Community Care For Crepuscular Critters

By Sue Rose (Project Manager) and David Costello (West Hume Landcare Group Coordinator).

What a wonderful surprise it was to re-discover the occurrence of squirrel gliders (Petaurus norfolcensis) on farms in our landcare area during the mid 1990’s! These cute nocturnal critters are regarded as vulnerable in NSW. Their re-discovery was all the more astounding given they were found in the heart of the wheat/sheep belt of the South West Slopes of NSW, at Burrumbuttock (35km NW of Albury). This district suffers from the classic problems of the South West Slopes Bioregion ie. overclearing, continuing decline of retained habitats, isolation, and swamping of relict flora and fauna populations by weeds and feral animals. Less than 5% of native woodland vegetation remains in our area, most of which is concentrated along narrow roadside reserves.

Figure 1 – One of the local animals from the Burrumbuttock squirrel glider colony. (Photo: Peter Merritt)

The re-discovery of squirrel gliders transpired in 1995 when an injured squirrel glider was discovered by a local landholder, Fe Coleman, on her 12ha property ‘Thurso’, 5km south of Burrumbuttock. The young glider was cared for by a WIRES volunteer in Albury until its re-release at ‘Thurso’ in 1996. This glider still remains around the White Box tree where it was released and has since been regularly observed by a number of Burrumbuttock residents, along with up to seven other gliders that reside in nearby hollows.

Figure 2 – To celebrate the re-discovery of squirrel gliders, this mural was painted by the Burrumbuttock Public School students

Following the regular sightings of gliders at ‘Thurso’, interest in the local glider population began to escalate. Further observation by Charles Sturt University researchers revealed the occurrence of more gliders in additional woodland remnants surrounding the township of Burrumbuttock. Then in 2000 the West Hume Landcare Group applied for, and secured, an $11,000 grant through the ‘WWF Threatened Species Network’ to protect and enhance woodland remnants and connect isolated fragments that supported glider populations around Burrumbuttock. Consequently the ‘Burrumbuttock Squirrel Glider Project’ was born, using the squirrel glider as an iconic species to capture landholder interest and raise awareness of woodland dependent animals.

The Landcare Group’s application was based on research which suggested that glider populations may be constrained by the loss of wattle understorey (the sap of some wattles providing an alternative food source to eucalypt nectar and insects) and old trees with hollows. Dr Barry Traill informed us that gliders could survive quite well in narrow corridors of vegetation, unlike other native mammals such as Brush Tailed Phascogales.

Our project sought to fence a number of White Box woodland remnants and enhance them with understorey species, namely the three suspected sap providing species of wattle (Acacia dealbata A. implexa & A. pycnantha), and other local understorey plants such as Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa) and Drooping She Oak (Allocasuarina verticillata). The project was very much collaborative and involved landholders, townsfolk, Hume Shire Council, the Rural Lands Protection Board, Charles Sturt University and most importantly the Burrumbuttock Public School. The school has participated in landcare activities since 1990 and students and teachers were quick to become involved in the glider project. Students collected Golden Wattle (A. implexa) seed from roadsides and would queue up during recess to take turns ‘cleaning’ this seed with the landcare group’s sieves! The students then used a shadehouse donated by North Albury Rotary Club to grow 1200 understorey plants.

Figure 3 – Burrumbuttock Public School student’s busy planting understorey plants as part of the Squirrel Glider project. The students were involved in all aspects of the project including seed collection, propagation and planting. They are supervised here by a member of the Burrumbuttock Green Corp team.

Over 15 properties and several landholders became involved in a bid to provide a continuous circuit of woodland corridors within a four-kilometer radius of the township of Burrumbuttock. This necessitated the erection of 4.5km of fencing to enclose more than 20ha of white box woodland. Both hand planting (5000 plants) and direct seeding (6km of lines) were undertaken on private property, roadsides and a travelling stock reserve.

