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Smoky Mouse (Pseudomys fumeus)

The Smoky Mouse is a small, threatened native rodent of south-eastern mainland Australia. It uses fragmented patches of heath and heathy forest, often on ridges or in damp drainage systems, so clearing, access tracks, fire management and disturbance can affect habitat, food resources, shelter and movement between colonies on development sites.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Endangered.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Critically endangered.

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Endangered.

Australian Capital Territory, Nature Conservation Act 2014: Endangered.

Breeding season

Timing varies between coastal, montane and subalpine areas, but the species has a main breeding period in spring and early summer. Numbers can fall sharply before breeding as young disperse or die when food becomes scarce.

Survey timing should be adjusted for local conditions. The ACT action plan identifies late August to late September as a useful period for adults in coastal forests, September to November in subalpine areas, and February to May for detecting recruited juveniles.

  • Breeding: Breeding can occur from September to April, with most births from October to January. Females produce one to two litters of three to four young.
  • Young: Most births occur from October to January. Juvenile recruitment and dispersal are commonly detected from February to May.
  • Movement and dispersal: Young are forced to leave natal territories during autumn as food resources decline. Transient males may move between colonies in search of mates.
  • Food bottleneck: Numbers commonly decline before the breeding season as food becomes scarce. Winter fungi are important, followed by seasonal reliance on seeds, flowers and invertebrates.
  • Highest clearing risk: Clearing and disturbance are most likely to harm the species from August to February, covering breeding establishment, most births and the period when dependent young occupy burrows. Habitat loss remains a risk in all months because colonies and food patches can be occupied intermittently.

Identification

The Smoky Mouse is a relatively large native mouse with a long tail and a distinctive bicoloured tail surface. It is difficult to detect because colonies can be small, temporary and absent from sites for extended periods.

Adults are pale grey, blue-grey or blackish above, with a grey to white belly. A ring of dark hairs surrounds each large, bulging eye. The feet are pink and covered with white fur.

The tail is lightly furred, blue-grey on the upper surface and white underneath. The western Victorian form, known from the Grampians, is larger and darker than the eastern form. Animals from NSW appear similar to the eastern form.

Head and body: 85 to 100 mm

Tail: 110 to 145 mm

Weight: 45 to 86 g, or 45 to 90 g in the ACT advice

Identification: Distinguishing features

For field identification, check the combination of mouse-sized body, long tail, pale or smoky dorsal fur, dark eye rings and the blue-grey upper and white lower surfaces of the tail. These features should be assessed from a clear photograph or a suitably identified capture, rather than relying on colour alone.

The supplied documents do not provide a diagnostic comparison with named similar species. Hair samples can be identified to Smoky Mouse by specialist analysis, and the national survey guidelines list the species as identifiable from hair samples.

  • Record the animal's overall size, tail length and tail colour pattern.
  • Photograph the head, dorsal fur, underside and tail where this can be done without handling the animal.
  • Retain and submit hair samples only through an appropriately authorised survey and identification process.

Identification: Signs and detection

Smoky Mice live in burrow systems, sometimes in small groups, but the supplied documents do not describe a unique track, scat, call, nest or eyeshine signature. A burrow entrance or other sign should therefore be treated as supporting evidence and confirmed by an accepted survey method.

Detection methods include Elliott traps, hair tubes and motion-sensitive camera traps. None is consistently optimal, and failure to detect the species does not demonstrate absence because numbers and detectability vary greatly between seasons and sites.

Camera deployment in a Victorian study: Five of six cameras detected Smoky Mice after 10 nights at known sites

Recommended camera duration in the survey guidelines: At least 14 nights

  • Use baited camera traps as one part of a survey, not as the only method. The national guidelines describe at least 14 nights and about 10 cameras per hectare for the relevant small-mammal camera approach.
  • Use hair tubes where appropriate and have samples analysed by a suitably experienced hair specialist.
  • Use Elliott trapping, hair tubes and cameras together where the survey design and animal welfare approvals allow.
  • Document burrows, dense heath, logs, rocks, grass tussocks and leaf-litter because these features may indicate suitable shelter habitat even when animals are not detected.

