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 Hello, I'm the motif of WRIN
Inc.
I may look cute but I'm not a possum, and definitely not a rat.
In fact I'm normally not even very friendly, you're just
lucky
I'm in a good mood and feel like talking.
I'm
a marsupial carnivore, that's right I said carnivore. Not
everyone knows that Australia is home to savage beasts such as myself.
(Although some of us are getting pretty rare.) Naturalists
call
us Dasyurids, and me, I'm known as a Brush Tailed Phascogale.
Bit
of a mouthful isn't it - you can call me by my common name a Tuan.
So
why does WRIN use me as their motif? I think it is because it
says something about the organization's philosophy . Us
Australian native animals aren't all cute and cuddly like the tourist
adds show (I know, I have a TV in my tree hollow). Some of us
are
savage, and bite and scratch when handled. Some of us are ugly, some
dangerous, some smelly and dirty. Despite all this, if we are
in
need, WRIN is there. I know - I had an argument with one of
those
cars things once and WRIN helped me recover (where do you
think I
got the TV from).
If
you
want to find out more about me, just press the button below and one of
my friends will explain how I live and who, (whoops!) I mean
what I eat.
The
Tuan
The
Tuan or Brush-tailed Phascogale [Phascogale tapoatafa] to use its
correct name is a rather pretty, if unusual looking creature with a
pointed face and big prominent eyes. The head, back and flanks are a
deep grey; underneath is a pale cream; the ears are large and free of
hair. The most distinguishing feature of this arboreal marsupial is its
black ‘bottle-brush' tail which may measure up to 230mm and
is more
than half the total length of the animal [something over 400mm].
Males at up to 235gms
[average 231] are
larger than females who usually
weigh a maximum of about 190gms [average 156] although animals weighing
up to 311gms have been recorded.
The decline of the
Tuan was first noted
around 1965 but not formally
documented. Destruction and/or fragmentation of habitat is the main
cause of the decline of this species - clearing of the preferred forest
habitat for agriculture, grazing and mining activities or changes to
habitat due to timber and firewood production has meant not only a loss
of hollows but of forage areas. Predation by the fox and cat has also
reduced the numbers of this unique animal.
The Tuan is found in
small areas in all
States of Australia. In
Victoria its status is recorded as rare, consequently it has been given
protection under Victoria's Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.
Preferred habitat is open dry forest with ground cover on ridges to an
altitude of about 600metres, however a variety of habitats are utilized
with a reliable rainfall in the range of 500-2000mm.
Tuans are nocturnal
spending the day in
a nest they build using leaves
and/or shredded bark in a hollow in either dead or live trees They may
use up to 30 different sites each year. They will also use tree stumps
or construct their nest under flaking bark. Tuans are quite comfortable
using artificial hollows that are suitable, that is, a large hollow
with a small opening to prevent larger species entering.
Food consists mainly
of spiders and
centipedes, species of small
vertebrates are also eaten. They are also known to take domestic
poultry, this bad habit was responsible for the demise of the Tuan in
the early days of settlement. Eucalypt nectar may be taken when
ironbark or boxes are flowering [Soderquist pers. comm.].
For such a small
animal home ranges are
quite large being 30-60hectares
for females and more than 100hectares for males. The home range for the
males will overlap with other males and females but the home range of
females does not overlap. [Soderquist 1995].
Mating takes place in
early winter with
births occurring about 30 days
later. Seven or eight [sometimes more or less] tiny naked, blind young
are born between late June and early August. There are usually 8
nipples so any extra babies will die.
At birth weight is
approximately 27mg
and crown to rump length about
5.5mm. There is no pouch but during the gestation period an area of
soft tissue around the nipples enlarges, this is covered by long sparse
hairs and provides some protection for the young which remain attached
to the mothers nipples for about 6-7 weeks, after this time they are
left in the nest whilst the mother forages at night.
The young begin
emerging from the nest
just before they are weaned
which is around 5 months, however, they will stay in the maternal nest
until the following breeding season when they are sexually mature.
Tuans are only one of several of our marsupial species where there is a
‘male mortality' that is, after mating the male dies
therefore for a
short time after the breeding season there are no adult male Tuans. It
is thought that the competition between males before mating plus the
exertion required during coupling which lasts many hours leaves them
susceptible to stress induced diseases. It isn't often that females
last longer than a second breeding season.
Text
and photographs by Brenda Cheers
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