Small Mammal Facility

Thanks to funding provided by Lotterywest, construction of the Small Mammal Facility was completed in july 2010. The facility provides four predator protected pens for the housing of small mammals for research, breeding and rehabilitation purposes. It is built into an area of natural banksia woodland to provide as natural an environment for animals as possible. Each pen measures 55m x 35m. The 1800 mm high fencing is topped with a flexible overhang on both sides (floppy tops) to discourage animals entering or exiting. The external fencing incorporates electrified hot wires as a further barrier to climbing predators. It is specifically designed to resist predators, such as feral cats and foxes. The four pens are interconnected by a set of four gates at the centre point to provide for a range of usage combinations. Infrared floodlights and cameras have been installed to allow the behaviour of animals to be monitored day and night.

All vegetation cleared from the fence lines has been returned back into the enclosure, in accordance with the land clearing permit for the project. This will both assist with revegetation within the area and provide natural shelter and nesting material for the animals. The permit required that we also revegetate an offset area elsewhere on the property. We negotiated with Main Roads Department to undertake the revegetation in conjunction with revegetation it is taking on NAR's property as offset for work recently completed on the Reid Hwy/Alexander Drive interchange. The revegetation program is well under way. Some of the work was deferred in 201, due to the dry winter and planting was completed in winter/spring of 2011. The late spring/summer rains have given the plants a good head start.

The enclosure is initially being used for research into the impact of parasites on the current decline of Woylie populations in WA. The Woylie research project, Woylie Connection, is reported in more detail as another project.

We soon discovered the climbing skills of Woylies far exceed what anyone had ever anticipated, and had to fit floppy tops to the internal fencing as well to stop the animals climbing and moving between pens.

We have also refurbishd some derelict pens which have not been in used for the past decade or so, because they were not predator proof.  Learning from our experience with the Small Mammal Facility, we have extended all the fencing to a uniform 1800mm high and fitted floppy top on both sides of the fence, to stop the feral predators getting in and animals (like Woylies) getting out.  These will be suitable for a range of animals.

We express our sincere thanks to Ambit Industries, our fencing contractors, for their ongoing support.