Antechinus - Knox City Council

Antechinus
Are you sure that’s a mouse??
There are several species of Antechinus
found in Victoria including the Agile
Antechinus (Antechinus agilis), the Yellow
-footed Antechinus (Antechinus flavipes),
the Swamp Antechinus (Antechinus
minimus) and the Brown Antechinus
(Antechinus stuartii).
Mating occurs for a short period between
July and September, depending on
altitude. Vigorous competition occurs
between the males for females and the
frenzied mating period ends within three
weeks after which most males die.
This is largely due to extreme stress
levels associated with physiological
changes brought on by the breeding
period.
N o . 2 - 2 0 14
Inside…
 Antechinus
 Black Wallaby
 Environmental Weed -
Christmas Holly
Steve Rowlands
Landscape Assessment Officer
Knox City Council
Agile Antechinus (Photo by Gary Lewis)
Antechinus are small, native carnivorous
marsupials, often mistaken for common
field mice. They are mostly nocturnal,
hunting at night for small invertebrates
like centipedes, crickets and larger
animals like birds and reptiles. They
spend their days in large communal nests
in trees or in logs on the ground.
The life span of all males is about 11
months. Individuals are usually solitary
except for the brief mating period and
when the female is raising young. The
breeding cycle of this animal is
remarkable.
 National Tree Day
Brown Antechinus (Photo by Ken Griffiths)
Following a gestation period of about 28
days the young move into the mother's
pouch and become attached to a nipple.
After about 50-60 days in the pouch, they
are left in the nest and the mother
forages. Young may be carried on the
mother's back or left in a den while the
mother hunts, until independent at about
13 weeks.
So next time you see what looks like a
mouse, take a closer look—perhaps it’s
not a mouse afterall!
Yellow-footed Antechinus
(Photo by Peter Robertston)
Swamp Antechinus (Photo by Peter Menkhorst)
Information compiled by Angela Steffensen
Knox City Council
Black Wallaby
(Wallabia)
The Black Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) is
a small macropod marsupial of eastern
Australia. This wallaby is also commonly
know as the Swamp Wallaby, with other
names including Black-tailed Wallaby,
Fern Wallaby and Black Pademelon.
The Black Wallaby is currently classified
as the only living member of the genus
Wallabia.
Habitat and distribution The Black
Wallaby is found from the northernmost
areas of Cape York in Queensland,
down the entire east coast and around to
south-western Victoria. It was formerly
found through to south-eastern South
Australia, but is now rare in that region.
The Black Wallaby inhabits thick undergrowth in forests and woodlands, or
shelter during the day in thick grass or
ferns, emerging at night to feed.
Identification The species name
bicolour comes from the distinct
colouring variation on the Black Wallaby,
with the typical grey coat of the macropods varied with a dark brown to black
region on the back, and light yellow to
rufous orange on the chest. A light
coloured cheek stripe is usually present,
and extremities of the body generally
show a dark colouring, except for the tip
of the tail, which is often white. The
average length of a Black Wallaby is
Body 66-85cm + Tail 64-86cm – with
males being larger than females. The
average weight for males is 17 kg, with
females averaging 13 kg.
EPA Pollution Watch Line
(All Hours)
EPA Victoria—(03) 9695 2777
(Country Callers)
FREECALL—1800 444 004
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/
reporting/
The Peregrine Post is printed
on Recycled Paper
Photo courtesy of Chris Klep, G4W Participant
Reproduction The Black Wallaby
becomes reproductively viable from 1518 months of age and can breed
throughout the year.
Photo courtesy of australianmuseum.net.au
Gestation is from 33-38 days, leading to
a single young and, like many marsupials, females can suckle two joeys of different ages.
The young are carried in the pouch from
8-9 months, but will continue to suckle
until about 15 months. The Black
Wallaby exhibits an unusual form of
embryonic diapause, differing from other
marsupials in having its gestation period
longer than its oestrous cycle.
Nutrition The Black Wallaby is typically
a solitary animal, but often aggregates
into groups when feeding. It will eat a
wide range of food plants, depending on
availability, including shrubs, pasture,
agricultural crops, and native and exotic
vegetation. The Black Wallaby appears
to be able to tolerate a variety of plants
poisonous to many other animals,
including brackens and hemlock.
