Geodyne wrote:

On Fri, 20 Dec 2002 01:48:35 +1100, Trish Brown
wrote:

Now that you mention it, there's something that's had me befuddled for a
couple of years...

snip

They sound like water rats, a native species. They have half white
tails and often frequent breakwaters. If they had short fur on their
tails, then that clinches it.

You've resurrected a long-forgotten menory for me. When I first
started studying at uni I was doing it externally and cooking at the
cafe in Shute Harbour (Whitsundays) to keep a roof over my head. There
were three water rats that lived under the building that the cafe was
in, as it sat over a breakwater. It often took a lot of explaining to
people that no, those "rats" weren't the sort likely to break in to
the kitchen and start eating their food.

Tara


Hey, thanks, Tara! I know next to nothing about native mammals and am
*so* glad to know what I've been wondering about! LOL! Merry Christmas
to you! :-)

--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia