If you are outside at night, especially in open grassy areas, you are likely to encounter this critter.

Northern brown bandicoot - Isoodon macrourus - Photo by Alex Pawlow

Often mistaken for a rodent, the Northern brown bandicoot is actually a nocternal marsupial native to eastern Queensland, parts of Northern Territory, and the tip of Western Australia.

Bandicoots become used to people, and often scavenge food scraps, so are regularly seen around campgrounds and parks at night. Apart from stealing the odd food scrap, bandicoots normally eat insects, frogs, grass seeds, fruit and some tree roots.

It is not particularly favoured by locals who like a tidy garden, due to its habit of digging up lawns and garden beds in search of worms. It doesn't clean up the mess when finished.

Including its tail, it usually grows to around 50-60 cm in length and around 1.2kg. It is one of the few Australian mammals that exist happily with urbanisation and is common between Cairns and Cape Tribulation.