Australian Bilby
One of the cutest Australian animals is the Bilby, also known as the Rabbit-eared Bandicoot or Greater Bilby.
They are a marsupial and are the largest member of the Bandicoot family.
The Greater Bilby measures up to 55 centimetres in body length, with a tail up to 29 centimetres long. Adult males weigh up to 2.5 kg and females weigh about half that. They have a long pointed snout and very large ears.
Their fur is very soft and mainly grey with a blue tinge to it, their belly is white and their tail is black with a white brush tip.
The Australian Bilby feeds on lots of small insects, like grasshoppers, ants, beetles, centipedes and spiders they also eat various seeds, fruits, roots and bulbs. Like the Koala the Bilby gets most of its needed moisture from the food it eats.
Bilbies have an excellent sense of smell and hearing but rather poor eyesight, which is probably why they only come out at night to feed.
They are normally very solitary little fellas only coming together to mate, but will sometimes live in small groups of up to 4.
Bilbies breed all year round and the gestation period is only 2 to 3 weeks, after being born the young live in the mothers rear facing pouch for about 70 to 80 days. The mother continues to feed them for another two weeks or so.
Bilbies are excellent at digging burrows, up to 2 metres deep, and building large tunnel systems. They will make a number of burrows within their home range and move between them, using them for shelter from predators and the heat of the day.
They live in the arid deserts in patches of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. South Australia has a recovery program to reintroduce them to that state.
Go to next animal page: Camels in Australia
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"The Legend of Bimi"
Introduction
There's a tale that begins in the sand hills
That I would like to tell,
Built from myth and many legends,
And my pen it does compel.
The desert's a hot, a hostile place,
Nothing's changed since time began,
There's a hazy unreality there
As if it, in the dreamtime was planned.
The noon of the day is so hot and still,
And over all an expectant hush,
Like a canvas that's waiting impatiently
For the touch of the artists brush.
The fire of the day can change swifly
To the night of startlingly cold,
Many legends are told of the people
Who live in this land so old.
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"The Legend of Bimi" just go to our
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