Does anyone know what this little creature is?
I saw it in Gippsland. It is about twice as long as a normal mouse (and 3 times as fat!) It also seems to have frequent domestic spats with its spouse, but loves chewing on grain such as corn, wheat, sunflower seeds and other parrot food.
- soakes
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
Does that make me "a mouse"?, I have spats with my sp(m)ouse, but I don't chew on grain, nor do I run fast.
It looks like a Hamster to me, have you seen the partner? There'll be lots of little Hamsters(?) soon.
M-L
Sorry, it just looks like a fat House Mouse to me... But I'm about as useless as you can get at rodent IDs!
You could look up other native mice, and also antechinuses, and hope it's one of those?!!....
Cheers,
Scott.
Looks like a fat something (rodent) to me too Scott, was just having a bit of fun
M-L
It's not an antechinus - I have them about too (they have more pointed noses).
I think this is some sort of native mouse, but I don't even know where to start looking to identify it!
- soakes
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
I just had a look on the internet, there is a lot of info about native rats and mice. I thought most of them had big ears. have a look at www.csiro.com (native rats and mice), or e-mail a photo to enquiries@csiro.com , or Fred.Ford@csiro.au . He is the mouse expert.
M-L
this one is a little native Swamp Rat. Isn't she sooooo cute?
M-L
Looks like something of the species rattus to me. Antichinus are hunters and carnivors they hunt and eat mice and cockroaches etc, so they are a good thing to have around the house, they do not eat grain so will not get into you'r cerial boxes etc. They also leave their droppings in one place,not scattered all around.
Ray
Very cute, and looks a bit like my mousie!
Yep, there's lots of info out there ... maybe too much :-/
- soakes
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
I now have a similar critter in my place at Olinda. Does anyone know if this is some sort of native rat or a nasty stinky black rat. It seems too cute to be one of those, but that may be just because it's young. :/
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
I use ratsack, very effective when you don't have owls around to get rid of them. Mice and rats destroy birds nests and eat eggs and young birds so please don't hesitate to remove them quickly.
For Australian birds, natives=life, exotics=death, so do them a favour and go plant some natives and save their lives.
Hi Soakes, looks like a small black rat to me, based on the lack of fur/hair on the tail, which although you cannot see its full length, looks quite long. Certainly no expert. I reckon you need a snake to solve your rodent issues.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
I'm not going to use poison. If it actually is a black rat I will find some way to catch it and get rid of it. If not, it can stay. It seems to eat fruit and seeds, mostly.
It is quite confusing actually. Its tail is not as long as some references decribe for a black rat, yet longer than it should be for a bush rat. Also, bush rats seem to have unhairy tails too.
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
Based further on ear size and shape, still leaning towards rattus rattus, aka black rat. Another link for comparison, perhaps you could send them your photo (there is a link to Museum Victoria) to confirm the true identity.
http://8hourday.org.au/discoverycentre/discovery-centre-news/2007-archive/is-this-a-native-or-an-introduced-rat/
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
I would think being near Melbourne it is more likely a black rat, going from the ears. tail length is the most important thing, but since you no longer have the rat available you can't make a positive id. The only common native rodent in southern Australia these days seems to be the water rat, since it isn't a marsupial it probably is a black rat.
I have seen a reported sighting of a tiger quoll on the atlas of living australia near my place (ala.org.au) I think I might have seen some quoll prints recently so I'm hoping they are getting established around here.