A Redditor captured footage of a particularly adorable garden visitor and shared the clip with the community at r/australianwildlife.
"Caught this little bugger red handed, digging up my front lawn," wrote the original poster. "Luckily they are cute and I don't mind at all."
(Click here to watch the video if the embed does not appear.)
The furry friend in question was a bandicoot, a marsupial native to Australia. These little burrowers are a protected species and do a great job deterring pests.
Their diet relies on protein from grasshoppers, beetles, larvae, moths, termites, and other problematic bugs. By letting them roam a garden, homeowners can enjoy healthier plants. A bandicoot's burrows are also helpful for aerating soil.
Luckily the original poster was aware of all of these benefits and skipped the use of pesticides, which would otherwise deter or kill bandicoots trying to get comfortable in their lawn.
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Pesticides are indiscriminate and can kill animals that are beneficial to gardens and farms. Banning use of pesticides like neonicotinoids has shown a significant recovery in U.K. bird populations, for example.
While bandicoot populations are healthy now, domestic cats have also posed a serious threat to them for some time, as ABC noted.
Cats that are allowed to roam outside can be an invasive species. When an animal is taken from its natural habitat and put somewhere new, it's free of the checks and balances it evolved with. In its new home, it can take advantage of local species that are ill-equipped to compete. This allows the invasive species to monopolize resources and create a downward trend in biodiversity.
Conservation efforts like habitat protection and predator management have allowed bandicoot populations in Australia to rebound. Relocation programs have also given bandicoots refuge from would-be predators, like foxes.
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$200 or more 💰 Reddit commenters were excited to see the bandicoot making itself at home in this garden.
"I had one on my lawn yesterday too!! First time ever seeing one!!" wrote one community member.
"Australian native mammals are the cutest especially the small ones," replied another. "Even our native rodents are adorable."
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