Update 25th Dec 2015

I thought I'd start this post with a Christmassy looking photo. This is a King Parrot who visited last week.

King Parrot - 17^th Dec 2015

As a holiday bonus, we have a Baby Possum Alert. Sasha has been using Box 7, and her latest baby has started to emerge from her pouch during the daytime.

Brush Turkeys

A Brush Turkey has built his mound in the back yard.

The Brush Turkey - 25^th Nov 2015

The last time this happened was when Attila the Turkey built his mound in 2008.

Update 28th Nov 2015

Currently, only Sasha and Farley have been turning up with any regularity. Toto has been seen on and off - she is still living in the ceiling space but doesn't visit the feeding area very often and is probably being kept away by Sasha.

Toto glares angrily out of the ceiling space at Sasha in a nearby tree - 31^th Oct 2015

A Shortage of Baby Possums

Given the last few posts on this blog, you would have thought that this place would currently be overrun with cute baby possums, and you might be wondering where all of the photos are.

Kyoo back-riding on Kiki as they leave Box 4 - 19th Sept 2015

Unfortunately, there hasn't been much to see.

Introducing Kyoo

Kiki has finally brought her new baby to the house. The baby has been named Kyoo (pronounced "Cue"). Kyoo is probably a boy.

Kiki with Kyoo back-riding - 16^th Sept 2015

According to the box cameras, Kyoo has been both entering and leaving the nest box back-riding on Kiki for some time now, so Kiki has probably been deliberately waiting for the right time to introduce her baby to the humans.

The Possum Feeder

[Warning in advance: This is going to be a very lengthy and technically detailed post with no possum pictures in it.]

Over the past few years, I have pondered the best way to address the problem of feeding possums when there is no one at home. It isn't that the possums are dependent on feeding and are going to die if the food source is cut off, but more that they're part of the family and I want them to feel cared for when there's no one at home.

The Possum Feeder, ready for use

The eventual solution was to build the automatic possum feeder shown here.

Another New Baby Possum!

Last night, Ruby arrived with a baby riding on her back.  The baby has been named Red, because he or she looks very red in person.

Ruby with Red back-riding - 2^nd Sept 2015

Ruby is the first ringtail to bring a back-riding baby to the house since Gumdrop around the end of 2011.

Update 26th August 2015

Sasha's baby has been named Puck. Puck is a little boy possum.

Puck (left) and Sasha (right) - 19^th Aug 2015

Sasha's Baby

Sasha's baby is now out of the pouch and back-rides on Sasha when she is visiting.

Sasha's Baby - 10th August 2015

The baby doesn't have a name yet and its gender is unknown.

Extra Bonus Baby Possum!

If you have been watching the box cameras today, you might have been confused, because in the last entry I described Kiki's baby as being 'at the "starved frog" stage of development', and yet there was a large and fully furred baby possum frolicking over its mother in Box 1.

Sasha's baby in Box 1 - 8th Aug 2015

What has happened is that Sasha is using a possum box for the first time, and her baby, which is much further developed than Kiki's, is coming out to play.

Baby Possum Time Again!

Kiki and her 13^th Baby - 4^th August 2015

Recently, Kiki has been visiting Box 7, and her latest baby (No. 13) has been seen out of the pouch for the first time. The baby was only out very briefly - it's still at the "starved frog" stage of development and probably get cold very quickly - and the screen shot above was the best I could capture.

Wasabi's Second Stay in Hospital

Wasabi has had to go to hospital again. It was the same problem as last time - an infected wound on his tail - and like last time he was treated successfully and released.

Wasabi's hospital room

I'll document what happened in (moderate) detail for the benefit of anyone who might be looking at treating possums. I'll concentrate on what I did differently to last time, so if you haven't already seen Wasabi's first stay in hospital, I'd recommend reading this first to get a full picture of the process.

Update 26th July 2015

The biggest news recently is that Wasabi has had another stay in Possum Hospital (in brief; the treatment went smoothly and he now looks OK). I will post the details of this separately, meanwhile, here's a roundup of other news:

The brushtails Kiki, Toto, Sasha, Farley and Comet and the ringtails Wasabi, Tilda and Ruby have all been visiting. At one stage a young ringtail, who is probably Ruby's baby, visited but didn't stay long and hasn't been seen since.

