Bandicoot

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Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Perameles gunnii)

Bandicoot…

Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Perameles gunnii)
Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Perameles gunnii), Poimena Reserve, Austin’s Ferry, Tasmania, Australia. The photo taken at night with off camera flashes. Photo taken by JJ Harrison cc3.0

The bandicoot is a rat-like marsupial native to Australia. It grows 11 to 32 inches (28 to 81 centimeters) long and has a pointed head and nose with a short, stocky body. Its hind legs are strong and specialized for jumping.

Like all marsupials, the bandicoot has a pouch. However, unlike other marsupials, the bandicoot’s pouch is open to the back instead of the front. This prevents dirt from getting into the pouch when the mother bandicoot digs in the ground. A bandicoot’s pregnancy lasts 12 days, the shortest period of all mammals. The tiny and underdeveloped babies are born, then crawl into the mother’s pouch and spend the next 45 days feeding from her teats. The pouch can hold between three to six babies at a time.

Northern Brown Bandicoot
Northern Brown Bandicoot by Greg Schechter cc2.0

Bandicoots are nocturnal (active at night) and omnivorous (eating both plants and animals). They spend the day hidden away for safety from predators. Their prey consists mainly of insects, which they locate by smell. Then they dig the ground and reach for the prey with their long snouts.

Bandicoots are featured in the following books:
25 Awesome Australian Animals!
101 Facts – Marsupials!




The YouTube video playlist below contains videos about Bandicoots. Details of the videos featured are underneath.

The Playlist:

  1. Quenda Bandicoot – Australian native mammal by Adriel Knowling
  2. Native Australian Bandicoot (HD) at Lane Cove River Tourist Park, Lane Cove National Park by Lane Cove Caravan Park
  3. Southern Brown Bandicoot, friendly & cute by TC Chan
  4. 1. Southern Brown Bandicoot bolts (Australia) by LorettaMiss
  5. 2. Foraging bandicoot responds to bird alarm call (Australia) by LorettaMiss
  6. 3. A Southern Brown Bandicoot “walking” (Australia) by LorettaMiss

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