Have you ever found conical-shaped holes in your garden and lawn in the morning?

If you live in the northern, coastal regions of Australia, these could have been caused by Northern Brown Bandicoots. This species of bandicoot is a common nocturnal marsupial, found on the east coast of Australia north of the Hawkesbury river in NSW, to Cape York in Queensland, and across to the Northern Territory and north of Western Australia.

Their diet consists of a variety of insects, earthworms, grass seeds, and berries. Adults can weigh between 500gms and 3kg, with males generally being about double the weight of females.

The Northern Brown Bandicoot is a prolific breeder. It has one of the shortest gestations of any mammal, just 12.5 days from conception to birth.

The young develop rapidly, and weaning occurs at about 60 days. Females are ready to mate at three to four months, and can produce several litters during the breeding season. Here in northern New South Wales they usually breed all year round.

Being very active at night and ground-dwelling, bandicoots are highly susceptible to road carnage. A high percentage of these animals, like other wildlife that come into our care, are victims of car accidents, with most not surviving the impact. However, often the young of marsupials that have been hit are found alive in their mother's pouch, and these are the ones which come into our care.

Not always a happy ending

This was the situation with the two baby Northern Brown Bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus) shown here. They came into care late one night after their mother had been hit and killed instantly by a car. Because of the impact, the young were thrown, out of the warm safe environment of their mother's pouch, onto the road. Luckily, they were picked up by the motorist, who kept them warm before notifying our wildlife group.

These two babies were approximately 30 days old, weighing 40gms each, their eyes were closed and their coat was just beginning to show.

Sadly, one of the males died within 24 hours due to internal injuries, no doubt from the impact of the car accident. The other male seemed stronger, and responded well to the milk formula given to him five times daily. His eyes had opened after seven days, his ears had become erect, the coat had grown, and he was gaining weight.

On the fourteenth day, however, he had trouble with thermoregulation and his respiration rate was very high. He passed away not long afterwards.

These two baby bandicoots had a sad ending, but the work of carers is not always in vain. Many young marsupials are found unharmed in their mother's pouch, and go on to be successfully hand-raised and released.

Article by Sue Johnson