Welcome to the world of bandicoots

Close up of Eastern Barred Bandicoot

There are less than 200 bandicoots left on mainland Australia and some of them are here. All are in predator-proof fenced areas. My friend Jackie and I went out to Mt Rothwell, south-west of Melbourne to help Amy find some Eastern Barred Bandicoots (EBB), the subject of her research.

Amy is part of the recovery team for the Eastern Barred Bandicoot (EBB), trying to bring it back from the brink of extinction. A tough and ongoing challenge.

How to find a Bandicoot

 Spotlighting at Night

What a place! The Mt Rothwell site is fenced to keep out foxes and feral cats. It’s almost completely rabbit-free too. I reckon we’ve driven past this place with no idea of the population within.

We started with a night of spotlighting. As soon as dark permitted (and animals were awake) Amy drove and I wielded the spotlight, in the search for the elusive EBB.

There was nightlife aplenty. We saw Pademelon, Bettong, Southern Brown Bandicoots, Red-necked Wallabies, Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies, Eastern Grey Kangaroos. We also found ten EBB, the location of which Amy logged with GPS.

In the morning

This morning we were up before dawn ready to check the traps Amy had laid out yesterday. Again our target was EBB, but Bettong (who nest in these so-invisible grassy beds that we were almost on top of them before they shot off) seem to like the sweet and chewy bait, as did Quoll and Southern Brown Bandicoots.

Radio tracking a bandicoot

If a bandicoot has already been ‘radio-tagged’ and is living here at Mt Rothwell, this is how you find them. (These radio tags weigh only a few grams and are attached to the bandicoots tail. Although the tags will transmit for several months, the bandicoots seldom retain them for more than a few weeks.) Walk miles through the bush, waving the antenna above your head. Listen for the beeps and follow them. Easy

Amy was confused (me too) when the antennae led us to this open spot. Bandicoot nests are tricky things to find even with the radio signal, but this made no sense. Until we found the shed radio tag, dust covered and ground coloured. Clever bandicoot.

We continued on …

Can we find a nest?

Can you spot the bandicoot nest?

Can we find the shallow bandicoot nests? Is there….really…. where is Jackie pointing?

Can you see it now? Bandicoots make shallow nests, and pull ground litter over them. Even when you know it’s there, it’s almost impossible to tell. This nest was previously home to one of the tagged bandicoots, but another untagged bandicoot saw the opportunity and made it his own. Bandicoots generally nest only one night in a nest, although they may return sometimes a few days later.

Weigh in and Health Check

Then to weigh him. Then you let him go.

The bandicoots don’t seem to mind being handled, leading to one suggestion that promoting them as pets might be one way to help avoid extinction. Not sure how interactive they’d be as pets…they sleep all day and eat all night…

Release and Mapping

After release, we mapped out the immediate habitat. That included measuring 10 m from the nest north, south east and west,

using a penetrometer to measure ground hardness, looking at how visible the nest is, ground cover and more.

It was an amazing thing to see and even handle these tiny shy creatures, but also an education to see just how a recovery program works.