If anyone is heading for Tasmania and wants to see Tasmanian Devils, I strongly recommend an overnight stay at Mountain Valley near Loongana - http://www.mountainvalley.com.au/  I visited just before Christmas and had about 6 or 8 devils feeding on a roadkilled pademelon which had been chopped up and left on the doorstep of my room.  The sound of them crunching through leg bones only a foot away from me was very impressive and we got to watch them for nearly two hours.  It was up there with the best wildlife watching experiences I have had.

There are also Platypus on the property (we saw two) and Spot-tailed Quolls are regular visitors, more so in winter, but we didn't see any.  Plus they get most of the endemic Tasmanian birds there.

I looked for mammals in a few other places around the state during a 2.5 week family trip.  Hobart Waterworks was good - I went twice and had good numbers of Tasmanian Pademelon, Red-necked Wallaby and Brushtail Possums, and one or two Eastern Barred Bandicoot each time.  One night I found an Eastern Quoll, which was a bit of a surprise.  No luck with Tasmanian Bettong, though I did see them there in August.

I spent an evening spotlighting at Peter Murrell reserve south of Hobart.  On paper it has a good mammal list, but apart from a Platypus seen in the late afternoon it was a dead loss; I saw one shy Pademelon and that was it.  Couldn't even find a possum!

The full list is below.  The dips amongst the larger mammals were the Bettong, Southern Brown Bandicoot, Water Rat and Spot-tailed Quoll.

PLATYPUS - two at Mountain Valley, one on the second pond at Peter Murrell Nature Reserve and one at Ladies Tarn at Hartz Mountains
SHORT BEAKED ECHIDNA - four seen at various locations including one on the access road to Lake St Clair.
EASTERN QUOLL - one dark phase animal at Hobart Waterworks
TASMANIAN DEVIL - one on the road at Narawntapu NP and about eight at Mountain Valley
EASTERN BARRED BANDICOOT - one or two on each visit to Hobart Waterworks.  Also three seen driving between Tinderbox and Blackmans Bay
COMMON WOMBAT - about ten at Narawntapu NP
COMMON BRUSHTAIL POSSUM - common everywhere.  A single golden animal seen at Mt Nelson.
COMMON RINGTAIL POSSUM - one at Mt Nelson, and three near Huonville
LONG NOSED POTOROO - up to four nightly at my parents' place at Mount Nelson
EASTERN GREY (FORESTER) KANGAROO - a handful at Narawntapu NP
RED-NECKED (BENNETT'S) WALLABY - common at various locations including Hobart Waterworks and Narawntapu NP
TASMANIAN PADEMELON - lots seen pretty much everywhere, especially Hobart Waterworks and Narawntapu NP.  Also nightly at Mount Nelson.

Plus Rabbits were common and seem to be increasing in numbers.

I have some photos of most species at www.pbase.com/mklord/tasmammals

Murray Lord
Sydney