Smart Animals: Nature’s little helper

Fifty years ago I was doing geological mapping of the region around Bathurst Harbour, in the south-west of Tasmania.

My field assistant and I established a base camp at the junction of the Collins and Old Rivers, not far from Federation Peak. In the evenings we cooked our meal over a campfire, sat on makeshift stools, and lit up our pipes. We discussed the day’s work and listened to the chattering of wildlife as darkness fell. Our campsite was at a strategic position where two streams met. Often in the evenings we saw platypuses nosing their way around the water.

Another animal we shared this campsite with was Wilber. He was our dishwasher.

After we finished our meals we would place our plates with food scraps at our feet. When dusk fell, there would be a trit-trot sound and Wilber would appear nearby in the gloomy surroundings of our kerosene lantern. We learnt to keep very quiet as he would creep right up to our feet and lick our plates clean. Even though we alarmed him on a few occasions he always came back. What exactly was Wilber? He was a spotted-tailed quoll; a cat-sized marsupial with brown fur, white spots and a long tail.

Good old Wilber, what a great service he provided.