The first sign that something was happening was one of the tradies shrieking, "Is that a rat?!"
We kind of expected something like this, but up until now, there'd been nothing. No snakes, no lizards, no possums. Matt looked down and saw one of the young guys with something small in his hands. I bolted down the stairs, trying to act cool and not at all like I was going to take over even though it was absolutely clear that was what was going to happen. "What did you find?" I puffed.
And trying to wiggle beneath the masses of ferns and bracken that 4 not at all burly guys were pulling out to get to our falling down old wooden fence, now only held together by a tangle of vines, was a small, mousy brown...something.
Sure, it looked rat-like but one glimpse at its little face and I knew what we were dealing with. A young bandicoot. I quickly scooped it up, asked them to please be careful - no chopped up native animals on my watch please and thank you - grabbing some of the ferns and leaf litter ready to pop in a box.
Bandicoots are regulars around here. I love the little sounds they make, snuffling about, digging for worms, and roots and spiders and well, everything and the squeak they make when we flick on a light or open a door and give them a fright.
They spend the day in the undergrowth snoozing away and after I gave this young one the once (or twice) over, I left it alone in the box, only to find it curled up, its chest rising and falling, sound asleep. Guys, my heart! So damn cute.
Bandis are independent from about 60 days and this one was well and truly on its own so I waited until dusk, gently tipped over the box and tried to encourage it into a different spot in the garden, now that its previous shelter had been dug up and moved out.
This is the bit I hate about living with wildlife. The outside windows to my house are strewn with spiderwebs. I don't want to take away the spiders home, because they eat pests and birds and geckos eat them and on and on it goes.
When I cut back shrubs I have to inspect every leaf so I don't throw any unsuspecting critter into the green waste and hence the vine choked fence and the mess that got us in to.
After a bit of sniffing around, a few confused circles, the bandicoot moved further up the yard, which is still wild and overgrown and snuck away into the night.
I did notice this morning, the small conical holes where a hungry bandicoot had stuck its nose and so it looks like all is forgiven and they're coming back home again.
Bandicoot
Northern Illawarra
