Agile Antechinus at Brogo, NSW
Identification history
| Unidentified | 31 May 2018 | CCPK |
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User's notes
Smoky mouse? Dusky Antechinus? Native Mouse? Found dead (not long I think) on our top track (about 250m above sea level) at our wilderness property at Brogo. Tail about 80-90mm, head and body about 90mm. Mostly grey fur all over with lighter underbody and around nose/chin.
3 comments
JackieMiles
wrote:
31 May 2018
Hi guys, I've gone with Agile Antechinus because of the small size and grey colour. It was split off from Brown Antechinus a few years ago, and according to our field guide browns don't make it this far south (around Batemans Bay is their limit, allegedly, though with a cryptic species like this, who would know?). Also the field guide says browns have a light chocolate brown coat, not so grey. Dusky antechinus are bigger and darker and usually in wetter forest environments. It's not unusual to find the odd dead animal lying around, as in the breeding season the males fight and shag themselves to death. They are good climbers, running up vertical walls with ease. We used to get them in our roof space until we figured out how to block off their access. Their flat skulls enable them to squeeze through tiny gaps. They are noisy neighbours, but not as messy/smelly as rats and mice.
CCPK
wrote:
31 May 2018
Hi Jackie - you are a wealth of knowledge as usual. Blimey! What a way to go! Poor things! Now theres a warning to all those males out there! We had a fatter/broader, slightly larger and brownish similar looking one unceremoniously digging/nesting in our pit toilet a couple of years ago (uugghhh!) - but in a different area of the block. Perhaps that was a brown or dusky antechinus? And we've seen similar ones zipping round allocasuarina tree trunks on the edge of the Brogo River before. We're going to get some trail cameras up to try capture more of the wildlife down there.
JackieMiles
wrote:
1 Jun 2018
Yep, cameras can be interesting, although not all that helpful for identifying small animals unless you have a serious expert on tap. I heard something on the radio about a woman studying native mice using cameras - she put bait at the top of a wire netting tower, inducing the animal to climb the tower and hopefully present all parts of its body to the camera on the way up. The cameras are motion sensitive, so as long as the animal keeps moving they keep taking shots.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.767349-36.482202
- Places Brogo, NSW
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 25 May 2018 07:00 AM Recorded on
- CCPK Recorded by
Species information
- Antechinus agilis Scientific name
- Agile Antechinus Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-Invasive
- Up to 1569.08m Recorded at altitude
- 77 images trained Machine learning
