{Drawing from specimens at the Melbourne Museum.}
Mitchell's hopping-mouse (Notomys mitchellii)
Brief description: Long, hopping legs. Large ears. Long tail with tuft of fur at the tip.
Description: Body fur pale brown-red, white underneath. Tail red-brown with a tuft of hair toward the end. Body up to 13 cm, tail up to 16 cm.
Biology: Mitchell's Hopping-mice nest in logs and deep burrows. They eat plants, roots, seeds, fungi and insects.
Habitat: Mallee and dry woodlands.
Native status: Native to Australia
Diet: Omnivore
Colours: brown red
Distribution: Scattered populations across mainland Australia.
Conservation status in Victoria: Near Threatened
Spinifex hopping-mouse (Notomys alexis)
Brief description: A large bicoloured mouse with a long tufted tail and elongated legs adapted to hopping.
Description: The Spinifex Hopping Mouse is large for a mouse and can weigh up to 45 grams. The upper parts are chestnut and the underbelly is very light, almost white. They have large pink ears and a very long tufted tail. A small throat pouch is present on adults. Size is measured as the head-body length.
Biology: This species is nocturnal and lives in groups which construct deep burrow systems with several entrances. They shelter in these burrows during the day. They have a typical omnivorous diet, eating a wide range of plant material, fungi and invertebrates. Breeding can occur year round and a high survival rate in good seasons leads to a boom and bust type population. They can move very fast by hopping on their elongated hind feet.
Habitat: Sandy hummock grasslands and mallee woodlands on loamy soils.
Native status: Native to Australia
Diet: Omnivore
Colours: Brown, white, pink
Distribution: Central Australia
Conservation status in Victoria: Least Concerned
Smoky mouse (Pseudomys fumeus)
Brief description: Dark nose, dark around eyes, dark grey fur.
Description: Body fur soft, dense and dark grey, light grey underneath. Dark nose and dark ring around the eye. Tail long, pink with brown stripe along the top. Body up to 10 cm, tail up to 15 cm.
Biology: Smoky Mice raise their tails up and down when threatened. They eat a variety of seeds, fungi, fruit and invertebrates. They shelter in communal burrows in the ground. Smoky mice were thought to be entirely restricted to Victoria until they were found in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales in 1986 and 1994, respectively.
Habitat: Sclerophyll forest, heath, sub-alpine and coastal areas.
Native status: Native to Australia
Diet: Omnivore
Colours: brown white
Distribution: Isolated populations in south-eastern mainland Australia.
Habitat types: Terrestrial
Conservation status in Victoria: Endangered
Rakali (Water-rat) (Hydromys chrysogaster)
Brief description: White end on tail, swims in water.
Description: Extremely dense fur, black to grey above and white to orange underneath. Tail thick and dark, white at the end. Wide, webbed hind feet. Broad face with large whiskers. Body up to 39 cm long
Biology: Water Rats feed on a variety of primarily animal foods including fish, crustaceans, shellfish and some vertebrates. Most active at dusk, but can be active anytime of day. They have been protected since 1938; before then they were killed as a nuisance animal and hunted for their soft fur.
Habitat: Fresh, salt and brackish wetlands.
Native status: Native to Australia
Diet: Carnivore
Colours: brown black yellow
Distribution: Widespread in permanent water bodies of Australia, New Guinea and offshore Islands.
Habitat types: Terrestrial
Conservation status in Victoria: Least Concerned
Infrequent is the glorious chance to draw from specimens up close at the museum. Held quarterly, such hen's teeth drawing opportunities allow for luxurious focus for a whole day (with the only interruption being one's own stamina). On Saturday, together with Louise and my Mum (and a handful of other nature enthusiasts), I was able to draw our requested mounted (read: stuffed) and/or pinned specimens in the quiet hush of the Discovery Centre. With 2B pencil in hand, I was able to soft-shoe shade a sleeping Spinifex hopping mouse, 'paw' over the splendour of the tufty-tailed Mitchell's, ruminate over the nature of a smoky mouse, and marvel at the 'water-mouse with golden belly'. In attendance, an Australian Pied 'peepapeep' oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris), an Azure kingfisher (Ceyx azureus), and a brilliantly impressive, somewhat quizzical Australian raven (Corvus coronoides), though I didn't have enough time to draw their portraits.
Naturally, I can't wait for the next session.
+ An Australian raven, Rakali, and a Mitchell's Hopping mouse appear on the page (by @pasadenamansions).
+ From the last time, when Louise drew an Echidna, a Barn owl, and a Potoroo, and my Mum and I decided it was too much fun for us *not* to come along.
+ Earlier, at the museum, researching Pressed Wings.
