Role: Soil
engineer
Known as a soil
engineer, the Brush-tailed Bettong helps spread fungal spores and
seeds, creating a better home and environment for plants and other
wildlife. Their long tails are prehensile, meaning they can use it
like an extra limb to pick up and carry objects like grass and
branches.
DESCRIPTION
Small marsupial
measuring between 28-45 cm from their head to the base of their tail.
Grey-brown coloured fur that covers their entire body and a furry
tail that ends in a dark brown/black tip.
HABITAT
Native vegetation
with a thick, often shrubby understorey; examples include dense
patches of bracken fern and yakkas which are at least knee high and
difficult to walk through.
THREATS
Vegetation
clearance, predation by foxes and cats.
DIET
Roots, legume
pods, tubers, bulbs, seeds, insects and carrion. But the bulk of
their nutrients come from underground fungi - truffles - which they
dig out using their strong foreclaws.
BEHAVIOUR
Nocturnal.
Well-developed sense of smell and communicate with each other through
scent. Breed all year round and following the birth of the juvenile,
a mother will mate again straight away.
