Hydromys chrysogaster
2 Rakali or Water Rat at Braddon, ACT
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| Hydromys chrysogaster | MichaelBedingfield | 18 Oct 2018 | |
| Hydromys chrysogaster | KMcCue | 17 Oct 2018 |
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Report of a water rat caught in the Telephone Exchange building in Mort St, Braddon in 1960.
12 comments
18 Oct 2018
It was described and identified by a CSIRO scientist who released it into the Murrumbidgee River (according to the same CT article). It was amazingly distant from the Molonglo like another observed in the ANBG.
18 Oct 2018
I thought it interesting and hope it is acceptable as a rare early record of Rakali in the ACT, not my photo of course. That it was released is also interesting.
18 Oct 2018
We've always said that the data is the most important thing (not the actual image). If you have a trusted source, then it's definitely valuable distribution data.
18 Oct 2018
I'm finding data in the database from 1900 and 1905, but then I found this: 
Geranium obtusisepalum on 26 Jan 1788
No evidence though - imported from ALA without any images.
Geranium obtusisepalum on 26 Jan 1788No evidence though - imported from ALA without any images.
18 Oct 2018
Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Wednesday 29 June 1960, page 3
Water Rat
Caught In
Mort Street
Technicians at the Mort Street telephone exchange have solved the mystery of food which has been dis-appearing regularly from the
lunchrooms.
Thinking the culprit was a rat, they set traps and found yesterday that they had caught a live water rat, a protected native animal.
A C.S.I.R.O. spokesman at Gungahlin yesterday could not explain how the animal, which usually lives in water or swamps, strayed into Civic
Centre.
He said the animal was about 15 inches long, with a silky brown, seal-like coat and white-tipped tail.
Yesterday afternoon the water rat was released into the Murrumbidgee River.
Water Rat
Caught In
Mort Street
Technicians at the Mort Street telephone exchange have solved the mystery of food which has been dis-appearing regularly from the
lunchrooms.
Thinking the culprit was a rat, they set traps and found yesterday that they had caught a live water rat, a protected native animal.
A C.S.I.R.O. spokesman at Gungahlin yesterday could not explain how the animal, which usually lives in water or swamps, strayed into Civic
Centre.
He said the animal was about 15 inches long, with a silky brown, seal-like coat and white-tipped tail.
Yesterday afternoon the water rat was released into the Murrumbidgee River.
18 Oct 2018
This find precedes Lake BG, but Mort Street is not too far from Sulivans Creek or the Molonglo River as it was back then.
19 Oct 2018
According to my map, Mort St is about 500m from Sullivans Ck and 1500m from the Molonglo River, not bad for a water-rat.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.131000-35.273000
- Altitude 595.0m
- Maps City Renewal Authority Area
- Places Braddon, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 28 Jun 1960 09:00 AM Recorded on
- KMcCue Recorded by
Collections
Species information
- Hydromys chrysogaster Scientific name
- Rakali or Water Rat Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1940m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
3 / 7
- Images or audio
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Description
- More than one media file
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Additional attributes