An Encounter with a Minute Marsupial

Yesterday morning, my beloved kitten Yuki caught an antechinus.  These tiny creatures are often mistaken for introduced rodents, but are actually a tiny marsupial.  They are commonly known as bush rats, but I dislike the name, because, of course they are in no way related to rodents.   

The chase continued on and off for hours, and the little antechinus continued to fight back (they are quite capable of giving a nasty nip, and once they get a hold of you, they are difficult to dislodge) and Yuki, still being a kitten was reticent about taking on his minute adversary. Finally an exhausted Yuki fell asleep.

I tried to catch the antechinus a few times, using a small blanket, but without success.  When I went to bed at 9:30 pm he was hiding under the washing machine (Yuki had taken up a station in front and was peering underneath), and I didn’t want to attempt to move it for fear of harming him/her.

I woke at 2 am and after pottering about for a while I had a sudden urge to clean out the linen cupboard.  I started removing the contents and was wiping down some shelves when a movement caught my eye.

I looked down to see the antechinus looking up at me from the bottom shelf with soft dark eyes. Cautiously, I put down my cloth and telling it I wasn’t going to hurt it.  As I bent down, it retreated to the back of the shelf, but as I slowly put my hand out, it came forward and climbed into my palm.

I carried it to the window and it waited on the sill while I slowly opened the window and showed it how to get out.  From there, it quickly disappeared.

Usually, I’m not given to cleaning out cupboards in the middle of the night, and I believe it was my intuition led me there.  I was very touched by the look of trust in those beautiful, shining eyes.  It’s an experience I’m unlikely to forget.

 Photograph courtesy of Glen Fergus, Tweed Valley, NSW