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.

handsome little fellow

This handsome little fellow startled me when I walked into the garage today. Good thing he did, because he ran right behind the front wheel. If I hadn't noticed him it would have ended rather badly. Lucky for him after a bit of wrangling I got him into this bucket.

This is the first reptile I've found in my garden. I'd never seen snakes or frogs either. So I was very excited to find him - it's a sign of a healthy garden. I set the bucket on its side to let him decide when he felt like running away. I just hope he finds a good little burrow to hide in and sticks around for a while - and that the cats never find him. There's definitely enough sunny concrete to warm himself on, and plenty of earwigs and other critters to eat.

He's some kind of skink but I'm not sure what kind. I might ask around to see if anyone knows.

Edit: I forgot I had this book Melbourne's Wildlife. He's a weasel skink. An interesting fact from the book:

"This is a secretive species that raises its body temperature by contact with its surroundings, rather than by basking in the sun."

That explains why he was in the dark but warm garage!