The preferred diet appears to involve
browsing of shrubs, bushes and ferns,
rather than grazing of grasses. This is
unusual in wallabies and other macropods, as most typically prefer grazing.
Tooth structure reflects this preference
for browsing, with the shape of the
molars differing from that of other
wallabies. The fourth premolar is
retained through life, and is shaped for
cutting through coarse plant material.
Sourced by Ian Roger, www.wikipedia.org
This Season’s Environmental Weed -
‘ Christmas Holly’
Holly (Ilex aquifolium) is an upright evergreen shrub or
small - medium tree growing to 15m tall. Preferring cool,
moist climates and deep fertile soils the species is
reported to invade woodlands, scrubland, damp to wet
sclerophyll forest, riparian vegetation, the edges of cool
temperate rainforest and pasture. In Knox, Holly is
becoming a serious problem in the Basin and Upper
Ferntree Gully and is also found in Boronia and Ferntree
Gully.
Holly is a particularly nasty weed as it can be difficult to
control. It is recorded as an Environmental and Agricultural
Weed that escapes from cultivation (i.e. home gardens). It
is declared a noxious weed in some parts and has been
recorded as an invasive species in Australia. This is the
most serious criterion that can be applied to a plant and is
generally used for serious high impact environmental and /
or agricultural weeds that spread rapidly and often create
monocultures.
Identification
Holly has glossy dark green leaves with paler, dull undersides. The lower leaves are armed with spine-tipped lobes
but the leaves higher in the canopy are often without
spines. Small off-white flowers are borne in the axils of the
leaves in late spring through summer. In most cases male
and female flowers are borne on different trees. Female
flowers develop into rounded glistening dark red berries
which in the northern hemisphere appear in October/
November and are traditionally associated with Christmas.
In Australia they appear in autumn.
Spread
The main method of dispersal is by birds and animals
eating the berries and passing them often a considerable
distance from the parent plant. Dumped garden waste is
another method of dispersal whilst suckering and side
branches can grow roots when in contact with soil. Seeds
take 3-12 months to germinate and the holly plant grows
slowly, laying down exceptionally hard and heavy wood.
As with many environmental weeds, Holly is widely
available in nurseries, garden centres, markets and florists
as small to large cut branches for ornamental purposes.
Control
The spraying of herbicide on the foliage is not very
effective on Holly due to a thick waxy coating on the
leaves. Young seedlings can be simply pulled out using
gloves for protection against the spines on the leaves.
Larger saplings can be cut off close to ground level with a
pruning saw, immediately painting the fresh wound with
concentrated Glyphosate, i.e. no water added. Larger
trees can be cut down and the stump drilled and filled with
concentrated Glyphosate. It is important that stumps are
treated or else they will resprout.
Replacement Plants
Suitable replacement tree species are indigenous trees
such as: Muttonwood (Rapanea howittiana), Blackwood
(Acacia melanoxylon), Black Sheoak (Allocasuarina
littoralis), Lightwood (Acacia implexa), and local
Eucalyptus species such as Narrow leaf Peppermint,
Mealy Stringybark, Yellow Box, Messmate and Red Box.
Suitable native (non local) replacements include trees
such as: Weeping Lilly Pilly (Waterhousia floribunda),
Water Gum (Tristaniopsis laurina), Brush Box
(Lophostemon confertus), and Callistemon species.
Steve Rowlands
Landscape Assessment Officer
Knox City Council
27 July 2014
10am-2pm, Orville Court, Rowville
Would you like to be involved in one of our biggest National Tree Day
planting events ever? This HUGE site is just waiting to be filled with
plants this National Tree Day! Together with tree planting there will be
face-painting, a sausage sizzle, indigenous cultural activities, a nature
walk & talk, school performances and more!
If you’d like to get involved or want more information, visit
www.knox.vic.gov.au/treeday.
Do you have a story,
experience or photo you
would like to share?
If so, contact us at
[email protected]
or phone Angela on
9298 8572.
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