Scientists have shown that Koalas use trees as heat sinks, transferring their excessive body heat to the cooler tree trunk by hugging it tightly. They pretty much use their bum and belly skin to get the maximum contact and thus maximum heat transfer. This is an unusual but effective thermoregulatory strategy in mammals.

To find out more see http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/06/koalas-hug-trees-to-keep-cool

A specimen was found in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London dated 1901, many thousands of years after it was assumed to have become extinct. This discovery, along with an account by an elderly Aboriginal woman who in 2001 told of how she used to hunt them, has scientists and naturalists excited.

The Western Long-beaked Echidna Zaglossus sp is a metre long monotreme (egg laying mammal) and about 10kg in weight – and hopefully still roaming remote WA. They definitely still exist (just) in New Guinea where one of the 3 species is named in honour of Sir David Attenborough Zaglossus attenboroughi. Scientists are hoping to find them, or at least their scats (poohs), for DNA testing to determine if they are still out there. Let's hope for positive results.

The AWC trip was over early and when I got home later that morning my National Geographic magazine had just arrived with an article about the US army's IED (Improvised Explosive Device) detecting dogs and their work in Afghanistan. So I thought I would bring you some dog sniffing stuff this month.

You and I have about 5 million olfactory receptors in our noses; by contrast a dog has around 220 million. In essence their sense of smell is by some accounts 100,000 times more acute than ours. Which is really absolutely amazing. Also some 40% more of their brain is committed to analysing scents than ours. They smell very well.

This phenomenal ability is put to use in a diverse variety of services for you and I via governments with the military, police, customs, non-government organizations (NGOs) and numerous others around the world. The US Customs and Border Detection unit alone has over 800 working dog teams that are trained to detect a range of items from undeclared cash, concealed humans, illegally imported agricultural products and of course narcotics.

A few other things dogs are trained to sniff out include:

• DVD/CD - Used to find counterfeit DVD imports in Malaysia, UK and USA. They are trained to smell large quantities of the discs on people or in shipped packages.
• Bumble Bees - In the UK helping researchers find endangered species. They smell the unique scent of bumble bee colonies.
• Bacteria - That can cause American foulbrood in commercial bee hives.
• Whale pooh - Yes weird but true – helping cetacean research.
• Bed bugs - Keeping hotel rooms bug free and showing pest controllers where to treat.
• Mobile phones - Searching for smuggled phones in prisons.
• Minerals and ores - Ovulation in cows – The rare Oregon spotted frog – Cancer - Fingerprints up to a week old – Termites – Diabetes – Cane toads

Believe it or not bees, flies and rats also have a good nose. They and other species have been trained and are utilised to detect particularly explosives. Apparently whilst it takes 6 months to train a dog, a bee can be trained in around an hour. They are "worked" in tubes carried by their operator and are capable of sniffing for example very low traces of Semtex or land mines. Rather than buzzing randomly about in their tubes when a target odour is detected they zoom towards one end thus alerting their operator.

I once had to train a large Bumble Bee Bombus lucoram to fly and land on a BMW air filter (whilst facing camera and smiling!) feed for 1 second and then fly off at a particular angle. This was for a TV commercial. I was lucky and had nearly two weeks to get the bees trained or "conditioned" for the shoot. Fortunately it all went well and they performed as required.

It would appear that lizard tails (the dropped tails and not the living animal) are a regular part of the diet of juvenile dugite road kills that she has dissected. This finding is interesting for many reasons - to find out more and to help her research come and hear her speak.

She will be giving a short talk at the WAHS West Australian Herpetological Society July meeting at the Gould League Centre, Herdsman Lake Wembley on July 4th. Details via http://wahs.org.au/meetings.html

Possums are considered herbivores, with leaves making up much of the diet, but are partial to insects and grubs as well. They have a high tolerance of toxic native plants and are very partial to many exotics flowers such as roses, vegetables and fruits, which brings them into conflict with gardeners and orchard owners. Their tendency to find an entrance and move into ceiling and roof spaces also makes them a common pest for many with noisy squabbles and the heavy sound of them running across roofs. They generally live in tree hollows and fallen logs but on largely treeless Barrow Island they live on the ground, utilising limestone caves and other shelters.

Studies have shown they spend about 44% of their time sleeping or sheltering, 30% travelling, 16% feeding and 10% grooming. They can breed continuously when conditions are favourable but more often in autumn and spring. A single young is born 16-18 days after mating and will spend about 5 months in the pouch attached to one of the two teats. They then spend another two months suckling and riding on mums back before becoming fully independent.

Dingo, fox, cat, quolls, monitor lizards and pythons are all predators. Possums also lose out with the reduction of suitable habitats due to housing and agriculture and in competition for refuge hollows with parakeets and bees. Populations are good though and the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has their conservation status as that of least concern.