Long nosed bandicoot

[Rory]

In the last 6 months I have had a very, very welcomed guest into my backyard: A long nosed bandicoot.

Bandicoot.jpg

You usually will hear him/her rummaging at night and I've occasionally spotted him/her with my torch. With each encounter he/she is getting less apprehensive, but never lets me get within about 1.5 metres of him/her.
I have to admit, this bandicoot spooked the bazonkas out of me the first time I encountered the little thing. It bolted out from under a log and darted into a hole waiting for me to leave. I didn't want to scare it off so I just left and came back the next night watching out for its return. I usually spot it once a week.

The little guy/gal digs holes relentlessly. And I mean, a lot. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. You'll never guess what one of their staple foods is:
The black beetle and beetle larvae (known as curl grubs).
They also eat spiders, grasshoppers etc etc.

This little friend is certainly going no-where and has made my backyard its home. There is a billion little grubs/insects for it to chow down on every night.

These guys are very cute:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=long ... IQ_AUIBigB

Benefits of Bandicoots in the Garden
Bandicoots are known as the gardeners best friend. They eat cockroaches and spiders and relish the black beetle and beetle larvae (known as curl grubs) which cause die-back in suburban lawns. Brown patches in the lawn may indicate an infection of these pests. Bandicoot activity,
indicated by the appearance of small conical holes in the lawn, should be a welcome sign, it means that bandicoots are at work, eating these destructive insects before they ruin your lawn! If you use pesticides, you could also poison bandicoots, as they ingest some soil while they are feeding. By digging, the animals are also aerating your lawn for free, so in the Spring, your lawn will grow
back with renewed vigour. Bandicoots cause no long term damage and are beneficial to lawns and gardens. They are protected and are currently under threat due to both habitat loss and predation.
If you live in a bandicoot territory and you have a suitable food source, you will have bandicoots in your yard. Once the food source has gone, they will move on.

[Firecat]

Thanks Rory.. We have bush rats (native) and I'm sure I have seen some kind of mini hopping rat in the yard too digging under the yard trees at night where the Black birds have tossed the mulch about on 'Day Shift'.
Maybe these are a bandicoot also.. Sure hope so.

Steve.

[Jarad]

I need to get one of these for my apartment balcony