Update 25th Dec 2016

The brushtails are all present and healthy. The ringtails have been visiting less often, with only Ruby, Koji and Wasabi having been seen in the past few days.

Mischa - 13^th Dec 2016 [Photo by Xesce]

Mischa is doing well and seems to be evading attacks by the larger possums. His eye wound is now only barely visible.

Baby Possum Alert

Today, Sasha slept in Box 7 for the first time in over a month, and her latest baby briefly came out of the pouch.

Sasha with new baby in Box 7 - 15^th Dec 2016

This is the first time the baby has been seen out of the pouch.

Sasha often seems to prefer Box 7 when she has babies (hopefully because it's a safer place for them to play), so with luck we'll see a lot more of the little one in coming weeks.

Currently the baby is barely furred and only occasionally emerging from the pouch for short periods - nowhere near the "being a real pest and jumping all over mother while she's trying to sleep" stage - but they grow up quickly, so stay tuned.

Update 29th Nov 2016

With the exception of Toto, who I'm thinking has probably left the area, all of the possums are still around. Ruby's babies Keeta and Koji visit frequently. I don't think I have mentioned what genders these two were - it can be hard to tell when they're just a little ball of fur - but now it's clear that Keeta is female and Koji is male.

Keeta is much more assertive than her older sister Maple when approaching the humans for food.

Keeta - 15^th Nov 2016 [Photo by Xesce]

Update 6th Nov 2016

Mischa is growing up and has been sleeping on his own for some time now. He had the misfortune to pick Box 4 during a couple of hot days recently and had a fairly uncomfortable time (see the comments section of the last entry). Since then he seems to have found some cooler place to sleep.

Mischa - 14^th Oct 2016

Mischa might still be at least somewhat under Sasha's protection because about a week ago he chased Farley (who is probably his father) away and also on one occasion Sasha declined to visit the feeding area when he was present - normally she would automatically chase off any other possums, even including ringtails, from this area.

Update 24th Sept 2016

All of the ringtails - Ruby, Koji, Keeta, Wasabi, Maple and possibly Clover - have been seen recently and are in good health. The brushtails are also doing alright, except for a painful problem for Mischa which is fortunately now resolved. I'll get to this later.

Ruby, Koji and Keeta (bottom to top) - 20^th Sept 2016

The ringtails are seen together in different combinations. It is never clear who will be visiting at any given time. It does seem that Maple (and possibly Clover; sometimes they don't come close and it's difficult to tell them apart) is doing child-minding duty from time to time.

Update 20th Aug 2016

Ruby's babies have been named Koji and Keeta.

Ruby (front), Koji (middle) and Keeta (back) - 10th Aug 2016 [Photo by Xesce]

Koji is the more bold one who normally sits in front when back-riding. They can be told apart by the length of the white tip on their tails; Koji's is about 1/3 of the length of the tail whereas Keeta's is barely 1/4.

Baby Ringtail Surprise

There was an unexpected surprise tonight; Ruby visited with two cute little babies on her back.

Ruby with back-riding babies - 28^th July 2016

On previous visits her pouch was looking very large, but I never guessed her babies were this well developed and didn't expect to see them this soon.

Update 19th July 2016

Sasha, Farley, Wasabi and Ruby have been visiting fairly regularly. Maple has been seen a couple of times, and Toto has also visited a few times recently. Flynn hasn't been seen for a considerable time and has probably left the area. It's a very dangerous time for young possums when they leave to find their own homes and I wish him all the best.

Farley - 16^th July 2016

Farley has been picking up a few pluckings and scratches, which is normal for him. Luckily there hasn't been any sign of infection.

Baby Possum Alert

Time for a Baby Possum Alert.

Sasha's latest baby looking out of Box 7 -  14th July 2016

If you are new to this site, a Baby Possum Alert is when (to quote a previous post):

There is a brief period of time (maybe a couple of weeks) when a baby possum is not yet old enough to back-ride during the night, but is old enough to come out of the pouch during the day. This is the most interesting time to watch the box cameras, because the baby has been asleep in the pouch all night, and therefore is full of energy during the day and up to all sorts of mischief in the nestbox.

At most, you might get to see this a couple of times a year, so now is the time to watch.

The possum boxes may be viewed at http://possum.tv/box_overview.html; click on the box you are interested in to get streaming video of that box. The baby is more likely to be active in the afternoon when it's warmer.

Sasha's baby is still very young - only just getting fur - and not yet capable of the full range of naughtiness of a baby brushtail, but is still leaving the pouch every day to climb over Sasha and explore the box. If Sasha keeps using the boxes (she is normally in either box 4 or 7) and doesn't decide to sleep in the garage door instead, we should be seeing the little one playing up for longer than the two weeks I mentioned above.

Koala habitat destruction near Possum TV

I would not normally post something like this on this blog, but it is somewhat possum-related and I think that people who care about wildlife should know about the sort of thing that goes on here in Queensland.

Recently, on a nearby building site, a developer has cleared a group of gum trees - some about 100 years old - apparently [I have to use this word because of the legal situation] in violation of a court order.

Land Clearing - 9th June 2016

This event was featured (very briefly as part of another story) on the Channel 9 news.

Update 13th June 2016

All of the usual brushtails - Sasha, Farley, Toto and Flynn - are still visiting. As far as the ringtails go, Ruby is still visiting, Maple is often seen with her and Wasabi has started visiting again. On one occasion Maple may have visited with Wasabi.

Maple - 1^st June 2016 [Photo by Xesce]

Maple is a very active little ringtail, leaping around the trees like a little Ninja.

Update 7th May 2016

There have been no major changes here for a while; Sasha, Farley, Toto and Flynn are still around. Ruby has been seen a few times and once brought Maple to the house. On another occasion, Maple and Clover visited together. Maple is a little girl possum.

Maple - 13^th April 2016 [Photo by Xesce]

Clover is more shy than Maple and was difficult to photograph. Clover has a dark spot on the white tip of his/her tail which resembles a ringtail named Rosebud who was Wasabi's older brother and therefore would be Maple and Clover's uncle.

Update 31st March 2016

Sasha and Farley are visiting every night, with Toto and Flynn showing their faces every now and then. Ruby and Wasabi have also been seen but are mostly staying away, hopefully looking after Maple and Clover.

Flynn - 22^nd Mar 2016

Although Flynn is still small and still shares a sleeping spot with Sasha, Sasha is getting less tolerant of him and chases him away from the house when she sees him.

Update 28th Feb 2016

Recently, Wasabi and Ruby brought their babies (who have been named Maple and Clover) to the house.

Wasabi (left), Ruby (right) and Maple (back-riding) - 17^th Feb 2016 [photo by Xesce]

Maple rode on Ruby's back, but Clover stayed in a nearby tree, making faces at the other possums.

Update 10th Feb 2016 - Introducing Flynn

Sasha's baby has been named Flynn.

Flynn - 9^th Feb 2016

Flynn is now at the stage where he is starting to take food from hand.

Sasha's baby makes his first appearance

Sasha's baby, who I think is a little boy possum, has been seen in person for the first time.

Sasha, with baby back-riding - 21^st Jan 2016

The baby has not yet been named.