THE Brush-tailed Phascogale has been selected as the Catchment Critter of the Month, as a part of the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority’s project called ‘Our Catchments Our Communities: Taking Care of Country.’ This initiative is funded by the Victorian Government.
The Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) shares its family tree with other members of the carnivorous marsupial Dasyuridae family such as dunnarts, antechinus and quolls.
According to Janice Mentiplay-Smith, the project officer at Goulburn Broken CMA, the Brush-tailed Phascogale is a nocturnal and mainly arboreal creature. This means that it depends on the existence of thriving and interconnected forests and woodlands, as it needs these environments to move through the treetops while searching for nectar, insects, spiders, centipedes, and bird eggs.
“As a hollow-dependent species, the Brush-tailed Phascogale will use several tree hollows in which to nest and shelter during the day,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“This is possibly a predator evasion tactic but means the demand for nest hollows is further exacerbated. Where natural hollows no longer exist, it readily uses artificial nest boxes.
“It’s easy to determine if a nest box is being used by either a glider or a phascogale: Gliders build their nest out of fresh leaves and keep their nest box clean, whereas a Brush-tailed Phascogale constructs its nest out of a variety of materials – mainly stringybark but also animal hair, feathers, snakeskin, and even the desiccated bodies of dead animals.
“As with its relatives, the antechinus and dunnarts, the Brush-tailed Phascogale leads a short, fast life. After mating in late autumn to early winter, the male perishes. As he is around just one-year-old, this makes the Brush-tailed Phascogale the largest known mammal to die after its first and last breeding season,” she said.
