Threatened Species Last Stand (TSLS) Update

Squirrel Gliders are definitely here

The ground truthing survey held in February to see what potential Squirrel Glider habitat was about was extremely revealing.

The eastern end of the Point, from Rofe St,  was walked and habitat hollows surveyed in the Stansfied Reserves. Chris McLean, aboreal mammal specialist identified 48 suitable nest hollows. This abundance of nest hollows is four times the average for Lake Macquarie! No wonder the pitter-patter of possum feet is common.

Whilst not all of these hollows were suitable for Squirrel Gliders who need only a 4cm opening, the abundance of hollows is one reason why we still have wildlife in our community, so much of our local wildlife, possums, bats, birds, gliders, lizards and snakes need log hollows for habitat.

The Spotlighting team L to R
Chris McLean, Robyn Gill, Suzanne Pritchard, Lois Simpson, Judy Hughes

More exciting news came between the hours of 8.30-10.30pm when the survey crew resumed ‘work’ for a spotlighting session, this time in the Ridge Reserves off Whitelock St...Only 50m along the track and a Squirrel Glider was sighted...this was BIG... the presence of the Squirrel Gliders this far along the Point was a bit of an unknown. 

A few more metres, a very cute Ringtail peering out of its hollow, by the end of the session we had spotted 4 Brushtail Possums, 2 Squirrel Gliders, 2 Tawny Frogmouths, 3 Ringtail Possums, 2 microbats and an Owlet Nightjar in a gum tree. Our friendly expert, Chris was mightily impressed, our local landcarers over the moon.

The insights that this survey have provided will help to inform the next actions of the TSLS project.

Now that we know the Squirrel Gliders are living along the whole of the ridge we can do more to help them stay.

Squirrel Gliders need nesting hollows, as mentioned there are lots of hollows about but many of them too big, so nesting boxes with smaller openings will be installed. Do you want to put one in your yard?

Squirrel Gliders need trees to glide between. They can manage to glide upto 70m but distance under 50m are preferred. Along the Eastern end of Coal Point there are gaps in the canopy. Do you have space to plant a tree and plug a hole in the canopy?

Squirrel Gliders love their Spotted Gums, they provide a launch pad for gliding, insects to munch through summer and nectar in winter.

Squirrel Gliders need winter flowering plants especially Acacia and Banksias, these plants can come as native shrubs and make a great addition to any garden. Would you like to plant some shrubs?

The greatest threat to the Squirrel Glider, more than not having a hollow to live in or food to eat is being eaten or squished.

Man’s best friend is not the Squirrel Glider’s mate, pet pussy is a killer kitty if not contained, hooning around at night leaves little time to slow down in an emergency. Restraining urges at night time by keeping pets in and the foot off the pedal can help the survival rates of the vulnerable Squirrel Glider.

More of Chris’ photos from the night can be seen at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/petaurus/

Ringtail Possum emerging- Chris McLean

Tawney Frogmouth- Chris McLean.