This fully-grown, male Brush-tailed Phascogale (aka Tuan) was killed while crossing the Euroa-Strathbogie Rd the night before last, just near the Kelvin View Rd turn-off. Such a shame these beautiful animals are so often killed on our roads. It’s also a bit surprising, as they do spend most of their time in trees, only coming to ground occasionally, when moving from tree to tree.
They are very agile climbers as can be seen from their long, sharp claws and long limbs. Had he not met this untimely end, this male would have spent the next few months exploring his patch of Kelvin View bush , leading up to the June-August mating season. Although the species is considered to be Vulnerable to extinction in Victoria, we are fortunate to have Tuans occurring over much of the Tableland. Read on for more pictures and a map of local records.
This is just one of many road-killed Tuans that have been found on the Tableland – other stories here.
Strathbogie Ranges - Nature View 
Thanks Jane.
There are most definitely Tuans at Marraweeny – https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:b6930f29-3f26-415e-a760-c12c320c2931
They are not often seen, but every now and then a landholder gets lucky or, sadly, a roadkill.
Regards
Bert
Hi Bert,
I totally love this site and wish i lived up there full time. My parents have a holiday shack at marraweeny.
i was trying to figure out from the map if marra is one of the spots the Tuan hang out?
Its very sad, but i think maybe some drivers might see them as rabbits, or even more frighteningly, be looking out for deer to avoid!
Quite an unfortunate end for this poor fellow, but the small silver lining (if it can be taken as such) is general rule of thumb that says plenty of road kill indicates a reasonable population. But please don’t think I prefer to see our native animals as roadkill!
Thanks for sharing, all the same.
I had never even heard of the Tuans. Very sad.
Hi Kylie,
Yep – a big, beautiful boy. An aerial route across the road would have been preferable, but on narrow roadsides like these, these animals are bound to come to ground occasionally. bert
Sad to see such a healthy looking male killed at this time of year. You might be interested to know that tuans have been spotted using rope bridges to cross the Hume Freeway. https://ksoanesresearch.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/other-wildlife-braving-the-bridges/
Hi Sue,
Sad it is, but unfortunately signs won’t be much help. Few drivers would see Tuans on the road at night, most wouldn’t recognize them and it would be impossible to select which roadsides were the highest priority; there’d have to be signs all over the place. Best advice is to drive more slowly to avoid collisions of all sorts! Bert.
Oh this is a sad occurrence. I wonder if there can be a sign displayed showing the existence of the little Tuan to encourage drivers to drive slower, like they do for koalas?
Thanks for your emails, I enjoy them. Sue