A mystery solved

A couple of weeks ago I headed up to Euroa with Scott and left with a bit of a mystery. I had seen small, agile and very fast mammals running round in the top of a eucalypt without getting good looks. By process of elimination on range and behaviour I thought they must be Feathertail Gliders but something in the back of my mind did not sit right. So I hit up Rohan Clarke for a bit of a jaunt up the Hume. We got out of Melbourne a bit later than expected getting onsite after 7pm. A scan of the relevant tree from last time with the thermal camera revealed nothing. We decided to walk the roadside reserve and quickly Rohan spotted some hot spots in the thermal camera. Flicking on the red light we observed an Antechinus type which on ranged is probably Yellow-footed. Further on he started to pick up many house mice including a number quite high in vegetation.

Squirrel Glider

Squirrel Glider

We meandered along for several hours and found three different Squirrel Gliders as well as more common things. The Squirrel Gliders were high in eucalypts feeding on sap and gave great views if a little high for good photos. I believe these three to be different individuals to the last visit so confirms a good population in this area and shows the value of these remnant roadside vegetation. Somewhat surprisingly there was very little bat activity compared to two week previously despite conditions being very similar.

Eventually I spotlit a small mammal high in a eucalypt and got a little excited. Some more observation showed further small, fast mammals in the tree. Unfortunately when we finally got a light on them they turned out to be house mice! They are not normally known to inhabit the high branches of a mature tree but here they were. After some double (and triple) checking we realised the mystery from last time was solved and headed for home. Not quite the result we were after but any night you see three endangered Victorian Squirrel Gliders is a good night!