Introducing Aeon, Grasshopper, Rae and Kulan

Within the space of a few days, all three of the females in the area arrived with back-riding babies.

Sasha was the first to arrive with her baby Aeon.

Aeon back-riding on Sasha - 17^th Aug 2022

Next was Wink, who arrived with her baby Grasshopper.

Grasshopper back-riding on Wink - 14^th Aug 2022

Soon after was Blossom with her baby Rae.

Rae back-riding on Blossom - 18^th Aug 2022

Also, a new male possum, Kulan has made himself known. He has probably been around for a while but has only recently become friendly with the humans.

Kulan - 11^th Aug 2022

Walt has still not been seen. I hope that there has been a territorial realignment with Kulan moving here and Walt moving elsewhere.

Kulan has a very different personality to Walt. Walt was always very nervous and when given food he would frantically look left and right as if he was about to run for it and sometimes he would get into such a state of nervousness that he would almost fall out of the tree. Whereas Kulan has always been very calm. Right from the start he was able to be fed by hand without the need for skewering food on an ice cream stick to keep out of reach of snatching claws.

Kulan is familiar with the female possums in the area. Unfortunately I missed a photo of him nose-to-nose with Wink, but I did get this one.

Kulan (bottom left), Wink (top right) and Grasshopper (back-riding) - 14^th Aug 2022

Wink seems to be content to let Kulan use some of her boxes. He's often seen in boxes 2 and 8.

Hapi disappeared around the same time as Kulan appeared. As a young male this is about the time that he would normally be expected to leave the area. Here is the last photo taken of him. Hapi is a smart little possum. For a while he has had his own nesting spot and no longer relies on the possum boxes and he has been good at evading the three larger females in the area. I'm hoping he will do well.

Good luck little Hapi.

Hapi - 5^th Aug 2022

Aeon is Sasha's 15^th known baby. Aeon is probably a boy but I'm not 100% sure. Aeon was first seen back-riding on the 9^th Aug 2022. Sasha is very protective of her babies and dislikes having photos taken of them, so it was a few days before I could get any photos worth showing. Aeon is the only one of the babies with a white-tipped tail - visible in front of Sasha's shoulder in the photo below.

Sasha and Aeon can be seen in box 1, 3 or 5 pretty much every day. Sasha regularly alternates between these three boxes in her territory.

Aeon back-riding on Sasha - 11^th Aug 2022

Aeon back-riding on Sasha - 17^th Aug 2022

Grasshopper is Wink's third baby. Grasshopper is a boy. He was first seen back-riding on 11^th Aug 2022.

Wink's territory includes boxes 2, 7 and 8 as well as other sleeping spots in the garage. Wink and Grasshopper can most often be seen in box 7 but occasionally box 8.

Grasshopper back-riding on Wink - 14^th Aug 2022

Grasshopper back-riding on Wink - 14^th Aug 2022

Rae is Blossom's first baby. I am fairly sure Rae is a boy.

Blossom has some unknown nesting spot nearby and no longer uses any of the possum boxes, so you won't be able to see her baby at play.

Blossom seems to be coping very well with the difficulties of wrangling a baby possum.

Rae trying to get in to Blossom's pouch - 17^th Aug 2022

Blossom (left) and Rae (right) - 18^th Aug 2022

There are three ringtails who are often seen in the yard - A mother and her grown baby and a third who is probably the father. They have no inclination to come close to the humans and are difficult to photograph. For the record here is a distant shot of the mother and baby.

Ringtails - 10^th Aug 2022

Elmo has now not been visiting for a while. This is one of the last photos taken of him.

Elmo - 27^th July 2022

The brush turkeys are still around, with Merlin and his two Wildling companions visible most days. After a break over winter, Merlin is now building up his mound for the spring. It looks like there will be another La Niña this summer which should mean lots of brush turkey chicks.