h. Mouitl Si. Bt'inanl 



In hc-Iiriiiify 1 9^7 W M. Bieu. 

 I islitucs and Wildlife Deparmtcflt. 

 trapped an .ldult parous female M 



l,l\cu\ adjacent to it deck uc.u the 



Pacgo High PJutos Uo;ui, nljoui on km 



(0 5 ml) soulh-e..sl ,.| tlu- Alpine Wa\ 

 (k.t. 37'01'S. long U7 05'C>, Ihe 

 altitude ol lliL' creek at this point is 

 141 K m <4h50 |t) A.S.I.. tflb Brtlfll 's 

 .i tributary ol the Dargo River .ind at 

 the location of the Md.iunwiiv.s cap- 

 Itlrfc runs in a sleep-sided VflllBJ <>(> 

 *)0m ( 200 3(H) ft ) below the road. 

 I hi' valley lloor is lairlv level with a 

 maximum width of about 1 5 ni and 

 was densely covered with thickly 

 growing Carex uppfruv. PUc 2 

 shows a iypic.il section ot this gully, 

 The soils in the urea are alpine 

 humus soils (Organic I oamv Soils) on 

 :t b«l qtf of O'doviei.m sl..te\ mud 

 stones (Anon. I Oft i. Costm 

 Neilson l'K-2). 



Meteorological iccotds have not 

 heen kept at Mount St. Bernard, hut 

 nunlall and tempcrutuie data are 

 available for Hotham Heights, f..5 km 

 1 4 ml ) eastmorth-fasl distant and 

 some 400 m ( nno It) higher than 

 this site. These data show that the 

 area has a rainfall ol 14') cm per 

 -annum mainly occurring in winter 

 and spring. Snow may occur in all 

 months of the year hui usuJK fall* 

 between June and Octohei and is 

 normally persistent, otten lorming 

 deep drifts Winter temperatures arc- 

 low, with average daily mimmilms in 

 July, the coldest month, being below 

 freezing point. Daily maximum:-- below 

 1.1 'C" are treipicnth recorded. Janu- 

 ary is the warmest month hut aver- 

 age maximums are only aboui lb C 

 Two excellent summaries of Ihe chrn- 

 ,,te uf Victorian alpine regions may 

 be found in Anon. (1962) and Hogg 

 (1970). 



Mingled with the Cares on the val 

 316 



ley lloor were R8HS t/'r./yu;,-/,,,,,, 

 prcHfltm and Hlrclmmu f , (Wll „ 

 nun inn), tussock grass ( I'ou yp., 

 prob.iblv Pi ausinilh) and many 

 herbs including ll\ portion is ratUcnh 

 Runn-x uccliisclhi. Hnloranit reiru- 

 nyn.t, Cminium poumMoults, l'„,/ c , 

 h'lilmiirifolia. Sfollurtu /m/ty.'/.v A<v- 

 ,■11,, aiiwrini/olia, Oiro,nvtr)ii\ s P 

 hy.mmttyk sp.. and l.oiu.\ sp. Many 

 fallen logs were present, togcihei wi||i 

 isolated shrubs of (Jxylolunm ,ilpv\li,\ 

 (U,;;rin pliln^nptippa, llclicltnun,, 

 u < iinilifltimm. Ann in uhlitpiiiittyo, 

 fyrttnm u-rt>i>hil,i l t/piospen)il(fn 



yiinnlijltinim. l,i-itn>pi>wm \n<nro/em 

 and nuYcsin itliriioliu. 1 he shtuK 

 listed foiuied a lathcl dense low 

 layer on the valley slopes. /..•!,< <.- 

 pawn '.:rli(lni\ I uifluinnpmun \mn- 

 />(.• Ho'ius :md (i,iiilih,-ri,i 0Q/V$J% 

 also occurred within the shrub laser 

 The shiubs were rarclv nunc than 

 1.5-2 m tall and were overtopped h) 

 fU.rdlypmx kels&df&tft, which rose 

 to about 25 m. but ratelv hud a trunk 

 diumctcr greater than 30 cm 



The \fa.\tiuom*,\ was trapped on 

 a runway in ihe sedge, close In tin- 

 eieeK bank. These runways were 

 abundant aud criss-crossed most of 

 the \alle\ lloor. I bey were probably 

 constructed bv the bush rat, Rium\ 

 jiiu-ipt'f (ivu'mi/u which r, very com 

 mon m the area. Trapping carried 

 out bv the author in May 1970 at 

 tins site vtelded only R. tuuipis — 

 7 specimens from 21 traps. The onlv 

 other ground mammal collected in 

 the area was the brown phaseogalc, 

 Antn lunns mu,u!ii. Wombats ( IVji/i- 

 luinn uru'iiis), hrushlail possums 

 I Irn hmtmix mlpciitU' I and rmRiail 

 possums il'xtuiUiChcirux pctcynmm 

 also occur in this locality. 



1'urrher evidence of the presence 

 of Mastacomys in this pari ol Vic- 

 toria is provided by a record ol i 

 damaged specimen collected m 



V.c. Nat Vol 88 



