I had a very unexpected find when I opened the spare parts box that was in our sailing clubs trailer cabinet, a tiny critter with big eyes was staring up at me having been disturbed in its nest.
Not a mouse but the world's smallest glider (marsupial or mammal) a Feathertail Glider Acrobates pygmaeus about 65mm to 80mm in body length, the same in tail length and weighing about 10 to15g.
They are found in Eucalyptus forests down the east coast of Australia where they feed on insects, pollen, seeds and nectar in the tree tops. They are social animals and quite large aggregations of up to 40 individuals have been found feeding in profusely flowering trees.
They nest in tree hollows often with many sharing the same nest, but have also been found nesting on post boxes, plastic bags and as in our case a handy cabinet.
Their tail resembles a feather with stiff hairs horizontally on each side of the tail.
The gliding membrane extends form the elbow to the knee and enables them to glide up to 25m from tree to tree.
,
No comments:
Post a Comment