Distribution: National range

The Smoky Mouse occurs in Victoria, NSW and the ACT in a wide but disjunct range. Populations are small and fragmented, and recent records are uneven because the species can remain undetected at occupied sites for long periods.

In Victoria, records include the Grampians, Otway Ranges, the Central Highlands and Victorian Alps, and lowland East Gippsland. The species has not been recorded in the Otway Ranges since the 1980s or East Gippsland since 1990 despite survey effort, so persistence in those areas is uncertain.

In NSW, records include Kosciuszko National Park, Bondo, Buccleugh and Ingebyra State Forests, Nullica State Forest and South East Forests National Park. In the ACT, records are from the Brindabella Range in Namadgi National Park, but targeted surveys have not detected the species since the original records in the 1980s.

  • Major areas identified in the Commonwealth assessment are the Grampians, Central Highlands, Eden and Nullica, and the Snowy Mountains extending from Cabramurra towards the Brindabellas.
  • A substantial population was recorded north of Cabramurra in Kosciuszko National Park during 2018 to 2019, with 42 records from live captures and camera traps.
  • Fossil and subfossil records show that the former range extended more widely through Victoria, south-eastern NSW and the ACT region.

Distribution: Strongholds and population status

The Central Highlands population in Victoria has been described as the largest and as occurring across the largest extent of habitat, although its trend is unclear. Long-term persistence has been demonstrated in the Grampians, but some local sites have declined and the species can disappear from known sites.

The Nullica population in NSW has declined substantially. Site occupancy fell from 85 percent in 1997 to 2004, to 31 percent in 2005 to 2013, and 24 percent in 2014 to 2018 in the cited monitoring area. The trend in the Kosciuszko population is not known.

Estimated area of occupancy from records from 1999 to 2019: 264 km2

Estimated area of occupancy from records from 1979 to 2019: 604 km2, including areas where the species may no longer persist

Likely number of locations in the Commonwealth assessment: No more than five

Estimated mature population: Likely fewer than 10,000 nationally, with fewer than 1,000 in NSW

Nullica site occupancy: 85 percent in 1997 to 2004, 31 percent in 2005 to 2013, and 24 percent in 2014 to 2018

  • Treat records as evidence of use of a wider habitat patch, not necessarily the full distribution of a colony.
  • Maintain connectivity between occupied and suitable habitat patches because recolonisation can depend on movement between subpopulations.
  • In the ACT, treat historical habitat as potentially relevant even though the species has not been detected there for more than three decades.

Habitat: Vegetation communities

Smoky Mouse habitat is varied, but most records are associated with structurally intact heath or heathy understorey and suitable ground cover. Habitat can occur from near sea level to at least 1,800 metres elevation.

Recorded habitats include coastal and subalpine heath, Snow Gum woodland and dry eucalypt forest dominated by Broad-leaved Peppermint, Brittle Gum, Mountain Gum or Alpine Ash. The species has also been trapped in fern gullies and other wet forest habitats in the Grampians.

Many records are from ridge-top sclerophyll forest with a diverse heathy shrub layer. More recent work also found more individuals in damp drainage systems than on dry slopes, so potential habitat should not be restricted to ridges.

Recorded elevation: Near sea level to at least 1,800 m

Characteristic shrub families: Epacridaceae, Fabaceae and Mimosaceae are commonly represented

  • Search dry heathy forest on ridges and mid to upper slopes.
  • Include damp gullies, drainage systems, fern gullies and moist montane forest in habitat assessments.
  • Include coastal and subalpine heath and rocky mountain-top heath where these occur in the project area.

Habitat: Habitat structure

Suitable habitat generally has a floristically diverse, well-developed heath or heathy understorey that supplies food and cover. Important ground features include low heath, grass tussocks, logs, rocks and leaf-litter.

Soils need to support burrowing and the growth of hypogeal fungi. The species generally does not occur in disturbed areas, although isolated captures have occurred in an artificial boulderfield where the rocks may have provided refuge from feral cats.

  • Map and retain connected patches of dense understorey rather than retaining only the point where an animal was detected.
  • Record the condition, continuity and fire history of the shrub layer and ground cover.
  • Avoid assuming that apparently suitable vegetation is unoccupied after a negative survey because detection varies with population cycles and food availability.

