There’s plenty of wildlife in the lake and nature reserves of Lake Treeby.  Here’s a few that you might spot.

Quenda – Isoodon obesulus fusciventer

This small marsupial is also known as the Western Brown Bandicoot, and it can only be found in southwest Western Australia.

Quenda are one of the few native marsupials that can be seen in Perth’s bushland reserves. They usually inhabit the open forest, scrub, and heathland.

They are omnivorous, nocturnal and solitary animals, so it may be hard to spot them. They are more active at dusk, but can be seen day or night if weather conditions are mild and low predation risk.

Male Quenda are territorial and aggressive to other Quenda and will fight each other with their claws. They also use their claws to dig into the ground to look for food.

Brushtail Possum – Trichosurus vulpecula

Brushtail possums are also nocturnal marsupials and are highly adaptable to different environments of Australia. They live in trees which they climb, thanks to their sharp claws, hand-like back feet, and strong tails. If you live near some bushland, you might be able to spot a possum running along a fence or sitting in a tree.

They normally eat Eucalyptus leaves, flowers, shoots, fruits, and seeds. They also consume insects, birds eggs and chicks, and small vertebrates.

These marsupials should be only handled by trained personnel and their long claws can scratch.

Australian Painted Lady – Vanessa kershawi

This is a common butterfly and can be seen in any Australian state – often in urban areas.

Females lay single green eggs, and they only live for up to 53 days. The caterpillars and adults feed on native everlastings and other daisies, lavender, scotch thistle and cape weed.

Adults have a wingspan around 5cm. They have four legs, and a long haustellum, with which they can suck nectar from flowers.

This species is known for mass migrations. In 1889, the Australian Painted Lady (also known as Blue Spotted Painted Lady), was reported to migrate in such big groups that they blackened the sky, and trains were not able to get traction because of the amount of butterflies in the tracks.

Long Necked Turtle – Chelodina colliei

Chelodina colliei, also known as the southwestern snake-necked turtle, is a semi-aquatic freshwater turtle. They are known for their long neck that retracts sideways into the shells, differently than other turtles.

These species are small, and mostly below 300mm in length. They have limbs with webbed feet with four claws, and ankle joints.

Although they are small, they are considered the underwater apex predator, generalist feeders, and opportunistic carnivores. They eat mostly macro-invertebrates, but their diet changes, and can also eat carrion, frogs, organisms found in the water, and fish.

This turtle species can be found at seasonal and permanent freshwater habitats such as wetlands, rivers and lakes. You may be lucky and see some long necked turtles around the lake!

Western Bearded Dragon – Pogona minor

The Western Bearded Dragon is a grey lizard that can change colour when its mood and body temperature changes.

It is terrestrial and arboreal, and it can be found in dry forests, woodlands, coastal dunes and heathlands from the southwest.

It is called a bearded dragon because it has spines along its jaw-line and behind its ears.

Fence Skink – Cryptoblepharus virgatus

Common names of this Cryptoblepharus virgatus include the striped snake-eyed skink, cream-striped shinning-skink, wall skink, fence skink or snake-eyed skink.

This reptile is a small, grey and silver, flat bodied skin that only grows to a length between 4 cm to 10 cm. It doesn’t have eyelids, but has a layer of scales covering its eyes, just like snakes.

These species may go undetected in the wild because of its size. However, when they are seen and the fence skink feels threatened, it will play dead to confuse the attacker.

Common Carp – Cyprinus carpio

The carp is a widespread freshwater fish. They live in large and small man made pools and reservoirs, as well as slow or fast moving rivers. At Lake Treeby, you can spot carp in the lake.

These species at the third most frequently introduced species worldwide, and they can live up to 20 years.

Carps are large body and quite heavy, weighing at least 8 kg in south-western Australia. They have bright coloration and barbels around their lips. These barbels are what distinguishes them from the goldfish.

Western Grey Kangaroo – Macropus  fuliginosus

Western Grey Kangaroos have light to dark-brown fur and can be distinguished from other kangaroos by their finely haired muzzle.

Paws, feet and tail tips vary in colour from brown to black. The Western Grey Kangaroo’s tail is 42–100 cm long.

All kangaroos are herbivores and eat coarse grasses and some shrubs.

Newborn babies are barely larger than a jellybean. They need to climb up the mother’s body to the pouch soon after birth, with eyes that are still closed. The joey starts to leave the pouch by 6–8 months. It is fully out by 11 months and completely independent by 12 months.

Bobtail Lizard – Tiliqua rugosa

The bobtail lizard, also known as the shingleback lizard, is a short-tail, slow-moving species of blue-tonged skink. It can measure up to 40 cm in length.

This lizard has a heavily armoured body and its colours can range from dark brown to cream. It also has a short, wide tail that looks similar to its head, which confuses predators.

They can be found in deserts, scrubland, and dry forests throughout Australia. Here they find food such as snails, carrion, vegetation, and flowers. Their diet can vary, and they also eat human food, including sausage, chicken, banana and passionfruit.

Freshwater Crayfish – Restricted Gilgie – Cherax crassimanus

The colour of this crayfish varies from light to dark greenish brown, generally with distinctive mottling and often with a central light brown/orange central stripe and basal portion of legs being reddish-orange.

This crustacean species is somewhat rare and they are mostly found between Margaret River and Denmark.

They inhabit both permanent and ephemeral streams, but they prefer small, shallow systems, similar to Lake Treeby.

Its total length can reach up to 70 mm.

Frogs

Treeby is blessed with a big variety of frogs. More than one third of Australia’s total frog fauna occurs in Western Australia. The frogs that can be seen in Lake Treeby are the

• Motorbike Frog
• Western Banjo Frog
• Quacking Frog
• Moaning Frog.

The Motorbike Frog (Litoria moorei) reaches up to 8 cm in body length. Their fingers are unwebbed and toes are nearly fully webbed.

The Western Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes dorsalis) can be up to 7.5 cm long. Their back is grey or dark green with irregular dark brown blotches. They are also distinguished by their glandular ridge at the corner of the mouth and large glands on their calves.

The Quacking Frog (Crinia georgiana) is a smaller frog, reaching up to 4 cm long. It’s a ground-dwelling frog with a variable back pattern that can be either smooth or ridged areas of dark brown, light tan and grey. However, some males are coloured red during breeding.

The Moaning Frog (Heleioporous eyrie) reaches up to 6.5 cm long and has a powerful and robust build with short limbs. Males have larger arms but don’t have sexual features that distinguish them.