Hydromys chrysogaster

6 Rakali or Water Rat at Belconnen, ACT

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Identification history

	Hydromys chrysogaster	8 Jun 2019	DonFletcher
	Hydromys chrysogaster	7 Jun 2019	AlisonMilton

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User's notes

Watched these rats for 30 minutes. First spotted one going into rushes at the edge of the lake, then it spent some time 'hunting' before venturing out into deeper water and returned with what looked like a yabby (photo 4). A while later he emerged and made his way across this section of the lake, till he reached a wall on the other side. Following the wall to a patch of grasses he 'startled' a second rat that jumped into the lake on his approach. The two rats then engaged in what I initially thought a mating ritual but on reviewing my photos it seems one had caught a large yabby and the second rat was attempting to sneak up to steal the prey (photo 2). This ensured for about 5 minutes. There was then some further interaction out in the water (photo 5). Both rats then retreated back to the 'female' territory where one kept dipping its face into the water and perhaps preening (photo 1).

1 comment

Waterwatch wrote:

11 Jun 2019

Thanks for the detailed notes Alison. Some really useful observations there.

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Location information

Coordinates 149.069018 -35.222440
Altitude 575.0m
Places Belconnen, ACT

Sighting information

2 Abundance
6 Jun 2019 02:19 PM Recorded on
AlisonMilton Recorded by
Collections
Featured AlisonMilton Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Rats Rodents Mammals

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
343 images trained Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania