Backyard visitors

Australian bush rats have a pretty good chance of surviving bushfires, says LEONARD CRONIN

Unprecedented bushfires have taken a devastating toll on our native wildlife. Yet as fires rip through their homes, many creatures manage to cling to life, while others rise phoenix-like from the ashes.

Some animals flee the fire, sometimes even doubling back through the fire front to find safety in burnt areas. Others stay put, seeking refuge in burrows or under rocks. And some creatures, such as Australian fire beetles, are actually attracted to burning forests, where they forage, copulate, and lay their eggs in freshly burnt wood. Remarkably, not long after the fires, bright green shoots sprout from blackened trunks – a flush of new growth beginning a regenerative cycle as old as our continent.

While I was thinking about survival and regeneration, I discovered chewed wiring in the engine compartment of my car. As I cursed the rodents responsible, I had to acknowledge their amazing ability to survive bushfires, droughts, and all attempts to eradicate them from our homes. Our property borders bushland, and although introduced rats and mice make their nests around the house, we do occasionally come across native bush rats. I hasten to add they are not the ones responsible for chewing the wires and making nests in my car!

Bush rats are a good example of bushfire survivors. Strictly nocturnal, they shelter by day in burrows up to 3m long that twist and turn on their subterranean journey to a nest chamber up to 50cm underground. Lined with grass and other vegetation, this is the perfect place to hide from the heat and smoke of a bushfire.

When the fire has passed, bush rats survive on the fungi and plant shoots that emerge among the ashes. Females fail to breed the following spring, and the

population crashes, but like other rodents, these native animals are prolific breeders, and three or four years later there is a population boom when the regrowth of shrubs and herbs has created a lush haven.

Although bush rats are reluctant to enter buildings, they are sometimes killed by traps and poisoned bait aimed at introduced rats. Bush rats are cute and harmless, so if you do have a problem with rats at your place, please avoid using poison pellets, and if you must set traps, keep them inside buildings.

Len gardens in the Northern Rivers, New South Wales