Thirst quenching

Upper Goulburn Landcare Network coordinator Chris Cobern is in the enviable position of having Long-nosed Bandicoots (Perameles nasuta) visiting his Kinglake West property. The one pictured at left was captured on remote camera coming out from under Chris’s decking, possibly from a nest, a few weeks ago. Last week the same bandicoot, identified by a notch in its left ear, was recorded on video. Another bandicoot without ear damage visited Chris’s garden the same night and is shown drinking from a pond in a delightful short video clip on YouTube – click HERE to view.

There have been a number of sightings of Long-nosed Bandicoots in the Flowerdale, Kinglake, Glenburn region in recent years, following an unfortunate spate of road-kill bandicoots on the Whittlesea-Yea Road, mostly in 2012. Apart from being recorded on remote cameras, the presence of these endearing little creatures can be identified by the conical holes that they dig in search of invertebrates, fungi and tubers.

Chris will be kept busy topping up his pond in this hot weather, considering all the wildlife – echidnas, wombats, snakes and birds as well as the bandicoots – that he has had using the pond.