Strange critter dead in my yard

[Jayburd]

Love these guys I have a big poster of them on my wall.
Real shame it's dead

[finchbreeder]

Do they eat palm nuts? To encourage them you could put a nest up a palm tree at head height as from the pics they seem to use them.
LML

[Tiaris]

I think they eat insects & nectar. Not sure though.

[wayno.fuller]

Found it early yesterday morning and have set a heap of mouse baits around the house so just thought it was a dead mouse. On the way out so just picked it up in a plastic bag an put it in the bin. Whilst driving i thought hang on that had a bushy tail ????.
Turned around got it out of the bin and put it in the freezer.
When i got back got it out and took the photos thinking i had discovered an endangered/new spieces.
Only time bloody Google has let me down. But you guys nailed it.

When I read they were common back in the bin it went they got picked up this morning so cant be any more stuffed than it already was

[mattymeischke]

I think they eat insects & nectar. Not sure though.

Right you are, Tiaris.

"they feed on nectar, pollen and insects" (Mammals of Australia 3rd Ed., 2008, Van Dyck S and Strahan R (Eds.), pub. Reed New Holland, Sydney). They feed on (and presumably pollinate) the grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea spp.). They are indeed common, but are rarely seen as they spend most of their time high in the canopy (87% at >15m above the ground, 72% at >20m), feeding on flowering eucalypts.

They are poorly studied, so even though the animal is fairly abundant, specimens would be of significant value to science. Their range includes tall forests and woodlands from Cape York down the whole length of the Great Dividing Range, across the high country and just into SA.

Other curious features include:
- a poorly-understood small, bony disc in front of the ear drum. This is thought to lead to selective sensitivity to very high and very low frequency sound, but it is not clear what advantage that may confer.
- molar teeth with cusps typical of an insectivore, combined with a brush-tipped tongue for nectar harvesting.
- the tail can grip twigs and small branches, as well as assisting in steering and braking.
- like kangaroos and wallabies they can put an early embryo on pause while they are feeding juveniles, so they can make more offspring swiftly should favourable environmental conditions arise/persist ("embryonic diapause"). No other animals share this ability.

I had always wondered what ate the grasstree spikes.....

Anyhoo, just thought I'd share
(ps: Deb, I think I left all of the big words out this time...)

[mickw]

Just spotted all this.........Matty and tiaris, you guys nailed it.........want a job with me on the Forestry?

We see them a bit but they are cryptic, arboreal, and very small.....did I also mention nocturnal........which makes them hard to study and missed by the general public......and they're not iconic!.........yes they've been associated with grass trees in the literature, but thats largely an artefact of a few records driving contemporary understanding....Grass trees in flower are a dead easy meal and bring animals down close for us to observe, but they dont flower all year so the beasts are only exploiting them rather than being wholly dependent on them as some simplistic texts and stunning posters would have us believe..............It is quite a poorly studied beast, as is the case for alot of common species.......not too many kids studying science at Uni these days...........bugger-all money in that compared to IT, commerce, law, or marketing........

They are highly insectivorous. I suspect they take a bit of lerp which gives them the combined goodness of insect protein with a sugar hit ....I've seen them glide, hit a tree very hard and dart immediately to grab a moth...............they are very, very quick...........and yes, they are mostly way up in the crowns feeding on Euc flowers.......at night.........One of my bosses hand reared one and kept it for some time as a free range house pet....it ate a nectar mix but also had free access to the garden with a variety of natural nectar and pollen..........reportedly loved sitting in his shirt pocket!

[finchbreeder]

"not too many kids studying science at Uni these days...........bugger-all money in that compared to IT, commerce, law, or marketing........ "
And when they do, getting a job is a problem. Hmm you are 21 with a double Biology major...no we can't hire you cause you will get bored and leave in 6 months. But it is a 6 months contract. Yes but we might want to extend it.
Son is the employed even before he graduated IT geek. Daughter is the above. Know anyone who will let her do Honours project on these little critters? Parents willing to help financially (a little bit)?
LML

[mickw]

She should be able to do her Honours on them if she asks her supervisors at Uni......I'm sure they'll have a list of research topics that they steer their undergrads onto..........In my day we used to joke about how many honours students did theirs on Antechinus........chosen because they were a good study subject for novices.......a bit like Zebra finches for newbies to bird keeping

......these days alot of those students work in regulatory arms of many environment departments all around the country, power dressed, sipping latte`s and keeping a watchful eye on our carbon footprints

[finchbreeder]

Have sent it to her as a suggestion. Unfortunately is seems here in the laid back state, some depts are not too keen on bothering with Honours students. Now if she were doing Physics she could be half way through her honours. Her main strength is in the Statistical and Analicical Maths of population. Which means she could also be half way through Honours if she were in Europe, but the budjet won't stretch that far. So for the time being she is casual tutoring the next lot of maths/biol grads.
LML

[stephstar]

Its so cute how sad...i hope u have more live ones about...