Foraging habitat: Diet and seasonal foods

The Smoky Mouse feeds mainly on plant material and underground fungi, with some invertebrates. Food use changes markedly through the year, so habitat must provide different resources across seasons.

The diet includes seeds, berries, flowers, underground fungi and some invertebrates. Legume seeds and epacrid fruits are important in warmer months, and Bogong Moths can form an important spring to summer food source.

In winter and early spring, the species switches mainly to hypogeal, truffle-like fungi associated with the roots of shrubs and grasses. The availability of fungi, seeds, flowers and invertebrates can create seasonal food bottlenecks.

Winter and early spring foods: Primarily hypogeal fungi

Spring to summer foods: Seeds, flowers, berries and invertebrates, including Bogong Moths

Summer and autumn foods: Seeds and plant fruits, with invertebrates also taken

  • Inspect heathy patches for fruiting shrubs, flowering plants, legume seed sources and suitable fungal soils.
  • Retain leaf-litter, soil structure and mature understorey that support hypogeal fungi.
  • Avoid removing connected food patches around a capture site because colonies may depend on a broader set of seasonal resources.

Foraging habitat: Foraging area and movement

The supplied documents do not give a measured daily foraging distance or home range. Colonies occupy discrete habitat patches, and transient males may move between colonies in search of mates.

The species functions as a metapopulation, so feeding habitat, shelter patches and movement links between them should be assessed together. Loss of one food-rich patch can affect recruitment and recolonisation beyond the cleared footprint.

  • Assess the full connected heath or heathy-forest patch around records, including damp drainage lines and adjacent shelter features.
  • Keep movement links between occupied patches where practicable, especially across ridges, gullies and forest edges.
  • Treat roads, construction compounds and cleared easements as potential barriers or sources of predator access.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding occurs in small colonies, often in burrow systems within dense heath or other habitat with reliable food and cover. Females may share breeding burrows.

Breeding is seasonal. Females produce one or two litters of three to four young per year, and breeding may be communal, with several females using the same burrow system.

Males and females can breed in their first year. Many individuals survive to breed in a second year, but survival is lower outside high-quality habitat.

Breeding season: Generally September to April, with most births from October to January

Litters per year: One to two

Litter size: Three to four young

Gestation: About 30 days

Age at maturity: Males and females breed in their first year

Lifespan: A precise lifespan is not provided. Many individuals survive to breed in a second year.

Generation length: One to two years

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat

Breeding colonies are associated with dense heath patches, complex burrow systems, adequate ground cover and year-round access to high-quality food. Females and young are most likely to persist in the best habitat during seasonal food shortages.

Stable understorey structure, connected habitat patches and soils suitable for burrowing are important when assessing breeding habitat. Clearing or repeated disturbance can remove the shelter and food conditions needed for recruitment.

  • Protect dense heath patches and adjacent ground cover around any breeding or live-capture record.
  • Avoid disturbance to suspected burrows during the breeding period, particularly from October to January when most births occur.
  • Retain links between breeding patches because locally empty sites may depend on immigration from other colonies.

Sheltering habitat: Burrows and colonies

The Smoky Mouse shelters in burrow systems and relies on dense ground cover for protection from predators. Shelter is often provided by heath, grass tussocks, logs, rocks, leaf-litter and boulderfields.

Colonies use burrow systems with nesting chambers. The Commonwealth advice describes burrow systems up to about 1 m in length, while the recovery background information describes larger, complex systems with multiple chambers, sometimes more than 25 m long and covering up to 10 m2.

Several females may cohabit in breeding burrows, and a group may include a male and several females. Burrows have defined entrances that can be watched by sit-and-wait predators such as feral cats.

Burrow length described in the Commonwealth advice: Up to about 1 m

Larger burrow systems described in the recovery background: More than 25 m long and up to 10 m2, with multiple nesting chambers

  • Inspect dense heath, soil banks, rock margins and boulderfields for burrow entrances before clearing.
  • Do not collapse, fill or disturb suspected burrows without advice from the relevant wildlife authority and an approved management procedure.
  • Treat a colony area as larger than the visible burrow because food patches, additional entrances and movement links may be nearby.

Sheltering habitat: Ground cover and predator refuge

Dense low heath, grass tussocks, logs, rocks and leaf-litter provide cover. Boulderfields may provide additional refuge from feral cats, and a well-defined boulderfield was associated with an isolated capture site in Kosciuszko National Park.

Fire can remove ground cover and increase exposure to cats and foxes. Retaining unburnt or structurally dense patches is therefore important when planning access, clearing and post-fire works.

  • Retain connected patches of low heath, logs, rocks, tussocks and leaf-litter.
  • Avoid unnecessary removal of ground cover along construction margins and access tracks.
  • Control predator access to known or potential habitat where works or fire have reduced cover.

Threats: Clearing, fragmentation and infrastructure

The main project-related risks are loss and fragmentation of heath habitat, road and track construction, altered fire regimes and increased predator access. These risks can combine with drought, disease and low seasonal food availability.

Vegetation clearance, logging, roads and development can remove habitat and divide colonies. Because colonies are discrete and ephemeral, recolonisation of a locally empty patch may depend on movement from another subpopulation.

The species generally does not occur in disturbed areas. New roads and tracks can also provide access routes for feral cats and foxes, increasing predation risk beyond the cleared strip.

NSW logging example: About 20 percent of the species' area of occupancy within NSW national parks and state forests had been logged since 1990 in the cited assessment

Nullica logging example: About 35 percent of State Forest habitat had been logged since the population was discovered in 1994

  • Avoid clearing dense heath, heathy forest, damp drainage habitat and connected ridge or slope habitat wherever practicable.
  • Map potential habitat beyond the immediate record location and retain links between habitat patches.
  • Keep new vehicle and walking tracks, compounds and other infrastructure out of key habitat where practicable.
  • Do not use a short negative survey as evidence that a habitat patch is unoccupied.

Threats: Fire and climate

Too frequent burning can simplify the heath understorey, reduce floristic diversity and fungal abundance, remove predator refuge and increase predator activity. Very severe wildfire can also remove habitat and cause local population loss.

The species has been recorded in vegetation 2 to 40 years after fire and persisted for at least 21 months after severe wildfire at one study area. The documents suggest that moderate fire intervals of about 15 to 20 years, and sometimes up to 40 years, with low to moderate severity may maintain suitable habitat at many sites, but the optimum regime is not established.

Fire interval suggested for many heath and dry-forest sites: About 15 to 20 years, and up to 40 years in some situations

Fire persistence record: Persistence for at least 21 months after severe wildfire at a monitored area

2019 to 2020 fire impact: The Commonwealth advice estimated that 10 to 30 percent of the distribution range was impacted; the ACT advice refers to almost 30 percent of modelled, likely and known distribution within fire-affected areas

  • Include Smoky Mouse habitat in fire planning and assess both planned burns and wildfire suppression activities.
  • Avoid repeated burns that remove dense understorey, ground cover or fungal habitat across connected patches.
  • Retain unburnt refuge patches where practicable and consider predator control after fire where monitoring identifies increased risk.
  • Account for drought, hotter conditions and potentially more frequent or intense fires when assessing long-term habitat suitability.

Threats: Predators, disease and other pressures

Feral cats and foxes are major current threats. Wild dogs may also take Smoky Mice, although their population-level effect is less clear. Predation risk increases when fire or clearing removes dense ground cover.

Phytophthora cinnamomi can remove susceptible heath plants and degrade or eliminate habitat. Climate change may compound fire, drought, food shortages and predator impacts. For captive or translocated animals, the ACT advice also identifies Black Rats and possible competition or disease transmission as risks.

Phytophthora effect cited in the conservation advice: Up to 60 percent of understorey plant species may be eliminated in infected heathlands and heathy woodlands

  • Manage feral cats and foxes near known populations and after disturbance or fire where required.
  • Assess the risk of spreading Phytophthora cinnamomi through vehicles, machinery, soil and gravel, and apply hygiene controls where relevant.
  • Avoid control programs that address only foxes without considering possible increases in cats or rabbits.
  • Prevent construction activities from creating new predator access routes into retained habitat.

Survey methodology: 1. Habitat assessment and daytime searches

Survey the Smoky Mouse, Pseudomys fumeus, as a low-density, highly fluctuating species that can be missed even where it persists. Use several methods together, target floristically diverse heath and heathy forest, and treat a non-detection as inconclusive.

First map and inspect potential habitat across the work area and nearby retained land. Focus on ridge-top sclerophyll forest, coastal or subalpine heath, Snow Gum woodland, dry eucalypt forest and damp drainage systems or gullies.

Look for a diverse heathy understorey, low ground cover, grass tussocks, logs, rocks, leaf litter, burrowable soil and plants associated with hypogeal fungi. The species can occur from near sea level to at least 1,800 metres.

Use vegetation maps, aerial photographs, topographic maps and satellite imagery to plan the search, then ground-truth the mapped habitat.

For small sites, use transects spaced 50 to 100 metres apart or quadrats in representative vegetation. The survey guideline suggests two hours per hectare for a 5 hectare area, with searches for habitat resources conducted with searches for signs of fauna activity.

Body size: Head and body length 85 to 100 mm; tail length 110 to 145 mm; weight 45 to 90 g.

Key habitat: Floristically diverse heath or heathy understorey, adequate ground cover and soil suitable for burrowing and hypogeal fungi.

  • Record habitat condition, time since fire where known, ground cover, dense shrub patches, logs, rocks, burrows and signs of predators.
  • Search for burrows, tracks, scats and other signs, but do not rely on signs alone because the species is difficult to detect and colonies are ephemeral.

Survey methodology: 2. Baited remote cameras

Deploy baited remote cameras in suitable habitat, particularly dense heath, rocky refuges, damp drainage systems and habitat near known records.

Use cameras with other methods. The survey guideline states that cameras should not be the only survey technique because detection failure does not demonstrate absence.

For a study area of 1 hectare or less, the guideline describes approximately 10 cameras per hectare for at least 14 nights. A documented Smoky Mouse survey used 10 cameras for 18 nights, with five of six cameras detecting the species after 10 nights at known sites.

Position the sensor about 25 centimetres above ground and use a passive infrared sensor. Date-stamped images allow detection histories and detection probabilities to be assessed.

Recommended camera effort: At least 14 nights and approximately 10 cameras per hectare, where the survey guideline applies.

Documented species survey: Ten cameras were deployed for 18 nights; five of six cameras detected Smoky Mice after 10 nights.

  • Record camera model, location, height, bait, deployment dates, nights operational, habitat type and image review results.
  • Maintain cameras for the full deployment period and check for failure, disturbance, bait loss and false triggers.

Survey methodology: 3. Elliott trapping and hair sampling

Use Elliott A traps and hair tubes in a stratified design across suitable habitat, including dense heath, ridge tops, damp drainage lines and adjacent retained habitat.

Place effort in habitat patches with food plants, ground cover, rocks, logs and suitable soils. Include potential movement routes between habitat patches.

The species has low and variable trapping rates, commonly around 4 percent or less, but rates can be higher in high-quality habitat. Extended trapping may be needed during periods of low abundance.

Hair sampling can identify the Smoky Mouse when a suitable sample is obtained. Deploy hair tubes for several consecutive days and have samples analysed by an experienced specialist.

Typical trapping rate: Usually around 4 percent or less, although higher rates occur in high-quality habitat.

Hair identification: The Smoky Mouse is listed as identifiable from a suitable hair sample.

  • Use appropriate animal ethics, welfare and wildlife permit requirements for live trapping.
  • Avoid repeatedly trapping pregnant or lactating females and minimise disturbance to dense vegetation and burrow systems.
  • Record trap nights, trap type, bait, weather, habitat, captures, recaptures, trap failures and non-target captures.

Survey methodology: 4. Predator scats and incidental evidence

Collect predator scats, owl casts or remains where permitted, targeting predator dens, nests and likely movement routes. Smoky Mouse remains have been detected in fox and wild dog scats.

Record all incidental observations, camera records, hair samples, captures and remains with precise coordinates, date, habitat and evidence type.

Use predator evidence to guide targeted searches and to identify areas where construction may increase predation risk.

  • Do not report an unverified hair or scat record as a confirmed live population record.
  • Have hair and other material identified by an appropriately qualified specialist.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

Use a combination of habitat assessment, camera trapping and either Elliott trapping or hair sampling for project decisions where suitable habitat may be disturbed.

Survey during periods suited to the local habitat and elevation. Adult surveys are recommended from late August to late September in coastal forests and from September to November in subalpine areas; juveniles may be detected from February to May.

Plan repeat surveys where the first survey produces no detection, because the species can disappear from known sites and population abundance changes substantially between seasons.

Submit confirmed records, reliable non-detections and project survey data to the relevant state or territory wildlife database, and provide records to the approving agency where required.

  • Report survey dates, effort by method, weather and conditions, exact locations, habitat, fire history where known, records, photographs and laboratory identifications.
  • State clearly whether the result is a confirmed detection, probable record, non-detection or survey constrained by conditions.
  • Retain raw camera images, trap sheets, hair analysis results, GPS data and chain-of-custody information.
  • Obtain current advice from the relevant state or territory agency before finalising the survey design.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Treat suitable Smoky Mouse habitat as potential habitat even when recent surveys have not detected the species. The species occurs in small, disconnected colonies, so clearing one patch can affect movement, recolonisation and local persistence.

Avoid clearing floristically diverse heath and heathy understorey, dense ground cover, rocky refuges, logs, leaf litter and soils that support burrowing and hypogeal fungi.

Retain connected habitat patches around known or potential colonies rather than retaining isolated strips or small pockets only.

Avoid new roads, tracks, walking tracks, infrastructure and construction access through key habitat where practicable. The ACT advice identifies tracks as potential predator access routes.

Do not assume that formal reserve status removes project risk. The species has been recorded in national parks, state forests and other tenures.

  • Set project exclusion areas around known records, high-quality habitat, damp drainage systems, ridge-top heath, rocky refuges and habitat links.
  • Use a site-specific ecological assessment to define exclusion areas and any buffers. The supplied documents do not prescribe a universal Smoky Mouse buffer distance.
  • Keep machinery, laydown areas, spoil, waste, lighting and fuel storage outside retained habitat.
  • Prevent sediment, soil movement, weeds and Phytophthora cinnamomi from entering retained heath and heathy forest.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and planning

Check whether the action is likely to have a significant impact on the EPBC Act listed Endangered Smoky Mouse and obtain advice on referral and approval requirements before works begin.

Check state and territory threatened species legislation, wildlife permits, animal ethics requirements and project approval conditions. The species is listed as Endangered nationally, Critically Endangered in NSW and Endangered in Victoria under the current information supplied.

Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies habitat, survey results, exclusion areas, clearing limits, fauna handling arrangements, stop-work triggers, reporting and rehabilitation commitments.

Coordinate planning with adjoining land managers where habitat crosses state or territory borders, especially in the ACT and NSW high country.

  • Include the National Recovery Plan, Commonwealth Conservation Advice, relevant state advice and local permit conditions in the fauna management plan.
  • Set out who may handle fauna, who may authorise release sites and who must be contacted for injured animals or unexpected records.
  • Stage works so that the smallest practicable area is opened at one time and retained habitat remains connected.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

Complete the pre-clearance survey and habitat inspection at the time and effort specified in the fauna management plan and approval conditions.

Mark exclusion areas, retained habitat, movement links, burrows, dense heath, logs, rocks and other habitat features before machinery enters the site.

Install exclusion fencing only where it will not block movement into retained habitat or trap animals inside the work area. Inspect fencing daily while it is in place.

Brief the fauna spotter catcher, operators and supervisors on the species’ appearance, habitat, stop-work triggers, access limits and escalation contacts.

  • Undertake a final daily inspection before clearing starts, especially after fire, heavy rain, machinery movement or changes to the work footprint.
  • Remove or modify artificial shelter only under the approved fauna management procedure and with the fauna spotter catcher present.
  • Keep an unobstructed route to nearby retained habitat where staged clearing and fauna relocation are part of the approved plan.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery coordination

Clear slowly and under direct supervision in potential habitat. The fauna spotter catcher must be able to stop machinery before habitat features are removed or an animal is harmed.

Hold a daily pre-start briefing covering the mapped exclusion areas, clearing sequence, weather, access routes, equipment and emergency contacts.

Use a fauna spotter catcher who is authorised under the relevant jurisdiction and project approval to direct clearing and handle fauna.

