#bettong

 Lesueur's rat-kangaroo or Burrowing Bettong or Boodie (Bettongia lesueur), family Potoroidae, order Diprotodontia

Once common throughout Australia, it is now restricted to a few coastal islands.

This species has been reintroduced to a few small areas on the mainland.

The cutest little bettong you ever did see 💜

I did some illustrations recently for a Japanese company. They are for sale now, as well as a few other bits and bobs.

I am selling them on my Pozible campaign to raise a few dollars for my artist residency in St Petersburg.

If you love Tasmanian animals, take a look,

hMm can’t tell if this is asking me to tell you some more random shit or if it’s someone annoyed at me posting random shitI’ll go with the first one:I saw a possum last night!! (Australian possum) He let me get super close and take pictures and then I watched him for like 15 minutes as he climbed from tree to tree.Typical me, honestly. Nobody should be surprised.Bonus: guy in the great court showed us animals and look at the adorable bettong!!! related to kangaroos (it also hops!)

Here’s the bettong!

This curious little bettong was spotted in northern South Australia.

You hear a lot about Kangaroos and Koalas and such, so I thought I’d post some animals that are unknown to lots of people, even some Aussies don’t realise we have them. Sadly most of these are on the endagered species list.

Also some fun facts added so you can have an idea of how awesome they are.

Quolls

Considered Australia’s ‘native cat’ these guys are carnivorous marsupials and have the ability to bite through bone. ‘Quoll’ is an Aboriginal term meaning tiger cat (although they have spots not stripes so I think we translated wrong) If you find an animal that has been killed an turning inside out, it’s probably been eaten by a Quoll. These guys use their nimble hands to get to the yummy meat and bones and avoid all the fur, very clever! 4 species; Eastern Quoll, Spotted-Tailed Quoll (or Tiger Quoll), Western Quoll (or chuditch) and Northern Quoll. ranging in size from 25cm to 75 cm long.

Kultarr

Cute little insect eaters, again a marsupial. Can move at speeds of around 13km/hr. Only about 10cm long. So damn cute, look at that tail!

Bettongs

Marsupial. Of which there are 5 species (and at least another 2 extinct); Eastern Bettong, Boodie, Woylie, Northern Bettong and Rufous Rat-Kangaroo (or Rufous Bettong). They seem to get along well with wombats, where I work they enter the wombat exhibits of a night to share their food.

Bilby

Marsupial. There was once 2 species of Bilby, sadly the Lesser Bilby became extinct in the 1950s and the Greater Bilby is greatly endangered. In the same family as Bandicoots. Omnivores with backwards facing pouches (as they dig a lot this stops dirt getting in their pouch). Australian’s know these guys through the story of the Easter Bilby. Rabbits are considered a major reason for their decrease in numbers as they eat all the food and out-breed the Bilbies.

Numbat

Marsupial. Aka the banded anteater or Walpurti. Mainly eats termites. Emblem of Western Australia. Up to 45cm long. One of the few marsupials that are diurnal (active of a day). Eats up to 20,000 termites each day. Estimated population of less than 1000.

Grey-Headed Flying Fox

Aka Fruit Bat. Placental mammal. Called a flying fox because they have a fox-like face and can fly. Babies are called pups. Megabat. Wingspan of about 1m. May travel 50kms in one night for food. Eats pollen, nectar, sap and fruit. Long distance seed distributors and plant pollenators. Each colony plants around 30,000 trees a night. Without these guys we don’t have any of our lovely bush and ecosystem that we all rely on. Have very good eyesight and no echolocation.

Greater Stick-Nest Rat

Placental mammal. Up to 26cm long. Don’t have a ratty face. Were extinct on the mainland but through breeding programs have been re-introduced. Herbivores. Chew branches to length and weave them together to make a nest which can be up to 1m high and 1.5m wide.

Other unknown Australian Mammals you can look up:

Antechinus Pygmy Possum Feathertail Glider (smallest glider in the world) Southern Ningaui Greater Glider Potoroos Pademelons Eastern False Pipistrelle

Northern Bettong (Bettongia tropica) An adorable nocturnal little bettong .Weighing up to 1400 g , this little cutey feasts upon fungi,roots,tubers,seeds and insects and is currently Endangered due to changed fungi caused by fire.