SPECIES: Pseudomys pilligaensis — Pilliga Mouse, Poolkoo
CLASSIFICATION: Vulnerable
Meet the Pilliga Mouse - or Poolkoo. Cute. It's a small, nocturnal, grey mouse, with a white belly and a tail the length of its body topped with a black tuft of fluff. Too cute. Its distinguising feature are its long back feet. Way too cute.
The Pilliga Mouse is found in the Pilliga Forest, NSW, and only three other locations outside of the forest. It prefers a habitat of shrubby woodland and heathlands which provides a safehaven for breeding and keep it hidden away from the clutches of predators. Of the surveys that have been done on the Pilliga Mouse, the species has quite a marvelous reflex of being able to repopulate rapidly after a fire. Quite a remarkable survival tactic to possess. The Pilliga Mouse remains largely under threat from habitat loss - from forestry and gas exploration activities andpredation by cats and foxes.
Photo: By Justin McDowell of Lock the Gate Alliance from Australia - Pilliga Forest: Threatened Pilliga Mouse Uploaded by snowmanradio, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24...