SCAMP
The Phascogale

During the day Scamp sleeps in a nest lined with leaves and bark in a tree hollow in the forest. When evening comes he ventures out to find something to eat. Sometimes he pops back to the nest during the night, but mostly he spends his time climbing quickly up and down trees looking in cracks and under loose bark. He eats spiders and centipedes and little creatures if he can catch them.

Scamp is very fast and he can turn his back feet around so that the sharp claws face the other way. This means he can run fast down a tree as well as up. He is definitely the fastest character in Secret Gully at going down!

He has a huge black bushy tail, about as big as his body. Perhaps it helps him to keep warm in his nest. When he wants to send a signal, Scamp raps his feet quickly on the bark. His friends usually rap back.

Female phascogales usually have eight babies which stay attached to the nipples for the first few weeks. Then they stay in the nest for about five months while their mother forages for food for them over an area of a few hectares. After they emerge from the nest to become independant, the young phascogales continue to share the nest for sleeping. But eventually they go and find their own tree hollow.

Scamp and his friends live in many places around Australia. However they need trees and bush for their survival, so you won't find him near the city, or anywhere that the trees have been destroyed.