Long Nosed Bandicoot

A Bandicoot is a marsupial, like opossums and kangaroos.

This means that they carry their children in pouches.

The reason for the Bandicoot’s name is fairly clear when you see the length of his nose.

Two aspects of a long nosed bandicoot make it different from other marsupials.

They have a great many incisor teeth, which means they eat both insects and flesh.

Additionally their second and third toe grows together, a great deal like the kangaroo.

Long Nosed Bandicoot
Long Nosed Bandicoot

Bandicoots hop on their back feet like kangaroos, except they are a great deal smaller.

A bandicoot is about 20 inches long when fully grown and weights about 3 pounds.

They are brown, or grayish brown in color, and can be striped or even orange colored.

Bandicoots are nocturnal animals, hunting and moving around only at night, for which their coloration is excellent.

Normally this is the only time you will see them, as they spend most of the day time hiding, in either crevices in the ground, overturned trees or logs, or tunnels.

Bandicoots dig holes with their paws, big enough to let their noses reach in to gather insects that are hiding or buried under logs or rocks.

They will often be heard to make snuffling sounds while looking for their food and when they find it, they make a loud grunting noise rather like a piglet.

Bandicoot babies are born in the springtime, although they can be born nearly any time all year.

A female Bandicoot has about 3 little ones, who stay in the pouch, facing backwards while they nurse inside the pouch.

The female Bandicoot is capable of having babies as often as every 7 weeks throughout the year if the weather stays nice, and has about 8 nipples inside her pouch even though she only has two or three babies at a time.

The young will stay inside the pouch nursing for about 8 weeks, and then emerge.
Less than 3 months old they are independent and out on their own.

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