This morning I went into my room to make the bed and looking out of the window I could see that once again we had a furry visitor in the side yard.

We’re still trying to figure out how animals keep getting in there as we keep both gates shut all the time. There is a wooden platform up against one fence and we have wondered if they are using it to hop up the steps and down into the garden. Once there they can’t get back out again. The attraction is the ivy that grows over our concrete water tank.

I went and grabbed my camera and fitted the big zoom lens. When I got back, he/she was still munching away and I was able to take several photos. They are through glass and it was a bit hard to keep the camera steady as the lens makes it heavy so the photos are not amazing. I did get a couple that I liked though. The photos were taken with the zoom on 200mm and 300mm.

I think this next photo is one of my best ones.

I am still not great at identifying the different types of wildlife we see and hear locally. We get potoroos and pademelons, quolls, and a couple of types of bandicoot and possums. I believe that this one is most likely a pademelon, also known as a Rufous Wallaby. It looks too large to be a potoroo and they are more rat like in appearance. We mostly see them from around sunset onwards but because Sisters Beach is so quiet, with very little traffic and because it is so close to Rocky Cape National Park, we do sometimes see them grazing during the day as well. Our back garden is divided into three separated parts. I’ve seen wallabies in all three areas as well as out the front and across the street. They really do like these leaves.

A little while after I had taken these photos, I went outside to get the bins in and while I was out there opened the gate next to the tanks. This leads into a small paved area near the garage. We had a fence put up to separate this part of the garden from the rest so that the dogs can’t get out that way. It is safe for the wildlife to leave that way without being seen. The little guy was nowhere to be found but when I went up to the tank, I heard rustling in the long grass and he shot out. I told him that if he’d finished his breakfast he had to leave and he took off in a hurry. I don’t like them to get stuck in the yard because there is no water if the dog bowl is empty and because I sometimes have to put Cindy in that yard if Toby and Teddy are upstairs.

Further Reading:

https://nre.tas.gov.au/wildlife-management/fauna-of-tasmania/mammals/possums-kangaroos-and-wombats/macropods/rufous-bellied-pademelon

https://parks.tas.gov.au/discovery-and-learning/wildlife/land-mammals/kangaroos-and-wallabies

https://similarbutdifferentanimals.com/2019/09/03/what-are-the-similarities-and-differences-in-the-faces-of-the-kangaroo-pademelon-tree-kangaroo-and-wallaby/

Animal Pictures

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~alreadman/pademelon.htm