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Agile Antechinus | FF0025 |
Ian Temby, Flora and Fauna Branch
September, 2003 |  |
Problem
Droppings and odour in houses. Eating the eggs or young of small aviary birds. Scurrying noises in ceiling and walls.
Background
This is a mouse-sized carnivorous marsupial (formerly known as the Brown Antechinus) that is unlikely to eat stored foods. It may be distinguished from the introduced House Mouse by the lack of an obvious mousy smell and the presence of many small teeth in its mouth. It lacks the enlarged incisor (front) teeth of a mouse and, as a consequence, does not gnaw. Droppings are 5-10 mm long, irregular, usually contain obvious insect remains and can be crushed readily between the fingers, while mouse droppings tend to roll and remain intact under moderate pressure.
Solution
- Remove source of attraction such as food scraps.
- Block access by sealing gaps between walls and ceiling, chimney, or floor. Seal gaps between ceiling timbers.
- Clear ground cover plants adjacent to house (optional). Remove old sheets of iron, wood, etc., from near the house, as these can provide shelter or nesting sites for Antechinus.
- Make aviary nest boxes inaccessible using sheet metal or some other non-grip material around the entrance, or around the aviary in the case of ground-nesting birds.
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Further Information
Menkhorst, P.W. (Ed.) 1995. Mammals of Victoria. Oxford University Press, Melbourne
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