fruit bat vs. possum

Last night I heard a horrible screechy racket outside.  The main fig crop is just starting to ripen (not ripe enough for humans to eat, but ripe enough for animals) so I knew it was either a fruit bat or possum.  I went out with a torch to see if I could figure out which it was.  I saw a rustle lower down and tried to find a possum but the branches are so thick this year I couldn't see anything.  Then I looked up to see this bold fellow staring back at me.

He didn't seem at all bothered by the torch or the camera flash, cheeky fellow.  But then I saw a flash of gray fur and a fluffy tail, lo and behold there was also a brush-tailed possum in the tree!  Again, unperturbed by my attention.

I know we've got a local ring tailed possum but this is the first time I've seen a brushy in my yard.  It's not really good news, they're more destructive than their smaller cousins, so I hope he's (she's?) only here for fig season.  And after all that, I still don't know who was making all that racket. I just know they were fighting over who deserved the first figs.

Although I didn't get a picture, these weren't the only wildlife I found in my garden this weekend.  I was checking on my watermelons the other day when I caught a flash of brown darting across the straw mulch.  It startled me because my first thought was it was a tiny snake.  But no, I think it was another weasel skink like the one I found in the garage last year.  By the time I grabbed the camera and came back I couldn't find him again.  But I'm just so happy to know he was there, lizards are a great sign of a healthy garden.

bats and redbacks

I'd suspected for a while that possums weren't the only nighttime visitors to my fig tree.  I'd seen bats flying overhead and heard ungodly screeches but never seen one in the act - until tonight!  I took a peak outside and there was a grey-headed flying fox!  By the time I went inside to get my camera it was gone, so no picture, but they look like this.

Now most Australians might think, big deal, in fact, fruit bats can be a major pest.  But as an American they're still exotic and exciting to me!

I discovered a bit more wildlife in my nighttime garden.  I've got a loud cricket near the front door, including one flat dead one the cats probably found.  And whilst looking for the living cricket I found my first redback spider!  I've never seen one before.  It was right up against the house in a thin web and it instantly ran away from the light from my torch.  Their bite is nasty but hasn't been deadly since they created an anitvenom.

After having a bit of a look at the spider I decided two things.

One, that I should explore my garden at night more often.

Two, that I really shouldn't do so barefoot.