The landcare group was fortunate enough to secure the services of a Green Corps team in 2001 to assist with the implementation of the project. This involved a team of 10 people aged 17-21 with an interest in the environment, who, along with their supervisor, provided us with 14 weeks of practical work. During this time they assisted landholders with planting, fencing, woody weed control and the construction of 50 nestboxes. The nestboxes were constructed of hardwood (to reduce parrot damage), cost $14 each in materials, and were built according to Vic Gould League specifications. The boxes were erected in areas where hollow-bearing trees were limited (eg. in areas of eucalypt regeneration) and/or where landholders were interested in monitoring. Early indications are that introduced bees readily occupy boxes!

Figure 4 – Burrumbuttock Public School students monitoring one of the nestboxes erected as part of the project.

In addition to increasing the quantity and improving the quality of available squirrel glider habitat, an integral part of the project also involved a degree of scientific study. This required the support of Charles Sturt University and two private wildlife consultants who volunteered their time to trap a number of squirrel gliders and fit radio-transmitting collars. This scientific study is currently being undertaken for an eight-week period (until the end of March 2002) in an attempt to determine further supporting information about the animal’s home range and habitat requirements.

To ensure continued community support and increase the wider communities awareness, some of the project funds were devoted to the production of ‘Significant Squirrel Glider Habitat’ roadside signs. These signs (still in production) simply picture a squirrel glider and will be used to educate passing motorists of the importance of the roadside corridor to the squirrel glider colony.

Cats (and foxes to a lesser degree) are the major predators of gliders and this was a vital aspect when a town was located in the middle of a squirrel glider conservation project. To address the cat issue, a ‘responsible cat ownership’ line is currently being pursued in and around Burrumbuttock with the aim of increasing awareness of the damage cats do and how to keep domestic cats ‘responsibly’. Foxes are also in the spotlight with 2002 heralding the arrival of a regionally coordinated fox eradication program, being implemented by a vast number of landcare groups and landholders throughout the region.

Figure 5 – West Hume Landcare group generously sponsored the preservation of one local glider killed by a cat.

A presentation on the squirrel glider project was delivered to the North Albury Rotary Club, after donating a shadehouse to the school to assist with propagation for the project. The Rotarians were greatly inspired by the project and subsequently donated a further $800 towards the production of a video to promote conservation of the gliders. A 5 minute video (aptly named ‘Gliding to a better future’) encapsulating the project and showing unique footage of local squirrel gliders followed. Our Threatened Species Network funding enabled copies to be made, which have since proved very popular and been distributed widely. It shows visually how schools can be involved and take direct action in local issues.

It is also worth mentioning some of the other spin-offs that resulted from the project:
1. Squirrel gliders will become more recognised world-wide, following the development of this very website by Burrumbuttock Public School.
2. Several landholders have observed that where gliders occur the wattles are in much better health and do not develop the amount of insect galls on them that decimate isolated wattles elsewhere.
3. The Burrumbuttock township is home to the Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre, a 4ha area of once degraded land that has been transformed into a series of wetlands, bush and landscaped areas. This has provided an ideal venue to highlight the loss of woodlands and use the glider to illustrate some of the impacts. Three taxidermed squirrel glider specimens have been prepared and are used to give visitors a ‘hands on’ familiarity. In March 2000 the Centre received a National Landcare Award in recognition of its environmental education achievements. It hosts over 2000 visitors each year, in addition to many schools and landcare groups from the Murray and Murrumbidgee catchments.

In conclusion, the project has achieved an enormous amount for the modest amount of money invested. More importantly it has dramatically increased the level of community awareness and managed to harness the support and enthusiasm of a large number of people from all walks of life. Although our project was based around Burrumbuttock, reports have since arrived of gliders occurring at the nearby townships of Brocklesby and Walla Walla. A long time resident of the Burrumbuttock township recently observed sugar gliders in his well treed backyard and recollects a cat once brought a feathertail glider to his backdoor (over 20 years ago). The hunt is now on to find feathertail gliders at Burrumbuttock!

For further information contact:

David Costello
West Hume Landcare Group
PO Box 70,
Albury, NSW 2640
Ph (02) 6051 3950
Email: dcostello@humeshire.nsw.gov.au

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