#cons bio

Last night I went to a marsupial reserve to conduct some trapping and surveying! Unfortunately I am not allowed to photograph animals which are being handled or caught in traps and post these on social media due to welfare reasons, so these are the only photos I have from the night. We caught many quendas (southern brown bandicoots, pictured above) as well as a large possum with a joey on her back. The quendas were measured and tagged before being released and the possum family was simply recorded and released to minimise the stress on the mother and young. We also saw a number of kangaroos, as well as a goanna with its tail and hind limbs poking out from a burrow (also pictured above). I also was fortunate enough to receive a visit from a tiny fat slug! The quenda which I handled was incredibly active and quite aggressive at first, nearly tearing the handling bag off the cage as it tried to escape. It made taking measurements quite difficult, but when it came time to release him, he preferred to snuggle down in my lap and receive some strokes and back scratches. I named him Crash and it took some effort to get him back in the bush after this bandicoot with an attitude decided he liked the warmth of my arms and the darkness of the handling bag!

Today we had a field trip to Lake Monger to count and identify hundreds of birds as part of a Community Structure assignment. Of course, I have a special interest in the dead ones! We saw a total of three today: a freckled duck, a pelican, and a Pacific black duck (pictured in this order above).

Our Uni group made the paper! Here's a short article featuring photos of some of my friends.

I recently had the privilege of meeting the world's rarest marsupial: Gilbert's potoroo. Very few remain in their natural habitat- even fewer due to the recent fire which swept through Two People's Bay and took a great toll on the potoroo's population numbers (burnt vegetation pictured). There's still much to be understood about these critters, and it was a fantastic experience to be able to see one alive in-person. To top it off, we were guided by a man who I have referenced many times in past university assignments of mine. It was like meeting a celebrity! And after learning the details of potoroo care, our group helped fix the fence surrounding one of their enclosures. Gilbert's potoroo is an incredibly interesting creature. These animals rely heavily on fungal food sources, and are highly sensitive to any sort of stress, making them difficult to conserve. If you have the time, it's well worth reading up about the biology of these animals as well as the efforts put in place to help save this species.