Western Pygmy Possum - Cercartetus concinnus

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Western Pygmy Possum - Cercartetus concinnus

In the Esperance region I have only seen two of these delightful little marsupials; one was near some exposed limestone in the coastal alkaline sand area 20 km east of Esperance. And the other was way past Israelite Bay where the Nullarbor Plain's limestone cliffs come down to the beach, it had been caught and killed by a feral cat. I have not seen them in the honey possum heathland habitat where I do most of my night-time investigations, although there is considerable evidence that the mallee region could be good habitat for them.

Although called the Western Pygmy Possum, it is found across a number of southern regions in South Australia and into the far western portions of NSW and Victoria. It is a beautiful little animal about the size of an introduced mouse, but with big eyes, forward pointing ears and a long prehensile tail. It feeds on nectar, pollen, grubs and some insects and usually makes a gum-leaf nest in hollows. It is larger and its snout is not as long as the Honey Possum, plus it does not have the brown stripes down the back, so should not be confused with that species, although it may be found in a similar Banksia dominated habitat. Further details can be found here:

http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10154

Update 27/11/2009 (Photos added)
I had virtually given up hope of seeing another of these delightful possums, but completely out of the blue I received an email from Anne and Shane O'Neill of Esperance that they had caught a Pygmy-possum and would I like to see it. Apparently it had been disturbed when their gas bottles were being changed over, but being a little sleepy during the day, was slow and so easily picked up and placed in a shoe box for safe care, as its nest could not be located.

When I arrived later in the day, the lid was slowly removed to reveal a very sleepy juvenile Western Pygmy-possum. As it was not active I helped it onto my hand where it remained while we took a few photos (shown above) when it was returned to the box. Later at dusk it was released on the trunk of a large Red-flowering Gum near to where it was found and true to form, promptly disappeared.

My thanks to Anne and Shane for permitting me to photograph their cute little possum.

Southern Brown Bandicoot - Isoodon obesulus

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Southern Brown Bandicoot - Isoodon obesulus

A very cute rabbit sized marsupial with a long nose and a short tail that was once common across most of southern Australia, but now only common in areas protected from cats and foxes. Surprisingly even weeds like blackberry thickets offer these animals protection from predators and provide a place for them to escape. I allow pockets of bush to grow very thick and tangled, but there is a problem with this solution, that being the bandicoots also require open burnt areas to collect insects that are attracted to vegetation regrowth, they will also eat some fungi that also tend to do better in these conditions. Often the bandicoots digging will alert you to their presence as they are a distinctively neat conical shape.

Black-gloved Wallaby - Macropus irma

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Black-gloved Wallaby footprint

Western Grey Kangaroo footprint

Black-gloved Wallaby - Macropus irma

(also known as the Western Brush Wallaby)

Sorry I have no photos of this animal as it is extremely shy and remains in dense vegetation during the day. When encountered it is usually a loud crash in nearby vegetation and a bluey grey shape sprinting at great speed with head down and tail trailing out behind. So all you see is this low hopping animal whose whole body is parallel to the ground and seldom leaping higher than the vegetation. Its movement is very distinctive as the Grey Kangaroos keep their heads up and hop up and down, rather than the more horizontal motion of this marsupial.

Like their common name suggests, it has black paws and a long black tipped tail. The face of mature animals have a white facial stripe running from the mouth to the ears. It is a little smaller than the female Western Grey Kangaroo and stands over a metre in height. Very difficult to judge their numbers, although much less than the grey kangaroo. It is more likely that you would see their easily recognisable tracks rather than the animal itself. The photos above show my interpretation of the tracks of both macropods travelling in a straight line. To read more about this animal click here: http://www.murray.wa.gov.au/community/dwellingupvisitorcentre/documents/mammals/brushwallaby

Western Grey Kangaroo - Macropus fuliginosus

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Western Grey Kangaroo - Macropus fuliginosus

This is the only kangaroo in this part of WA with males standing close to 2 metres in height, but the female much shorter. They are usually found in family groups, or a few juveniles together. They do not form big mobs like the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Macropus giganteus, which may be the result of food availability. The Eastern Greys feed extensively on grasses, whereas the Western Greys tend to browse a range of fungi and vegetation and require larger areas for their requirements.

The mature males are called stinkers because of the odor they give off and either live by themselves or with a female and her offspring. Although this relationship may not be permanent, some last for several years with the male going off for periods to probably seek other females. The young remain with their mothers for 1-2 years, even when another joey is in the pouch. When they leave, they often team up with a similar aged kangaroo, or if there is a good food supply, with up to a dozen or so. These immature groups are quite fluid with them breaking up and reforming as environmental condition change. For more information about these marsupials see here: http://natureitems.blogspot.com/search/label/33.%20%20Western%20Grey%20Kangaroo

Honey Possum - Tarsipes rostratus

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Honey Possum - Tarsipes rostratus

This tiny marsupial is not really a possum, but occupies a special niche by feeding almost exclusively on nectar from flowering plants. This requirement means it must live where there is a year round supply of flowers and the only place where this is assured is the diverse sandy heathland of the South and SW of Western Australia. Fortunately these sandy soils are not particularly good for farming, so large areas remain reasonably intact, leaving plenty of habitat for this little animal. However there are other threats to it, varying from the dieback fungal disease that kills many plant species and in particular the banksias, which are a major nectar food source; to predation from cats and foxes. The honey possum is very much at risk from these introduced predators as it usually feeds within 2 metres of the ground and often below 1 metre, so is easily in reach of them.

Size-wise the honey possum is considerably smaller than the house mouse, Mus musculus, plus their eyes do not reflect torch light, so they are very difficult to spot in the bush and able to hide behind even little bits of vegetation. So if you see one, count yourself very lucky. For more information about this intriguing little animal see here: 
http://natureitems.blogspot.com.au/2007/04/27-super-cute-honey-possum-tarsipes.html