Monday 28 September 2009

The gambollers

About a week ago, something moved into the space between the eaves and the patio roof. At about 4 pm each day, the something starts scampering up and down in the gap. Then, an hour or so after dusk, it emerges, gambols along the roof, jumps onto an overhanging branch and spends the night in the forest. It returns at 4 am.

It could have been anything. Not an echidna or a pademelon, obviously. And probably not a bandicoot. But apart from those — and brush turkeys — it could have been any of the tree-climbing animals that inhabit the garden. There's a lot to choose from here. I just hoped it wasn't a black rat.

It took a few days but I finally managed to identify the new resident. Well, the two new residents — the female coppery brushtail and her joey, which is now out of the pouch. I imagine the afternoon activity is the young 'un having fun, while mum is trying to catch up on her sleep. At least they are as quiet as possible when they come home in the wee hours. They jump off the tree, run straight across the roof and tuck themselves into the cozy space beneath the eaves. No singing or swearing and, as far as I know, no wearing traffic cones stolen from the road works on the road to Atherton. They're not bad neighbours, really.

A shot in the dark.
Photo taken last night by pointing the camera towards rustling in the trees.

Here are some I prepared earlier ...

It's a tight fit in mum's pouch


But things can go horribly wrong when you've grown just a bit too big

There are other options