Stripe-faced Dunnart
Fat-tailed Dunnart
Dunnarts Sminthopsis macroura , S . murina , S . crassicaudata
What do they look like ? Small , grey-brown mammals like a mouse , but with a much pointier nose . Usually a dark stripe running down the centre of the face , but this can be very faint or absent . If you find a dead one , you can tell it ’ s a Dunnart by looking in the mouth , which has canine teeth like a dog , rather than two shearing teeth at the front of each jaw .
Where do they live ? Dunnarts occur throughout the region . Most habitat types are utilised by dunnarts but they are absent around built up areas . Stripe-faced and Fat-tailed Dunnarts favour drier habitats such as open tussock grasslands and open woodlands , while Common Dunnarts prefer more closed habitats .
What do they need to live , eat and breed ? Dunnarts are ferocious predators , catching spiders , centipedes , crickets and even vertebrates such as small mice , lizards or snakes . They can kill animals nearly as large as themselves . They live fast and die young , and must eat a large percentage of their body weight per day in order to survive . Most species do not need to drink water . Dunnarts are marsupials like kangaroos . They carry their young in pouches , and when they get larger , on their backs .
When might I see ( or hear ) them ? Rarely seen unless the household cat brings them in . Occasionally seen rapidly bouncing across roads at night . Dunnarts may go undetected for years and then suddenly be quite abundant .
What management actions affect this species ? Maintaining ground cover , vigorous , native pastures and soil integrity are important for dunnart food and shelter . Grazing systems which incorporate spelling are beneficial . Cats and foxes are significant predators of dunnarts , and loss of ground cover ( e . g . through overgrazing ) means these and other predators can catch dunnarts more successfully . Around homesteads , dunnarts are very attractive prey for domestic cats , so desexing and controlling cats at night may assist dunnart populations .
How do they benefit the land I manage ? A dunnart eats thousands of insects each year helping to control plaguing insects such as locusts .
Similar species : Planigales are related , but are much smaller and flatter .
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