Protected bandicoot? Nearly extinct pygmy possum? Or....common rat?
We have a new beastie to report. He (or she) hangs out on our stone decks, snuffling up invisible bugs, leaving raisin-like scat, and generally minding his own business. Initially we thought he was a rat. I mean, we're Brooklynites, and if it looks remotely like vermin, it is vermin.
This isn't a random sighting--this animal comes around just about every day; he walks the same daily beat and is generally around late afternoon - evening.
We dutifully reported this "rat" to our landlord, but he suggested the little guy might be a bandicoot, in which case he's a loved and protected marsupial and to exterminate in any way would be unlawful. So we did our internet research and it seems "Randy-Andy," as he is now named, has attributes in the bandicoot, rat, and (a dark horse entry) pygmy possum columns. Check out the tail--rat-like, right? But the fur is a little orangy--suggestive of a pygmy possum in breeding season (Nov-Dec). Possums also have those creepy hairless tails. Meanwhile bandicoots have longer back legs, a hump-like back, and skip around a bit, which our guy does, sort of.
We leave it up to you, dear readers. In the end, it's a moot point--as Clare says, it's not like we'd really put out poison if it really did turn out to be a rat.
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