Walk4BrainCancer

[Kelly Jones]

As a fundraiser for brain cancer research, I'm planning to go walk up these in November: Mt Murchison, Mt Owen, Mt Heemskirk, and Mt Dundas.

Yesterday was a practice run for Mt Heemskirk, because my topo map has no track to the trig point. I checked to see if anyone has climbed Mt Heemskirk on this forum before I went, but there was no information. I asked a few locals, but couldn't catch up with the only person who knew (Shorty, who runs the "Ugly Zeehan Museum"). The route to Heemskirk Falls is marked, but it doesn't go up the mountain but runs along the plains eastwards. Anyway, it turned out quite doable, as the grass is knee-height for most of the way I took, and the white sandy 4WD track to the foothills happens to point directly to the trig pt, which is very handy. I didn't go all the way to the trig point, but stopped when I could see it (from the final knoll due north, which hides it for the first 2.5 hrs' of the walk). I estimate it would take me 7 hours to go up and back.

The reason I'm posting is not necessarily to say it's a great walk to do, though I think it's wonderful to walk without a track, but because I saw a little mammal that I'd like more information on. Someone here would probably know what it is. Photos in this album include one photo of unknown mammal, that I thought was a native rat. It had a slim long rat-like body about 30cm long, tan-coloured hair, white underneath (I think), about 10cm of the end of the long tail was white, and it curled up like a ringlet. I didn't see it face-on, and mostly only saw the tail. Anyone know more information on it?

I also saw a swift parrot, who suddenly flew away as I approached the granite slab it was resting on (unseen by me), and lots of holes of what I think are burrows of the Tasmanian burrowing crayfish. Obviously, the fewer people who climb Mt Heemskirk, the better, given the need to preserve the habitats of these threatened species. But as it happens, the track to Heemskirk Falls will soon be upgraded as part of the government's West Coast economic boost funding, so I imagine this will draw more people to climb Mt Heemskirk.

Also, any donations for my Walk4BrainCancer are much appreciated. I hope no one minds if I ask. Walk4BrainCancer (my page).

Kelly Jones

[Kelly Jones]

The closest guess is a Bettong (Bettongia gaimadi) but the photos from DPIPWE don't look quite right. It didn't have hopping type back legs, the tail wasn't fluffy but flat-haired, and it was tan-coloured.

[icefest]

It wasn't an eastern quoll, with few (or no) spots on it's body?

That tail looks quite quoll-like.


EDIT: It's probably a rakali:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakali

[Kelly Jones]

Thanks muchly, icefest. I've never heard that name before. It probably was a rakali, because it was quite a wet mountain, and probably only 1.5km to the water race from Heemskirk Falls going to the river. Do rakali have prehensile tails? The white tip of the tail was curled up in several tight loops like a ringtail possum, but it wasn't holding anything at the time. No information on a quick Google.

I guess it could have been a spotless quoll, with a prehensile tail, if there are any such things. It wasn't lightly built and kitten-like, like the quolls I've seen. More like a big rat or ferret.

[icefest]

They are also called water-rat. I think they were recently renamed.
Congratulations, you are now on top of the google results!


I had a Quoll tail wave around right next to me, when I sat down on a piece of wood where a quoll was hiding under. It was sinuous and flexible enough that I, exhaused as I was flew of the seat in fright, thinking it was a snake.
Embarrassing, but I think a spotless one would be incredibly rare.


Occams razor suggests it probably wasn't a quoll.