Clear in stages and at a speed that allows the spotter catcher to inspect vegetation, ground cover, logs, rocks, burrows and machinery paths before removal.

Keep machinery outside exclusion areas unless the approved plan specifically permits entry and the fauna spotter catcher is present.

  • Stop machinery immediately when the spotter catcher gives the stop signal.
  • Use a spotter catcher on foot in advance of the machine where safe, with clear visual or radio communication with the operator.
  • Do not allow operators or untrained workers to chase, capture, feed or handle a Smoky Mouse.
  • Avoid night clearing unless it is specifically approved and supported by a fauna management procedure.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat features and unexpected fauna

Inspect and manage logs, rocks, dense heath, leaf litter, burrows and ground refuges before they are moved or crushed.

Retain habitat features in place wherever practicable. If an approved relocation is required, move features carefully to nearby retained habitat with similar cover and soil conditions.

The supplied documents do not identify hollow-bearing trees, wetlands or nest boxes as specific Smoky Mouse habitat features. Manage these features for other fauna under the project fauna plan, while prioritising the Smoky Mouse features identified in the habitat assessment.

If a Smoky Mouse is found, stop work in the immediate area, protect the animal from machinery and contact the authorised fauna handler and project ecologist.

Relevant shelter features: Dense heath, low vegetation, grass tussocks, logs, rocks, leaf litter, burrows and boulder refuges.

Known predator concern: Feral cats, foxes and wild dogs are documented threats; fire can reduce cover and increase predation risk.

  • Do not handle the animal unless authorised, trained and permitted under the applicable approval and wildlife requirements.
  • Release a healthy animal only to an approved nearby retained habitat site with suitable cover, connectivity and shelter, and record the release location.
  • Place an injured or distressed animal in a secure, quiet container and transfer it to an approved wildlife carer or veterinarian as directed by the fauna management plan.
  • Do not release an animal into recently cleared ground, exposed habitat, unsuitable vegetation or an area with uncontrolled predator risk.

During habitat disturbance: Stop-work triggers and records

Stop work if a Smoky Mouse is detected, if an animal may be within the clearing path, if exclusion fencing fails, or if the spotter catcher cannot safely inspect the next clearing area.

Stop work if clearing extends beyond the approved footprint, if a new high-quality habitat patch or connected habitat link is identified, or if fire, smoke, flooding or other conditions prevent safe fauna supervision.

Resume only after the fauna spotter catcher and authorised project representative have inspected the area, implemented the approved response and documented the decision.

  • Record date, time, location, activity, equipment, personnel, weather, habitat feature, species evidence, action taken, release or treatment details and any damage or mortality.
  • Photograph and GPS-mark confirmed records, injured animals, carcasses, release sites and breaches of exclusion areas where this can be done safely.
  • Notify the regulator, approval holder and land manager of a threatened species record, injury, mortality, unauthorised impact or stop-work event within the timeframe required by the approval.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

The project remains responsible for protecting retained habitat and confirming that controls worked after clearing. Post-work checks should address both direct impacts and the increased predation and fire risks associated with disturbed cover.

Inspect the entire cleared footprint and its edges for injured or dead fauna, trapped animals, damaged exclusion fencing, isolated habitat patches and remaining burrows or refuges.

Check that no machinery, spoil, waste, fencing or access route has entered retained Smoky Mouse habitat or blocked a habitat connection.

Remove temporary fencing only after the fauna spotter catcher or ecologist confirms that animals cannot be trapped and that the approved site condition has been achieved.

  • Complete a final search of retained habitat beside the work area after clearing and after major construction activities.
  • Report any mortality, injury, new record or unauthorised disturbance under the project incident procedure and relevant approval conditions.
  • Inspect erosion, sediment and weed controls after rain and repair them before they affect heath, forest understorey or drainage habitat.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor retained habitat and any approved relocation or rehabilitation area using the methods and timing in the fauna management plan.

Use cameras, hair sampling, Elliott trapping or other approved methods where monitoring is needed. Interpret non-detection cautiously because Smoky Mouse abundance and detectability fluctuate markedly.

Continue monitoring long enough to detect seasonal use, population pulses and any decline in ground cover or understorey condition.

  • Submit confirmed records and monitoring results to the relevant state or territory wildlife database.
  • Provide the approval holder, regulator and land manager with survey effort, detections, non-detections, incidents, relocation outcomes and rehabilitation progress.
  • Compare monitoring data with the pre-work baseline and state whether habitat condition, connectivity and predator activity have changed.

After habitat disturbance: Ongoing controls and offsets

Maintain access, sediment, weed, Phytophthora and predator controls for the period required by the approval or fauna management plan.

Keep retained habitat free of unnecessary tracks, stockpiles, lighting and repeated disturbance.

Where residual impacts remain, implement any approved offset or conservation measure for the Endangered species in accordance with the EPBC approval and state requirements.

Do not treat an offset as a substitute for avoiding and minimising clearing of suitable habitat.

  • Review fire management with the land manager so that planned burns and wildfire responses protect unburnt habitat and maintain suitable understorey cover.
  • Coordinate predator control with the land manager, including consideration of cats and foxes and the risk of changing predator pressure when one predator is controlled alone.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore habitat structure and food resources

Rehabilitation should recreate connected, structurally diverse habitat rather than a simple tree planting area. Smoky Mouse habitat depends on understorey diversity, ground cover, burrowable soil, seasonal food resources and protection from introduced predators.

Reinstate or protect floristically diverse heath and heathy understorey using locally appropriate native species from the surrounding community.

Prioritise plant families and food resources associated with known habitat, including Epacridaceae, Fabaceae and Mimosaceae, where they are appropriate to the local vegetation community.

Restore low dense vegetation, grass tussocks, logs, rocks, leaf litter and other ground cover that provide shelter from predators.

Maintain soils and litter conditions that support hypogeal fungi, and avoid compaction, unnecessary soil movement and practices that spread Phytophthora cinnamomi.

  • Use local provenance plants and a planting design that links retained patches rather than creating isolated habitat islands.
  • Reinstate salvaged logs, rocks and suitable natural cover where this can be done without spreading weeds or pathogens.
  • Do not assume that hollow trees, nest boxes or wetlands will restore Smoky Mouse habitat unless they are required for other fauna or the local habitat assessment identifies them as relevant.
  • Control weeds before they simplify or replace the heathy understorey.

Rehabilitation actions: Fire and predator management

Develop fire management with the land manager to maintain diverse understorey structure and ground cover. The available advice suggests moderate fire intervals of about 15 to 20 years, and up to 40 years in some sites, with moderate intensity, but the suitable regime remains uncertain and must be site-specific.

Protect unburnt habitat during wildfire response and planned burns where practicable.

Reduce feral cat, fox and wild dog impacts around retained and rehabilitated habitat, particularly after fire when ground cover is reduced.

Manage vehicle and walking access because tracks may provide predator access to habitat.

Indicative fire interval: About 15 to 20 years, and up to 40 years in some heath and dry forest sites, subject to local evidence and approval.

Fire response concern: High-severity fire and post-fire loss of ground cover may increase local extinction and predation risk.

  • Do not apply frequent burns that simplify the understorey or reduce fungal diversity.
  • Do not use a single fire interval for every Smoky Mouse site; use local vegetation, fire history and monitoring to refine the regime.
  • Control predators in accordance with approved programs and check for unintended changes in rabbit, cat or other predator activity.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

Monitor plant establishment, understorey diversity, ground cover, logs and rocks, soil disturbance, weed cover, Phytophthora indicators, fire history and predator activity.

Use cameras and, where authorised, hair sampling or Elliott trapping to assess use by Smoky Mice. Apply the same method and effort over time so results can be compared.

Maintain connectivity between rehabilitated areas and occupied or suitable retained habitat.

Set quantitative targets and resourcing requirements in the rehabilitation plan, as recommended by the ACT conservation advice.

  • Record the area rehabilitated, plant survival, understorey cover, habitat features reinstated, weed and pathogen control, predator activity and monitoring effort.
  • Treat success as establishment of connected, diverse heathy habitat with persistent ground cover and no unacceptable predator, weed or pathogen pressure, not simply completion of planting.
  • Investigate failed establishment and adapt planting, weed control, fire planning or predator management before habitat condition declines further.
  • Provide monitoring results to the relevant wildlife database and approval agencies where required.

Sources