Australian Animals Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pollen and nectar

The grey-headed flying fox is the largest of the species and is found mainly along the east coast. They are not carnivorous at all, and are sometimes considered a pest by orchardists, as they also like fruit. They are commonly known as fruit bats because of this. They get their 'fox' name from their facial features- they look a bit like a fox.

Their wingspan can exceed a metre. Even though they are large, they are still preyed on by hawks and eagles.

I have seen flights of hundreds of flying-foxes going overhead, and it is an awesome sight.

Answer: Yes

A crocodile egg is not much bigger than a goose egg, but the end result is very different. A big croc can grow to 7 metres and weigh over 2 tonnes. That is almost twice as long as a car, and about the same weight!

The estuarine, or salt-water crocodile, lives in northern Australia and most of south-east Asia. They are comfortable in the ocean, and will even do battle with sharks. I think that you can safely say that they are in the 'not cuddly' list.

Answer: Galah

Galahs are quite common, both in the country and built-up areas. In some farming areas, they are actually considered a pest. They are quite noisy, especially when they are in large groups.

Galahs can be trained to talk and are popular pets. 'Galah' can also be used as an insult, meaning an idiot.

A grebe is a small aquatic bird and a brolga is a tall crane-like native bird. A waratah is not a bird- it is a large showy red flower.

Answer: Cassowary

It is a double-wattled (or Southern) cassowary, to be precise. Cassowaries have been known to kill humans with their powerful legs and extremely large toes. Fortunately, they are a shy bird, and contact with humans is not common. They are slightly shorter than an emu, but can be quite a bit heavier. They have a horny growth on their heads, called a casque- the purpose of this is still subject to debate by ornithologists.

The Cape Barren goose is a large native goose, and a chook is just the Australian word for a chicken.

Answer: Yabby

A yabby grows to be about 15cm (6 in) long, and can be a wide variety of colours. They are not particularly dangerous, but can give you a nasty nip with their claws. Catching a yabby is easy- get a couple of metres of cotton, and tie it to a small lump of meat. Chuck the meat into the water and wait for a nibble. Slowly draw the line in, and scoop the yabby out with a net. They are delicious when boiled and thrown into a salad.

A pipi is a small bivalve clam, a blue swimmer is a crab and a Balmain bug is a type of lobster. All three are salt-water creatures.

Answer: The Easter Bunny

Rabbits are a major pest in Australia, outnumbering humans by about ten to one, so celebrating the Easter Bunny seems rather a strange idea. Instead, money raised from sales of the chocolate Easter bilby go to the preservation of the animals themselves.

Note that the little animal underneath the bilby's food bowl is just a plain ordinary mouse, and not an exotic Australian species at all.

Answer: They can run on two legs

When they feel threatened, the frilled-neck lizard will flare its frill out, get up on its rear legs and run towards the attacker with mouth wide open. It is all a bluff and they will not attack, but the display looks very impressive.

Answer: No

They are related, but only distantly. The Tasmanian tiger (aka Tasmanian wolf or thylacine) is extinct, with the last known specimen dying in 1936. Its name is not really accurate, as it is not related to the tiger OR the wolf; it was a marsupial. It was also quite a bit bigger than the devil; roughly about the size of an Alsatian dog.

The Tasmanian devil is on the endangered list, mainly because of an cancerous disease known as DFTD (Devil Facial Tumour Disease). Hopefully, scientists can find a cure soon.

The Warner Brothers cartoon depiction of Tasmanian devil, Taz, is only partly accurate. They DO have a very healthy appetite and their grunts and squeals are very noisy, but they do NOT walk on their hind legs or act like a whirlwind.

Answer: Funnel-web spider

Funnel-webs are very aggressive, very large (they can be up to two inches long) and very toxic. They are active in the warmer months and can be found almost anywhere. I have seen them settled on the bottom of a swimming pool in a bubble of air, and have had several in my house. Aussies know that they have to shake their clothes and shoes in summer before they put them on, as that is another common hiding spot.

The three wrong answers are figments of my imagination.

Answer: No

There are only two types of monotreme, and both are found in Australia. One is the platypus and the other species is the echidna. Monotremes are unusual as they lay eggs, but viviparous animals are the opposite- they give birth to live babies.