Marsupials
This section covers marsupials that are know to be susceptible to parasitic diseases, spread by humans and domestic animals. This includes brushtail possums, quendas and kangaroos.
Quenda
Local native diggers
If you see an unusual small dome-shaped mound of dead leaves and twigs in your garden, or have small cone shaped holes in the lawn, you may be lucky to have a local native digger in your backyard. This unique marsupial is known as a Quenda (the local Noongar word).
Quenda (Isoodon obesulus fusciventer) is a sub-species of the Southern Brown Bandicoot. Quenda are classified as ‘Near Threatened.’1 They normally live in dense understorey around swamps and banksia and jarrah woodlands. 2 Quenda are common in the Perth Hills as there is still a lot of dense vegetation to provide habitat. They can also adapt to backyard vegetation. The home territory can be up to 6 hectares. Where there is abundant food the home territory may be a lot smaller and overlap with other quenda.2
Quenda are medium size, weigh up to 1.5kg and grow to 35cm in length. They are about the same size as a rabbit! Their fur is grey-brown with short spiny blackish hairs and softer paler fur underneath.1 They have a long pointed nose, black eyes and small round ears. Quenda have long front claws which they used to dig for food such as bugs, tubers, and fungi. Their tail is short and can be fully or partially lost during fights with other quenda. Quenda are usually solitary animals and the males are territorial, which is why they fight each other!
Photos: Pam Cherriman
Sometimes quenda are confused with rats, particularly when they are young and smaller. Unlike rats, they are unable to climb, have a hopping bounding gait and live in the garden and bush.
While quenda (mainly females) care for their young for some weeks after weaning, they have to find their own territory eventually.3 They are particularly vulnerable to predation by foxes, cats and dogs when they are on the move looking for a new place to live.
They normally go looking for food at night. During the day, quenda cosy up in nests that look like a small dome-shaped pile of leaves and twigs, about the size of a basketball.3 The chamber of the nest is dug below the surface and has an emergency exit at the back to escape from predators. 3 The nest isn’t permanent and each quenda can have more than one.
According to the Community Quenda Survey,4 quendas are great ecosystem engineers who are looking after the long-term health of remnant patches of suburban bushland. By digging for food they love, quenda are helping the environment. They breakdown soil organic matter, help water infiltrate into the soil, facilitate nutrient cycling, aerate the soil and assist seed germination. It has been estimated that an individual quenda can turn over around 3.9 tonnes of soil each year.5 All good reasons for helping to keep quendas healthy!
Distribution map of quenda.
Map: Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Quendas digging and foraging for food. Photos: Miroslav Vujaklija.
Quenda nest. Photo: Simon Cherriman.
Source:
2 Living with Quendas, July 20115, Department of Conservation and Land Management
3 INSIGHT News – Simon Cherriman
Download the ‘Is feeding backyard quenda (bandicoots) making them fat?‘, ‘Quendas are not Rats‘ and ‘Quenda Feeding’ information sheets.
Brushtail Possum
Nectar loving natives
If you hear stems and leaves dropping onto your roof at night, you may be lucky to have a nectar loving native living in your backyard. This unique nocturnal marsupial is known as a Brushtail Possum.
Brushtail Possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) normally live in open eucalyptus forest. They are common in the Perth Hills due to the number of trees left to provide habitat. Brushtail Possums have also adapted well to the urban environment. They love backyards with trees that have connected tree canopies so they don’t have to venture down to the ground.1 These possums are agile climbers and you may see them hanging from trees by their prehensile tails, which wrap around branches.
Photo: Houndstooth Studio.
Brushtail possums mainly eat leaves, flowers, fruits and insects. In the backyard, they have been known to eat fruits like apricots, apples and nectarines, and will also eat roses! 1
They have silver-grey fur, sometimes darker, with pale-grey fur underneath, black markings around the eyes and a thick black tail.2,3 Brushtail possums grow to 35-55cm long with a tail about 25-40cm long and 5-6cm long oval ears.4
Photo: Kimberley Page.
Brushtail possums can be very noisy, particularly during the breeding season. They communicate with clicks, grunts, hisses, alarm chatters, guttural coughs, and screeching.2 They are mainly solitary and use their vocalisations, as well as scent-marking, to maintain space between each other. 3
Brushtail possums spend a lot of time sleeping, usually making their dens in tree hollows or nesting boxes, although they are fond of living in people’s roofs. Studies of their behaviour have shown that about 16% of their time is spent feeding, 30% travelling, 44% sleeping or sheltering and 10% grooming.4
Distribution of the common Brushtail Possum.
Map: Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Download the ‘Feeding possums’ information sheet.
Sources:
1INSIGHT News – Simon Cherriman
2http://www.possumcentre.com.au/Pages/brushtail.html
4Fauna Profile – Brushtail Possum, Department of Environment and Conservation
Kangaroo
Powerful native grazers
If you see a kangaroo that has a finely haired muzzle, this is a Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus ocydromus), known as Yongka in the Noongar language. Western Grey Kangaroos are found across the southern part of Australia and are common in remnant bush in Perth. They are one of the largest and most abundant of all kangaroos, growing 1.2m tall, with a 1m long tail that is used for balance and to steer.1
The males are much bigger than the females and can weigh up to 70 kilograms (females weigh up to 34 kilograms).1 Males also have a very strong odour, which is why they are known as ‘stinkers.’ 2
Western Grey Kangaroos are not all grey. They have light grey-brown to chocolate coloured fur, with pale grey white underneath and a dark face, sometimes with white markings on their forehead. 3
Photos: Naomi Rakela.
They graze on grasses, herbs and native shrubs. Western Grey Kangaroos are often seen in ‘mobs’ of three and have overlapping home ranges of 30-200 hectares. They rest in the shade during the day and are on the move from dusk to dawn.1
They breed from late November to early February. Joeys leave the pouch when they are around 10 months old, but keep suckling outside the pouch for up to another 6 months. Unlike other kangaroos, they know when there is a drought and stop breeding when conditions are dry.1
The Western Grey Kangaroo is the most vocal of all the large kangaroo species. Mothers communicate to the joeys through a series of soft clicks, and when defensive, they growl in a manner similar to a dog.4
Distribution map of the Western Grey Kangaroo.
Map: Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Photos: Naomi Rakela
Download the information sheets Kangaroos in Your Garden and What to Grow in a Garden Visited by Kangaroos for more information.
Source:
1Fauna Profile – Western Grey Kangaroo, Department of Parks and Wildlife
2Macropus fuliginosus, Atlas of Living Australia
3Western Grey Kangaroo, Perth Zoo
4Western Grey Kangaroo, Fostercare of Australia’s Unique Native Animals Association Inc.