A Mammal Survey of Stockman's Reward* 
by R. pRYERt and I. TEMBYf 
Introduction 
Stockman's Reward is a flood plain 
formed at the junction of Arnold's 
Creek and The Big River about 23 
miles north-east of Marys ville on the 
Big River road. A swampy valley 
has evolved about 1,800 feet above 
sea level and the hillsides rise sud- 
denly and steeply from the edge of 
the valley (See Figure 1). Approxi- 
mately eight hundred acres were sur- 
veyed and a comparison made between 
the animals found on the four hun- 
dred and fifty acres of flat valley and 
those found on the three hundred and 
fifty acres of dry hillside. Three field 
trips, one in May 1967, one in May 
1968 and one in June 1968, were 
conducted in the area. Rain fell fre- 
quently but the weather, on the 
whole, was fair. Snow fell in the higher 
districts and the overnight tempera- 
tures ranged from 30°F to 38°F. Of 
the fifteen days spent on this survey, 
there were eleven nights of detailed 
spotlighting, eight days of trapping 
and one day of collecting and identify- 
ing plant specimens. 
Considerable land use has occurred 
in the area and Stockman's Reward 
has a long history. The name came 
from a stockman who apparently 
found his "reward" there in the form 
of gold. A large amount of mining has 
taken place there, evident by the 
cleared area in front of the hut and 
the many disused mine shafts scattered 
about the valley. Many trees have 
been removed for timber but the actual 
survey area has not been subject to 
timber cutting for many years. 
* This report was originally submitted as a 
project to the Science Talent Search 1968. 
1 Mammal Survey Group, F.N.C.V., C/- 
Secretary, 40 Howard Street, Reservoir 3073. 
Grazing occurs intermittently when- 
ever the snow is too deep for the 
farms in the Matlock area, but the 
area is otherwise visited only occa- 
sionally. The native mammals are 
therefore largely free from inter- 
ference by man. 
Topography and Flora 
The flood plain area has a layer 
of rich soil up to two feet thick over 
deep alluvial gravels. This soil, which 
in places was always swampy, sup- 
ported a wet sclerophyll-type vegeta- 
tion. There was a thick ground cover 
of Tussock Grass {Poa caespitosa) in 
the cleared area around the hut, re- 
placed in other areas by a Sedge 
{Carex species) and Long Mat Rush 
(Lomandra longifolia) . The intro- 
duced Blackberry {Rubus fruticosus 
group) and the Molucca Bramble 
{Rubus moluccanos) were found in 
isolated localities throughout the 
area. 
Four species of fern existed on 
the flood plain. Mother Shield Fern 
{Polystichum proliferum) and Fish- 
bone Water Fern {Blechnum nudum) 
being very abundant wherever they 
were found, while the Rough Tree 
Fern (Cyathea australis) occurred 
only in limited numbers. Austral 
Bracken {Pteridium esculentum) was 
common throughout the flood plains. 
Blackwood {Acacia melanoxylon) 
was very plentiful beside the creek 
where it grew to a height of fifty 
feet. It also occurred in pure stands of 
up to a hundred trees. Lightwood 
{Acacia implexa), though much less 
abundant than the former, was also 
widespread. Silver wattle {Acacia 
48 
Vict. Nat.— Vol. 86 
