Rhonda Bartlett who is a volunteer art tutor at the Senior Citizens Centre, said she had a young quenda living in her backyard.

“It comes in for rolled oats, but one can never set the clock by it,” she said.

“It’s in our yard because it cannot get out. We have made our backyard snake-roof, but when the snake season is over, we will leave our gate ajar so it can get out and meet a mate.”

Rhonda said she doesn’t want to make it too friendly because when it does get out she doesn’t want it to be too trusting of people.

“Sadly many people mistake them for rats and kill them,” she said.

Rhonda said there were a lot of quendas around at the moment.

“Our neighbour often sees one when he is sitting outside in the evening, perhaps a sibling of ours,” she said.

“In Port Geographe a friend said he has one come into his garden and another friend, who lives in Geographe Downs said he has one too.”