Survey guidelines for Australia’s threatened non-flying mammals

Smoky mouse, konoom

Pseudomys fumeus

States and territories: Victoria, NSW and ACT.

Regions: Victoria: Grampians, Otway Range, East Gippsland, Highlands and Mt Stradbroke area (Menkhorst 1995).

NSW: Mt Poole and Mullica in the south-east Forests National Park near Eden, and bones of sub-fossil remains from Jenolan Caves, Wombelano Caves, Yarrangobilly and Marble Arch (Ford et al. 2003).

ACT: Bullshead and Mt Kelly, Brindabella Range (Jurkis et al. 1997).

Habitat: Various, including coastal heaths, sub-alpine heaths, dry forest or woodland and fern gullies in wet forest (Seebeck & Menkhorst 2000). Characteristic of all habitats, except fern gullies are the predominance of heathy shrubs, particularly from the families Papilionaceae and Epacridaceae (Menkhorst & Seebeck 1981).

Habit: Ground-dwelling.

Avg. body weight: Variable between populations: 49 g (NSW), 70 g (Grampians) (Ford 2008).

Activity pattern: Nocturnal.

Diet: Primarily herbivorous, in addition to underground fungi and insects such as the Bogong moth, Agrotis infusa (Cockburn 1981a; Ford et al. 2003).

Breeding: Breeds between October and April (two litters produced per season) (Cockburn 1981b; Woods & Ford 2000).

Description

The smoky mouse is a small rodent with a fragmented range within the ACT, NSW and Victoria. There are two forms of the species: the western form occurs from the Grampians west of Melbourne, and the eastern form is found in East Gippsland, south-eastern NSW and the Brindabella Ranges of the ACT. Subfossil remains suggest that the species’ range has declined in recent times (Jurkis et al. 1997) possibly due to a reduction in suitable habitat of forest with a diverse sclerophyll understorey related to post-fire succession (Menkhorst 1995).

The breeding and feeding patterns of the smoky mouse are interrelated and seasonal. In summer the smoky mouse feeds on seeds, shrubby legumes and bogong moths when available, and in winter it switches to a diet of underground fungi found around the roots of some shrubs and grasses (Menkhorst 1995). Females tend to be found in favoured habitats where shrubs flowering in September to November attract bogong moths, and individuals with home ranges away from these resources (particularly males) can die of starvation at this time.

Survey methods

On the basis of previous surveys, the following survey techniques are recommended to detect the presence of the smoky mouse in areas up to 5 hectares in size:

• 
  daytime searches for potentially suitable habitat resources such as ridgetops with a northern aspect and a proportionately high cover of rock and potential food resources such as a dominance of Papilionaceae and Epacridaceae (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is provided in Section 3.1)
  
• 
  collection of predator scats, owl casts or remains in predatory bird/mammal nests/dens (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is provided in Section 3.2)
  
• 
  hair sampling device surveys using a mixture of rolled oats, peanut butter and pistachio nut oil for bait, conducted according to the description of the technique and the recommended effort outlined in section 3.3.7, as the smoky mouse is included among those species distinguishable from hair samples (see Table 2, Section 3.3.7)
  
• 
  Elliott A/E trapping surveys conducted according to the technique description and recommended effort provided in Section 3.3.9
  
• 
  camera traps used in association with bait stations (see section 3.3.6). For identification from photographs, cameras should be approximately 25 centimetres above the ground and the bait station approximately 1.5 metres from the camera (Nelson 2009). An effective remote camera survey protocol for the smoky mouse is to deploy two cameras at each site for at least one week, with the cameras placed at least 100 metres apart (Nelson et al. 2010).
  
• 
  searches for road-kills, particularly during hot weather.
  

The abundance of the smoky mouse fluctuates over time (Ford et al. 2003), which means that its distribution is both spatially and temporally patchy (Watts & Aslin 1981). Therefore, techniques suited for low population densities (for example, camera traps) need to be considered as primary techniques.

Similar species in range

The smoky mouse overlaps in distribution with the bush rat Rattus fuscipes and the house mouse Mus musculus, the swamp rat Rattus lutreolus, the black rat Rattus rattus and the heath rat Pseudomys shortridgei. The smoky mouse is larger than the house mouse, smaller than the black rat and has a longer tail to body ratio and darker fur than the three native rats. Its pink feet also distinguish it from the dark-footed swamp rat and the heath rat.

References

Cockburn, A. 1981a. Population regulation and dispersion of the smoky mouse Pseudomys fumeus. 1. Dietary determinants of microhabitat preferences. Australian Journal of Ecology 6: 231-254.
Cockburn, A. 1981b. Population regulation and dispersion of the smoky mouse Pseudomys fumeus. 2. Spring decline, breeding success and habitat heterogeneity. Australian Journal of Ecology 6; 255-266.
Ford, F. 2008. Smoky Mouse Pseudomys fumeus. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’ (Eds. S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan). pp. 629-630. (Reed New Holland: Sydney).
Ford F., Cockburn A. and Broome L. 2003. Habitat preference, diet and the demography of the smoky mouse, Pseudomys fumeus (Rodentia: Muridae), in south-eastern New South Wales. Wildlife Research 30: 89-101.
Jurkis, V.P., K.B. Hudson and R.J. Shields 1997. Extension of the range of the Smoky Mouse Pseudomys fumeus (Rodentia: Muridae) into New South Wales with notes on the habitat and detection methods. Australian Forestry 60: 99-109.
Menkhorst, P.W. 1995. Smoky Mouse Pseudomys fumeus. In ‘Mammals of Victoria: distribution, ecology and conservation’ (Ed. P.W. Menkhorst) pp. 219-220. (Oxford University Press: Melbourne).
Menkhorst, P.W. and Seebeck, J.H. 1981. The distribution, habitat and status of Pseudomys fumeus Brazenor (Rodentia: Muridae). Australian Wildlife Research 8: 87-96.
Nelson, J., Main, M., Chick, R. and Scroggie, M. 2010. The status of Smoky Mouse populations at historic sites in Victoria, and an assessment of two non-invasive survey techniques. Unpublished report to the Department of

Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, and the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Heidelberg, Victoria

Nelson, J., Menkhorst, P., Howard, K., Chick, R. and Lumsden, L. 2009. The status of Smoky Mouse populations at some historic sites in Victoria, and survey methods for their detection. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Unpublished report number 2009/17. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Heidelberg, Victoria
Seebeck, J and Menkhorst, P. 2000. Status and conservation of the rodents of Victoria. Wildlife Research 27: 357-369.
Watts, C.H.S. and Aslin, H.J. 1981. The Rodents of Australia (Angus and Robertson: Sydney).
Woods, R. E. and Ford, F.D. 2000. Observations of the behaviour and breeding of the smoky mouse Pseudomys fumeus (Rodentia: Muridae). Australian Mammalogy 22: 35-42.