Sasha has now not been seen for over two years. It is not impossible that she is still out there and has moved to a new territory, however she was very old and was behaving oddly the last time she was seen, so it seems likely that her time had come.
While I don't want to single out Sasha over any of the other possums in the area, she has lived here longer, and had more babies, than any other possum, and she deserves to have her life celebrated. She does not deserve to fade into obscurity once the blog mentions stop.
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| Sasha - 7th May 2015 |
NOTE: You can click on any of the pictures on this page for a larger version
Sasha first arrived in the area in early 2015. She was already a large possum at that time - larger in fact than the (at that time) dominant female Kiki who was five years old. It could be that she was just genetically larger, but it seems very unlikely she was a recently independent youngster. She would have been several years old at this time.
Her appearance was different from other possums in the area. It is possible that she might have been (illegally) trapped elsewhere and released nearby. If so, she certainly beat the odds which suggest that relocated possums tend to fare poorly.
Sasha was with us for a little over 9 years. Brushtails are said to live for up to 13 years in the wild and 16 in captivity, so if she had been 3 years old when she first arrived, she would have been reaching the end of her lifespan when she was last seen.
Sasha was always a healthy possum and never once had to be treated for exudative dermatitis. She never suffered any major injuries, like missing toes or torn ears, although once she hurt her leg. In her time here, she had 17 offspring and her line continues with her grand-daughter Blossom currently being the dominant female in the area. Her great-grand-daughters Sprout and Bisou live nearby and visit regularly.
Sasha's children were Puck, Flynn, Mischa, Raffi, Arrow, Tarzan, Pogo, Zak, Miel, Rahmet, Wink, Shane, Blake, Darcel, Aeon, Lorien and Q-Bit.
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| Sasha - 12th May 2019 |
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