We are really fortunate to have some pretty special flora and fauna on our property, but this wee beauty has rocketed straight into two of my Top 3's - best Australian animals, and most exciting discovery on our property! Last week while out spotlighting one night with guests Richard and Gwen, I had enough of a glimpse of this animal with my thermal scanner to be 99.62% sure of what I was looking at; however, I could not see it in normal red LED torchlight as it had balled up in the middle of some gum blossoms.
So, a couple of nights later, Louise and I braved the rain to go and have another look - and we were rewarded with AMAZING clear views with the red torch that absolutely confirmed we did indeed have a WESTERN PYGMY-POSSUM!! We have wanted to see one for a long time, so to find one on our conservation reserve is a massive thrill! I snuck down again last night while out doing a pest animal patrol and was delighted to find it again in the same heavily flowering eucalypt. This time I didn't forget that the thermal scanner records video.
This utter beauty is one of the cutest animals I have ever seen - they are tiny, approximately mouse sized!