The dingo

Story 1/21: Australian rat race

Outback rat race – full moon at Uluru

April, 2003

Gust of wind drums tiny grains of red sand to the side of a worn jerrycan. Mild air moves random hay peeking out from the dry soil. Apart from that the vast scenery is silent.

Full moon lays its yellow gaze over the ancient hills. Nothing seems to move in this nocturnal kingdom of rocks. 

But behold – focusing to shadows there is a pair of wet eyes staring across the stony terrain. Tiny central rock rat is lifting its nose against the wind – searching for any signs of danger. Since it detects none, it sprints over and under boulders towards the sandy hills nearby. It is hungry and in need of its nightly setting of seeds.

Every once and a while it stops into a shadow – listening and sniffing the night. After numerous spurts and halts it reaches the edge of the stone field. Fingers of sand grow wider and wider between the random rocks. As these fingers of sand grow into a palm of the desert, occasional tiny islands of hay and other plants push through the skin of the land.

This is the feeding ground of central rock rats and other herbivores of this remote corner of Central Australia. Here the palm of the dry lands pitches bursts of vegetation across the otherwise unfertile grounds.

Little mustardy rodent noses around and rushes towards patches of weed and starts feeding on the seeds. It continuous wandering around sandy hills and comes across a real treat – a dead dragon fly – packed with protein. As it is dragging this treasure to a more covered position, it suddenly stops – sensing something foreign…

As it turns its alarmed head back, the moon is covered with something hairy – sides flashing with similar colour to the rock rat. Yet it is not the similarity of their colouring that catches the eye of this little hunter gatherer. It is the four paws and the array of white teeth, that makes the rodent freeze. A furry cloud is about to end the moonlight dance of the rat and a dragon fly.

But as the right paw of the dingo lands on the tail of the central rock rat, it does what many of its ancestors – and common lizards have done: it releases the skin of its tail and spurts to the pile of rocks nearby.

Young dingo wonders how a plump rodent turned into a skinny worm and pokes randomly the stones near the boulders where the nosy rat has vanished. Soon it realizes rocks spread too far – the agile herbivore has too many shaded tunnels under the rocks to hide out. 

Thus, it sets afoot against the full moon. Wind has died – little central rock rat survived – at least tonight.

Some background data:

Central Australia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Australia

Central rock rat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_rock_rat

Dingo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo

Bushfires in Australia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_Australian_bushfire_season

Floods in Australia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floods_in_Australia

Questions:

1. Protection. Central rock rat is an endangered species. Would it be important to try to protect this tiny mammal of the Australian outback? Why?
2. Ecosystems are delicate constructions – if one seemingly small part goes missing, many other species – flora and fauna included may surfer. Can you give examples? Search the Internet, if in doubt.
3. Ecological disasters.There has been devastating natural disasters in Australia in the new millennium – both with too much and too little water. Give some examples. Discuss possible reasons for these weather abnormalities.
4. Discuss. Your view: What thoughts did rise in your mind having read the story? Discuss with your pair.

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