[Bbjhjxfy]

Three quandong seeds seemingly tucked away in a clump of grass.
yes, there are quandong trees within 30 meters
no, we don't have bilbies/bandicoots or any other largeish native mammals roaming

no, no kids of the human variety around here.

anyone have any idea?
Thanks

[Wvq9InTM]

I often see this with falling nuts such as walnuts but as you say the trees are 30 m away. Also the fruit has been removed while the seeds are still rather fresh. This indicates that it is no accident.

[Bbjhjxfy]

Thanks, RB..trees last fruited Spring 2011 , and yes, these have no dried skin attached..they are clean. I have been cogitating, and thought maybe young birds playing? Our pet crows/magpies used to love playing with small toys/ping pong balls, etc - Our most recent crow(raven, sorry) enjoyed putting his toys into containers/hollow logs, then fishing them out again .
perhaps this is such a game ?

*shrugs*

[Wvq9InTM]

While quandongs do have a definite fruiting season they may fruit at odd times of the year or several times per year depending up the vagaries of climate. The seed cases fade in sunlight once the fruit has been removed. A common agent for removing the fruit is the quandong moth which can ravage the fruit by boring through the fruit around the seed, which does cause it to fall off. I presume there are many others which eat the fruit off the seed once it has fallen to the ground, such as ants and various skinks, dragons. Parrots such as mallee ringnecks and crows would also eat the fruit. Such as the Major Mitchell could possibly crack the shell for the nut. Not sure which animals may have done this but it wouldn't surprise me that rodents could peel the fruit off.

[Peertantyb]

Emu droppings?

[Wvq9InTM]

Emus would swallow the fruit whole and the seed would be found in their pats.

[Bbjhjxfy]

RB.. I see these trees on almost a daily basis ... and they haven't fruited since last year .We do get those moths in profusion ....and there are always lots of seeds lying around under trees ... a lot with dried skin/fruit attached, were rotting/unripe fruit has fallen and dried fast in the hot sun.
It may have been mice....or maybe rabbits ...but it's odd that the seeds are in the grass tussock like that ...I did look in an area where similar tussocks are ...no seeds ..and there are no seeds near rabbit holes, or within coo-ee of that particular tussock.

Mice, perhaps not .....the tussock is only a metre or so from an old fence/post, and is on a very exposed hard patch of bare earth ... not far from HERE ideal raptor/owl hunting spot . Hmmmm ..
Thanks for the ideas

[Buincchotourbss]

Evening all on the boards, Just been fishing and caught a nice black bream for dinner (fillet then fry up ginger and garlic until crispy to place on top and have with some squeased lemon, soy steamed vegies and jasmine rice). I'll tell you how it turns out as bream is not my preferred fish but I didn't catch the "barra" I was after oh well next time!!

To your picture binjy! Thought 1 could be foxes as they frequently eat quandong and often mark their territories on prominent points in the area but from your picture it doesn't look as though there is any scat associated with the nuts (scat could it have been washed off? especially if the scat only contained the nuts?).
Thought 2 Don't suppose there has been any flooding to wash the nuts into the grass? then it reteats to leave us with a puzzle to wok out

[Wvq9InTM]

I'm fairly sure a fox couldn't swallow a whole quandong. In any case, I have never seen one in a fox scat.. If many of the animals mentioned had eaten the fruit off there would be evidence of teeth marks.

An emu pat may well have washed away in a heavy rain period but there would still be some traces.

[Buincchotourbss]

Hi roughbarked!! Was just a thought, have seen a few fox scats with quandongs though thinking back not many, just the fact it was in such a prominent place brought to mind a fox (scratches head, frowns, cogs clanking) bemusing we may never know. Back to cooking fish.

[Wvq9InTM]

I'm not saying a fox wouldn't eat quandongs. I am just unsure that a fox would swallow them whole. A fox may also possibly spit the stones out in the same sitting.

[suilusargaino]

Thanks, RB..trees last fruited Spring 2011 , and yes, these have no dried skin attached..they are clean. I have been cogitating, and thought maybe young birds playing? Our pet crows/magpies used to love playing with small toys/ping pong balls, etc - Our most recent crow(raven, sorry) enjoyed putting his toys into containers/hollow logs, then fishing them out again .
perhaps this is such a game ?

*shrugs*

Maybe the raven "stashed" them as once fresh fruit in a hollow hidey hole
and only recently retrieved them, ate the yummy desiccated fruit and attempted
to hide the "tell-tale" seeds within a tussock (reminiscent of sweeping them under the rug).

...alternately...
there really IS an Easter Bilby!

edit:
I'd be wary of eating any little choco-eggs I'd find in the immediate area.

[Bbjhjxfy]

LOL @ Ogmog's post!

A mystery, indeed .