Update 4th Apr 2014

The young ringtail who visited last time has been given a name: Batgirl. She is brave and athletic, and when her name was mentioned to her, she responded with an energetic leap onto a nearby branch, as if saying that she likes the name.

Batgirl (all she needs is a cape) - 31^st Mar 2014

Batgirl (who is probably the daughter of Tilda and Wasabi) seems to like humans; she tends to come closer when humans are around, whereas other ringtails usually retreat, but she doesn't accept food. It's probably good that a young ringtail sticks to natural foods anyway.


Wasabi still hasn't visited. He has been known to go away for months at a time, so there's theoretically nothing to worry about, however I'd really like to know that he's alright.

Even under normal circumstances I tend to worry when a possum hasn't visited in a while because there are so many hazards in the area. This tendency to worry hasn't been helped when recently the grandson of a neighbour spotted a ringtail (possibly Tilda) on the power line feeding my house. His immediate response was to yell out "Shoot it! Shoot it!". Fortunately this is the suburbs and there's no real danger of anyone actually shooting a possum, but nevertheless it shows the sort of attitudes that some people have. The neighbour in question, by the way, appears to have a hatred of trees bordering on a phobia, and he was genuinely puzzled about why I wanted to rescue Cocoa when she was attacked (fatally, at it turned out) by his dog in 2007.  So you could say that we don't see eye-to-eye on some things.

Meanwhile, I've seen another ringtail possum drey (at least I'm fairly sure that's what it is) in a neighbour's palm tree. Fortunately, this belongs to a different neighbour, who doesn't mind possums.

Ringtail Possum Drey - 24^th Mar 2014

This drey looks much more solidly constructed than the previous one and it appeared undamaged after recent heavy rain. I'm not sure who lives in it.

Closeup of Ringtail Drey

Amiri hasn't been seen for nearly a week. When last seen he had an unpleasant wound on each thigh, so I'm hoping he'll come back soon so he can get treatment if he requires it. The wounds are a little weird in that they look like bite wounds, but are symmetrically located high up on each thigh.

Oz is growing up fast, and continues to be a bold exploring possum. Recently he left the nestbox an hour earlier than Kiki, which is unusual for a young possum. He has also even come into the house on his own.

Oz - 4^th April 2014

Finally, here's a picture of Kiki and Oz from a few weeks ago. It's a little out of date, but I thought it was worth sharing.

Kiki, with Oz back-riding - 13^th March 2014