Krefft’s Glider, formerly Sugar Glider at Mongarlowe, NSW
Identification history
| Petaurus notatus | 23 May 2025 | MartinPredavec | ||
| Petaurus norfolcensis | 21 May 2025 | CarbonAI | ||
| Unverified | 21 May 2025 | Dron |
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User's notes
It was only in the rat trap for a few minutes and safely released. It must have liked the smell of the salmon cakes I used as bait.
8 comments
DonFletcher
wrote:
22 May 2025
Hi @MartinPredavec, There is a small but growing collection of norfolcensis records in the region and this is one of the first with a photo backing it. There are no reliable specimen backed records as far as I can tell and none for which the critical measurements have been taken. (Two old specimens at the Australian Museum from 'Queanbeyan' turn out to have been posted there from an unknown source location. People are very motivated to find them (rather than notatus/breviceps). There have been quite a few proposed that I said were 'only' notatus. This one looks a bit more likely, but its posture in the trap does not help. Anyway the key question is how confident are you that this is norfolcensis?
MartinPredavec
wrote:
22 May 2025
Hi @DonFletcher . Good question. How confident am I? I would say ‘not very’ and less so given your comment about the number in the region. I think sugar(Krefft's)/squirrel gliders are difficult to ID through photographs, particularly casual photographs (i.e. not photographing particular ID features). I agreed with the ID partly through “gestalt” - its size, large ears, bushy tail at the base, colouration. The CarbonAI ID might have pushed me in one direction.
Given this interesting observation, I think a few further questions for @Dron might help.
@Dron can you please provide some further details.
1. Can you give some dimensions for the trap. Length, width, height.
2. Did you notice anything about the tail. Length relative to body, colouration (particulalry at the tip), width at the body.
3. Colour of the underside of the animal.
Best wishes,
Martin
Given this interesting observation, I think a few further questions for @Dron might help.
@Dron can you please provide some further details.
1. Can you give some dimensions for the trap. Length, width, height.
2. Did you notice anything about the tail. Length relative to body, colouration (particulalry at the tip), width at the body.
3. Colour of the underside of the animal.
Best wishes,
Martin
Dron
wrote:
22 May 2025
I have some shonky video I can send you.
Rat trap dimensions : 132x160x340
The tip of the tail was a dark colour, like the colour of a brush tail.
This glider seemed to have less stripes, only a small black mark on it's head, than other gliders I've seen. And cuter with bigger eyes. The underside of the belly was a cream/ white colour.
The glider seems to have taken up residence in the roof of the shed so I may be able to set up a camera and get better footage once I resolve my solar power issues...
Glider video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D9qkuMxuBvMgMmFB9IB1T2Y-k5eG-oTP/view?usp=drivesdk
Rat trap dimensions : 132x160x340
The tip of the tail was a dark colour, like the colour of a brush tail.
This glider seemed to have less stripes, only a small black mark on it's head, than other gliders I've seen. And cuter with bigger eyes. The underside of the belly was a cream/ white colour.
The glider seems to have taken up residence in the roof of the shed so I may be able to set up a camera and get better footage once I resolve my solar power issues...
Glider video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D9qkuMxuBvMgMmFB9IB1T2Y-k5eG-oTP/view?usp=drivesdk
Dron
wrote:
22 May 2025
Also the location data in the image was incorrect, sometimes my phone does that when I'm on wifi ... I have updated the location manually to Mongarlowe.
You can see the tip of the tail better in this photo:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DAXU7i1u-AwTMueDow6_p9KUOFS7lkcO/view?usp=drivesdk
You can see the tip of the tail better in this photo:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DAXU7i1u-AwTMueDow6_p9KUOFS7lkcO/view?usp=drivesdk
MartinPredavec
wrote:
23 May 2025
Thank you @Dron for the measurements and the additional picture and video. That gives a lot more information.
Based on the additional information my ID now leans more towards Petaurus notatus (Krefft's Glider). Based on the wire spacing and your second picture it looks like the head/body length is approximately 17cm, which makes it smaller than I originally thought. Also in the additional picture you sent it looks like quite a short tail (approximately equal to the head/body). Both these fit more with Petaurus notatus.
@DonFletcher what do you think?
Based on the additional information my ID now leans more towards Petaurus notatus (Krefft's Glider). Based on the wire spacing and your second picture it looks like the head/body length is approximately 17cm, which makes it smaller than I originally thought. Also in the additional picture you sent it looks like quite a short tail (approximately equal to the head/body). Both these fit more with Petaurus notatus.
@DonFletcher what do you think?
Location information
- Maps Mongarlowe River
- Places Mongarlowe, NSW
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- Dron Recorded by
-
Collections
Dron NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Petaurus notatus Gliders Possums & Gliders Mammals
Species information
- Petaurus notatus Scientific name
- Krefft’s Glider, formerly Sugar Glider Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 953m Recorded at altitude
-
Synonyms
Petaurus breviceps
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