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Living
a nocturnal life high up in the canopy of our forests, the Brushtailed
Phascogales are rarely seen.
Photo: Max Herford |
The Brush-tailed
Phascogale is a creature of the night and evades the spotlight of even
the most patient nocturnal wildlife observer. To track the habits of their
elusive little targets, scientists resort to the tricks of the forensic
trade using biometric identification techniques to narrow down suitable
habitat and investigate any potential roost sites.
The Foundation recently funded a study conducted by the Department of
Environment and Conservation (DEC) to discover more about the whereabouts
of the species west of the Great Dividing Range. It targeted areas known
to have only small numbers of Phascogales, if any at all. Unfortunately,
despite some anecdotal evidence, the study did not reveal any sightings.
Not convinced that this automatically meant there were no Phascogales
about, the scientists decided to persist with the study. They realised
the task at hand was a tough one that required a degree of detective work
to outsmart the cryptic little creatures.
Detective methods employed to prove Phascogales
exist
One
of the ‘detective’ methods employed by the scientist to prove
the Phascogales existed involved setting up strategically placed ink pads
to capture foot prints. Funding for this came again from the Foundation
to help scientists clearly identify what kind of animal they were dealing
with.
“Phascogales are difficult little creatures to catch. They use tree
hollows as dens, so we made artificial ones out of PVC piping up in the
trees and lined them with paper. We placed ink pads at the entrance of
our hollows and saturated them with blue food dye. When animals wandered
in, they left blue paw marks, just like fingerprints. From these, we were
able to identify if they were Phascogales,” said Ron Haering, Biodiversity
Conservation Unit, Reform and Compliance Branch, DEC.
Another method was to line the PVC piping with double-sided sticky tape.
Food was placed at the end of the pipe, which had a diameter just wide
enough to allow a Phascogale to squeeze through.
“When the animal brushed against the tape, a few hairs were left
behind and we had our sample, which is just like a fingerprint,”
he said.
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A
Brushtailed-Phascogale displaying the impressive bottlebrush tail
with hair up to 4 cm long.
Photo Ken Stepnell DEC |
Hair
Identification Key Unlocks Mysteries
With
further Foundation funds DEC purchased a Hair Identification CD from the
CSIRO, which will aid the analysis and identification of hair should surveys
be needed.
“We use the
CDs to help identify our hair samples, just like a detective would use
a database of fingerprints to identify a person. The hair identification
procedure has helped us to collect the tiniest pieces of evidence of Phascogale
occupation,” said Ron.
To date no additional evidence of Phascogales has been recorded west of
the Divide. However, should there be any further reports of Phascogales
in the area, the scientists now have the survey equipment they need to
find them.
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