Sasha - 24^th July 2015

All of the female possums, including even Toto, have babies in their pouches. Sasha's is the furthest along and we might see parts of it sticking out of the pouch within the next few weeks.

Update 23rd June 2015

The brushtails Kiki, Toto, Farley, Comet, and Sasha and the ringtails Wasabi, Tilda and Ruby are all currently visiting.

Toto with injured leg - 16^th June 2015

Toto has an injury to her front right leg.

...and you will know us by the trail of piddle

Although otherwise a very cute little ringtail, Tilda has developed the annoying habit of leaving great long trails of piddle along the balcony rail every night.

Tilda aka The Piddler and her handywork - 25th May 2015

I'm not sure what her exact motivation is. It isn't uncommon for possums to leave a little message like this on the hand-rail, but never so much and so consistently. Surely this is going beyond simple scent-marking.

I'm wondering if it's an attempt to deter other possums. It does seem that the brushtails have a greater tendency to chase Tilda away when they see her, so maybe they're showing their displeasure at her fouling up their dining area.

I'm hoping that continually cleaning it off will eventually discourage her.

Update 10th May 2015

Kiki, Toto, Comet, Farley, Sasha, Wasabi and Tilda are all currently visiting. In addition, a mother ringtail (probably Ruby) and her baby have been seen close to the house several times, having apparently been encouraged to visit by Wasabi. Once Wasabi brought the baby to the house himself; he is a good father and willing to share parenting duties.

Sasha - 7^th May 2015

There is still a possum in the ceiling, and I am not sure whether this is Sasha. 

Update 12th Apr 2015

Kiki, Toto, Comet, Farley, Wasabi and Tilda are all currently visiting, and sometimes several appear at the same time.

Possum Circus (Left to right: Farley, Toto and Kiki) - 5^th April 2015

In addition, there is a new possum in the area. This is an adult female who has been named Sasha. Sasha is probably the one who has been sleeping in the ceiling space, and not the new male seen mating with Kiki (who hasn't been seen since that time). It is unusual for a female possum to come into area, and it's possible the Sasha might have been evicted from a neighbour's ceiling and taken refuge here.

Update 31st Mar 2015

Kiki, Toto and Comet are all visiting regularly and in good health.

Toto - 27^th Mar 2015

Toto is a typical independent and adventurous baby brushtail. He [I'm assuming Toto is male, although there's no definite proof yet] frequently visits by himself, and even when very young, would run off into a distant tree when he scored a particularly juicy morsel of food.

Introducing Toto

Kiki's latest baby (her 12^th) is now out of the pouch. He or she (the gender is still unclear although the little one looks more like a boy) has been named Toto.

Toto on Kiki's back - 8^th March 2015

Unfortunately, Kiki didn't visit Box 7 when Toto was in the pouch, so we didn't get to see the little one come out to play, like we did with Kiki's previous several babies.

Wasabi pays a visit

For the first time since October last year, Wasabi has come to visit. He's been seen around a few times since then but this the first time he's actually come to visit the humans.

Wasabi - 17^th Feb 2015

Earlier in the night a mother and baby ringtail were seen in the trees (unfortunately too far away to photograph), so Wasabi might have been in the area keeping an eye on them. Wasabi is a responsible father.

Update 14th Feb 2015

There is a new male possum in the area. He has been named Farley.

Farley - 8^th Feb 2015 [Photo by Xesce]

In late January, he was seen checking out the possum boxes and they must have been to his liking because he's been sleeping in either Box 2 or 3 every day so far this month.

Possum Box temperature graphs now available

Early last year, I promised to put a graphical display of the possum box temperatures on the Possum TV site. I've now finally got around to doing this.

[click on image for full-sized version]

There should be a "box temps" item on the menu at the top of each page (you may need to do a refresh to see this) which leads to the new box temperatures page. Simply select the box(es) and date range you're interested in and click [Show Temperatures]. You should be rewarded with the appropriate graph.

Update 17th Jan 2015

Kiki is doing well. The latest baby (her 12^th!) is now bulging her pouch significantly.

Kiki (with the mystery orange powder in evidence) - 8^th Jan 2015

Kiki hasn't been seen in any of the boxes for quite a while, but going by past form, we might see her come into Box 7 before too much longer. Last year, Kiki's baby (Oz) made his first appearance in Box 7 on Australia Day, and her latest baby will now be at a similar stage of development. So it's worth keeping your eye on the box cameras.