, sorry.
Cheers,
John.

[michaelasc]

How about these "little" guys in Mexico? Body is around 60 cm and tail another 75 cm, very friendly though and will take nibbles by hand

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[GWR_fan]

Hi GWR_fan,
.......................................As a wildlife lover, I would love to come and visit down under but it's the things with more than four legs that freak me and absolutely terrify the wife and make it a no go, sorry.
Cheers,
John.

John,
there are a lot of potentially dangerous creatures downunder with just four legs and many with no legs that are not good for your health. Fortunately, anti-venemes have been developed for most of the deadly snake bites assuming one gets treatment in time. Alas, no anti-venemes for a crocodile or shark bite!

Other than the occasional report of deadly funnel web spider bites or curious snakes in houses or reports of pumas and panther sightings outside our capital cities (supposedly released from a circus), suburbia is relatively safe. It is when one ventures outside civilisation that most of the dangerous creatures exist. More injuries occur within the safe confines of the home than from those wild creatures.