I should give an update on how the trapping is going- I set up two camera traps as an experiment on placement for a month in some wandoo woodland.
I found that even in an open area, the cameras are very sensitive to wind and plant movement. I did get a variety of animals on camera, including wallabies, lizards, kangaroos and bats. The camera set on a wildlife trail was triggered by mammals much more often, but usually by the same individuals using the track, wgich is annoying but probably unavoidable
The cameras were not set out in an area with previous ‘cougar’ sightings, as those areas are too hard to access for an experimental run.
The plan now is to set out one camera on a granite cave system, for the next 6 months.