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| Sprout - 13th Nov 2024 |
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| Sprout back-riding on Blossom - 29th Oct 2024 |
On one occasion, Sprout ran off far enough that Wink got between her and her mother.
Wink has been known to attack baby possums - in 2021 she attacked Jedi quite fiercely - so when Sprout tried to get past Wink I was a little worried about what would happen. But as it turned out, Wink just gave Sprout some angry words and a few smacks before letting her past, and ignored her after that.
Sprout has the tiniest amount of white fur on the tip of her tail.
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| Sprout - 13th Nov 2024 |
Grok is being made to feel increasingly unwelcome by his mother Wink. Currently, he is allowed to sleep on top of Box 7 in the garage, while Wink sleeps in a possum apartment at the other end of the garage.
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| Grok - 19th Oct 2024 |
Grok often looks nervous when he visits, which is understandable, because he's now at the age where he no longer has a fierce mother possum to protect him, and is realising that he's in a world full of enemies, most of which are bigger than he is.
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| Grok - 25th Oct 2024 |
But he's still bold enough to approach other possums.
Here he is coming nose-to-nose with his big sister Blossom. He ran off soon after this, without waiting for Blossom to chase him off.
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| Grok (left) and Blossom (right) - 13th Nov 2024 |
Laslo is still around and healthy.
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| Laslo - 25th Oct 2024 |
Wink in also healthy and may have a baby in the pouch.
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| Wink - 15th Nov 2024 |
A carpet python paid a visit late last month. It spent some time in boxes 2 and 4. For some reason, these two boxes seem to be preferred by pythons.
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| Carpet Python coming out of Box 4 - 25th Oct 2024 |
It came face to face with Laslo. Rather than run away, Laslo stared it down with bared teeth.
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| Laslo baring teeth at a python - 25th Oct 2024 |
The python was a large one and was well within striking distance of Laslo but was encouraged to move away without incident.
By the way, don't be worried about Laslo's teeth. This is not decay caused by human foods but staining caused by natural foliage.
The python didn't take any possums that were are aware of. In fact, soon after it left, a mother ringtail was seen with both of her babies. Pythons seem to particularly like ringtails and baby ringtails would be easy prey.
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| Mother Ringtail with two Babies - 7th Nov 2024 |
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| Mother Ringtail with two Babies - 7th Nov 2024 |
I find it difficult to keep track of which water dragon is which - some of them I only see briefly and it's difficult to tell whether it's one that's already been named. But I'm pretty sure this one is new. He (the more brightly coloured ones are male) has been named Zen. He's only ever been seen at night sleeping in a tree.
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| Zen - 19th Oct 2024 |
I'm really glad Grok is doing well - is there a reason he's decided to sleep on *top* of the possum box instead of inside, though?
ReplyDeleteGenerally possums sleep on top of Box 7 during hotter weather, probably because it's cooler. Possibly it's also slightly safer to sleep on top of the box, because a possum can see danger coming from further away and escape more easily.
DeleteCurrently, it's not too hot, so perhaps Grok is worried about pythons, but possums also have their individual preferences and sometimes their choice is a mystery. In the past, possums would often ignore Box 7 and sleep in a car tyre nearby, or a box of cleaning rags, and the rolled-up garage door was a favourite, despite it getting incredibly hot in the afternoon sun.
I'm happy to hear that all the possums are doing well! It's exciting that ringtails have been around recently, though I assume they have their own nest and won't be showing up on the box cams.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the 'possum apartment' that Wink is sleeping in? Is it different than a box?
Yes, the ringtails build their own nests (called dreys) in the trees. A long time ago - before I started this blog - a ringtail by the name of Gumdrop used Box 2 but she, and her baby Lychee, got ambushed and eaten by a carpet python in this box and since then, the ringtails have kept clear of the boxes.
DeleteA number of years ago, I put some wood under the eaves of the garage as part of renovating and repainting the house, and this created a series of nine possum-sized compartments which were accessible from inside the garage. I named these the Possum Apartments.
At times, I feel it would be good to set up cameras looking into them, but they're not used that often and different apartments are occupied at different times, so that would be a lot of cameras doing nothing for most of the time.
The second picture on the blog entry below shows Sasha and Tarzan in one of the possum apartments.
https://blog.possum.tv/2018/01/update-25th-jan-2018-baby-animals-galore.html
Oh, wow, that looks adorable!
DeleteWhile obviously setting up cameras would be a hassle, if you ever spot any of them snuggling in the possum apartments, please take some pictures!
Also, do you happen to have any pictures of the ringtail dreys, assuming you've spotted them around?
Usually possums curl up in a ball in the apartments with only their back visible which isn't so interesting, but in hot weather they can lounge around in cute poses. If I can get a good photo I'll post it next time I make an entry.
DeleteI haven't noticed any ringtail dreys in a while. They are often well-concealed and can be hard to spot. But there are a few blog posts with pictures of ringtail dreys in them:
https://blog.possum.tv/2014/01/update-25th-jan-2014.html
https://blog.possum.tv/2014/04/update-4th-apr-2014.html
https://blog.possum.tv/2017/05/update-18th-may-2017.html