Let’s follow LPT 18
- Playground Time
McKee Clan’s cache
Let’s follow LPT (Little Para Trail) is a series of caches along the trail for you to find. Please enjoy the walk or Ride as we have and happy hunting.
Due to the number of caches in carisbrook park and Howie bowie reserve we decided to start in salisbury and continue out to sea. Enjoy the walk or ride.
FTF – Jamiesta18 STF – Kyliem34 TTF – Seek3rs
Please follow the: 
Local point of interest
interest – Water Rat
Animal Species:Water-rat
The Water-rat is one of Australia's largest rodents and is usually found near permanent bodies of water.
Identification
Well adapted to aquatic life with its webbed hind feet and waterproof coat, the Water-rat can be identified by its large size and long tail with a white tip. The main characteristics that help distinguish the Water-rat from other rodents include:
- Front teeth: One pair of distinctive chisel shaped incisors with hard yellow enamel on front surfaces.
- Head: Flattened head, long blunt nose, with abundant whiskers, small eyes.
- Ears: Notably small ears.
- Colouring: Variable. Near-black, grey to brown, with white to orange belly. Thick soft waterproof fur.
- Main feature: webbed hind-feet.
- Tail: Thick, white-tipped.
Size range
Body 231 mm - 370 mm, tail 242 mm - 345 mm, weight 340 g - 1275 g.
Distribution
The Water-rat is found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia (south-west and north), Northern Territory.
Habitat
The Water-rat is one of Australia's largest rodents and is usually found near permanent bodies of fresh or brackish water.The Water-rat is one of Australia's only two amphibious mammals (the platypus is the other). They live in burrows alongside river and lake banks.
Feeding and Diet
The Water-rat feeds on a wide range of prey including large insects, crustaceans, mussels and fishes, and even frogs, lizards, small mammals and water birds. It forages by swimming underwater. Once it catches its prey, it usually carries it back to a regular feeding site.
Other behaviours and adaptations
Although native rodents are usually nocturnal, the Water-rat is most active around sunset and may even forage during the day.
The burrow is usually hidden among vegetation and built along the banks of rivers and lakes. The round entrance has a diameter of about 15 cm. In dense populations, males are territorial and defend their areas aggressively. In these circumstances, it is common to see Water-rats with damaged tails as a result of these fights.
Conservation Status
During the depression in the 1930s, a ban was placed on the import of furred skins (mostly American Muskrat). The Water-rat was seen as a perfect substitute and the price of a Water-rat pelt increased from four shillings in 1931 to 10 shillings in 1941. The species was heavily hunted during this time until protective legislation was introduced. Populations seem to have made a recovery.
The main threats to the Water-rat today are habitat alteration as a result of flood mitigation and swamp drainage, and predation by introduced animals such as cats and foxes.
Classification
Species: chrysogaster
Genus: Hydromys
Family: Muridae
Order: Rodentia
Subclass: Eutheria
Class: Mammalia
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Phylum: Chordata
Kingdom: Animalia
Little Para Trail
The Little Para Trails follow the Little Para River, which has many attractions for all to enjoy. Flowing from the City of Salisbury's hilly escarpments to the plains, it meanders through many significant sites that played an important role in the early development of the City. Of great importance are the remnants of natural landscapes present along the river's edge. Varieties of eucalyptus woodland and native golden wattle still exist and some of the earliest almond trees and orange groves are still blossoming.
Points of interest along the trails include Deal Court, Paralowie House, Pitman Park, the Old Water Wheel, Harry Bowey Reserve, and Carisbrooke House.
Little Para River
Origin – near Lower Hermitage
Mouth – Globe Derby Park
Avg Discharge – 3590 m6/year
The Little Para River is a seasonal creek running across the Adelaide plains of South Australia, whose catchment fills reservoirs that supply some of the water needs of Adelaide’s northern suburbs. It runs from its source near Lower Hermitage in the Mount Lofty Ranges, flows north westerly to the Little Para Reservoir and then westerly to the Barker Inlet of the Gulf St Vincent at Globe Derby Park. The lower portion of the river is badly affected by human activity and storm water runoff but the upper reaches have a good range of biodiversity.
The river attracted John Harvey to form his settlement at Salisbury in 1847 and was crucial to the development of the citrus industry from 1852. In the 1960s the City of Salisbury began acquiring land for public space, and a belt of parklands with biking and walking trails now borders the river. The river’s name derives from the Kaurna word Pari which roughly translates as a stream of flowing water.
As the river flows down from the Adelaide Hills over the Para fault escarpment, it has formed a large alluvial fan on which Salisbury is built. The river is narrow and winding, formerly flooded in heavy rain and rarely reaches its sea outlet. Over time the river has been widened and levees added to reduce this flooding. In the 1800s lack of consistent flow in the river and the absence of an organised water supply system led to the digging of wells. The Little Para refreshes the well's water, mostly held in clay, sand and gravel layers up to 200 feet (61 m) deep. The Little Para Reservoir is built in the path of the river for water storage and flood mitigation. As the river's catchment is insufficient to fill the reservoir, it is mainly used to store water pumped from the River Murray. Periodically water is released from the reservoir into the river, enabling refreshing of ground water.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the First to find there is a certificate and a unique FTF path tag. They are not swapped or given out so the first to find pathtag will be a unique item that no one else will have.