Not roo-ing the day

I went out with a head torch and the spotlight last night, determined to track down the source of a loud and relentless scratching noise in the forest. The scratching sounded too fast for scrubfowl, which are frantic in every aspect of their behaviour except scratching. Determined: yes. Frantic: anything but. It also sounded too persistent for bandicoots. They're certainly big diggers but they stop when they hit paydirt. This scratcher seemed to be mining its way to the centre of the earth.

The head torch picked up several pairs of glowing red eyes peering back at me from the trees. The spotlight identified the owners as brushtail possums. I was hoping for a green ringtail, which occur in the area and which I'd spotted briefly not long after I moved in and never again.

In the meantime, the scratcher had withdrawn further into the forest. Given the prevalence of stinging trees along the edge, I thought I'd better not follow it. I've got plenty of time to work out what it is.

On the way back to the house, I switched off the spotlight and relied on the head torch. Another set of red eyes watched me from a tree next to the car port.

The Tree-Kangaroo and Mammal Group have an excellent page about Lumholtz's tree roos.

Lumholtz's tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzii)