Meet the Quenda
April 2, 2023 4:26 PM Subscribe
Meet the Quenda: (Video 1); (Video 2). It's not a language invented by Tolkien for the Elves (that's Quenya). Quenda, also called Western Brown Bandicoots, are a small marsupial species native to South Western Australia. Quenda are one of the few native marsupials that can still be seen in Perth’s urban bushland reserves (and sometimes at dusk/night-time at Murdoch University!) Because Quenda bury leaf litter, they help reduce fuel loads which might help reduce bushfire risk (bushfire is the Australian word for a serious forest fire or a serious wildfire). Burying the leaf litter also helps leaves break down and return nutrients to the soil.
Quenda are omnivores and eat arthropods, plant roots, tubers and fungi. They will also eat dried cat food from bowls left outside in people's backyards if they get the chance: wildlife rehabilitation organisations ask that people don't feed their cats outdoors for this reason.
Because they dig up the soil a lot looking for food, Quenda play an important role in soil aeration; seed distribution; and in enabling the soil to absorb and retain water. It's easier for tree seedlings to get established in areas that have Quenda digging in them.
Quenda are omnivores and eat arthropods, plant roots, tubers and fungi. They will also eat dried cat food from bowls left outside in people's backyards if they get the chance: wildlife rehabilitation organisations ask that people don't feed their cats outdoors for this reason.
Because they dig up the soil a lot looking for food, Quenda play an important role in soil aeration; seed distribution; and in enabling the soil to absorb and retain water. It's easier for tree seedlings to get established in areas that have Quenda digging in them.
Oh oh oh! So we need to import a ton of Quenda into the US to help prevent forest fires! Brilliant!
Apart from any ecological ramifications for the US ecology, the main problem with that is that Quenda need to be in cat-free and fox-free habitats in order to thrive...
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:34 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Apart from any ecological ramifications for the US ecology, the main problem with that is that Quenda need to be in cat-free and fox-free habitats in order to thrive...
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:34 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Between the quenda and the quokka, I sense Australian zoologists and lexicographers have formed a cartel to buff up the Q section of the dictionary.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:36 PM on April 2, 2023
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:36 PM on April 2, 2023
Between the quenda and the quokka, I sense Australian zoologists and lexicographers have formed a cartel to buff up the Q section of the dictionary
Don't forget the Western quoll;
the Northern quoll;
the Tiger quoll;
and the Eastern quoll.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:41 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Don't forget the Western quoll;
the Northern quoll;
the Tiger quoll;
and the Eastern quoll.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:41 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Thanks for all the marsupial posts chariot pulled by cassowaries...
So many neat, tiny, endangered, Australian carnivores...
posted by Windopaene at 4:42 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
So many neat, tiny, endangered, Australian carnivores...
posted by Windopaene at 4:42 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
the main problem with that is that Quenda need to be in cat-free and fox-free habitats in order to thrive...
You're ignoring the main benefit of capitalism -- volume! You just flood the zone! It's cheaper that way, anyway. The more you sell at a lower price, the more profit!
posted by hippybear at 4:47 PM on April 2, 2023
You're ignoring the main benefit of capitalism -- volume! You just flood the zone! It's cheaper that way, anyway. The more you sell at a lower price, the more profit!
posted by hippybear at 4:47 PM on April 2, 2023
so long of snout and beady of eye!
posted by scruss at 5:50 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by scruss at 5:50 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Between the quenda and the quokka, I sense Australian zoologists and lexicographers have formed a cartel to buff up the Q section of the dictionary.
Quenda, quokka and quoll are all derived from Indigenous Australian words, run through the usual gauntlet of colonial contact. Quenda (kwinda) and quokka (gwaga) are both from Noongar, while quoll (dhigul) is from the Guugu Yimithirr. That they all ended up being transcribed as starting with
posted by zamboni at 6:31 PM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
Quenda, quokka and quoll are all derived from Indigenous Australian words, run through the usual gauntlet of colonial contact. Quenda (kwinda) and quokka (gwaga) are both from Noongar, while quoll (dhigul) is from the Guugu Yimithirr. That they all ended up being transcribed as starting with
quis probably more about European ears than anything else, although I have a suspicion that the 1960s shift to using quoll instead of
native cat/
tiger catwas influenced by the existing use of quokka.
posted by zamboni at 6:31 PM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
Don't forget the Western quoll;
the Northern quoll;
the Tiger quoll;
and the Eastern quoll.
I would never, the quoll is the cutest thing outside of a pangolin (and inside of a pangolin it’s too dark to see)
posted by eirias at 6:44 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
the Northern quoll;
the Tiger quoll;
and the Eastern quoll.
I would never, the quoll is the cutest thing outside of a pangolin (and inside of a pangolin it’s too dark to see)
posted by eirias at 6:44 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Wallapangaquoll, the turducken of down-under animal feasting!
posted by hippybear at 7:12 PM on April 2, 2023
posted by hippybear at 7:12 PM on April 2, 2023
Kangawallawombaquollquokkaquenda with a teaspoon of macadamia and lilly pilly stuffing.
posted by Thella at 11:53 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Thella at 11:53 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
The good news is, if these are all marsupials, it's much easier to assemble!
posted by hippybear at 11:54 AM on April 3, 2023
posted by hippybear at 11:54 AM on April 3, 2023
I did a taxidermy course a year ago. I was always kinda fascinated and decided to start on basic rabbits. But one day I found a Quenda / WB Bandicoot on the side of the road. Poor lil guy had been hit by a car and his jaw was broken. He was otherwise unmarked, so I put him into the fridge and worked on him in my classes. Their fur is so fine and dense, and their little faces so kind. I just love ‘em and I am glad I got to work with one.
When I had my USA relatives come over with their five year old child, I took them out to Whiteman Park to meet the Quenda and Woylies on a staffed night walk. I like that we have spaces that are cat-free and fox-free for them to have some safety in a country that is over-run with native-animal-destroying cats [imho]
posted by honey-barbara at 8:31 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
When I had my USA relatives come over with their five year old child, I took them out to Whiteman Park to meet the Quenda and Woylies on a staffed night walk. I like that we have spaces that are cat-free and fox-free for them to have some safety in a country that is over-run with native-animal-destroying cats [imho]
posted by honey-barbara at 8:31 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
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