Introducing Indie:
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| Indie - 8th Feb 2025 |
Indie is a brush turkey chick who was seen earlier this year industriously digging on Merlin's mound. Indie was kicking the leaf litter and dirt a considerable distance, much further than would be required just to forage for food. Possibly Indie was male, practicing for when he would have to construct his own mound. Maybe he was even thinking of taking over Merlin's mound.
Brush turkeys sleep perched in the trees at night and Indie decided to roost in a tree very close to the possum feeding area, which is where the photo above came from.
Introducing Ahab:
Ahab is a male ringtail with a missing leg. He was seen making his way through the trees without any noticeable problems. He didn't come near the humans but didn't seem afraid of them.
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| Ahab - 11th Mar 2025 |
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| Ahab - 11th Mar 2025 |
I am amazed at how tough these animals are. Imagine having a leg torn off and not only getting no medical treatment, but having to climb around in trees to forage for food while it healed. Anyone with an injured possum should take note. Do not believe a vet who says that a possum with a missing eye or even limb has to be put down because "they won't be able to survive in the wild".
There was recently a cyclone in this part of the world. Everyone was preparing for the worst, but it weakened to a Tropical Low before it hit the coast and we (at least locally) got comparatively little strong wind, but a lot of rain. There was 275 mm in one day.
Several days before the cyclone arrived, and at about the time the cyclone changed direction and started heading for the coast, the possums somehow sensed that something was wrong. Blossom and Sprout, who had previously been sleeping apart, started sleeping together in Box 8 and remained that way until the weather returned to normal. I've seen a mother and a recently independent youngster do this before when there was a threat like a python in the area.
I would have thought that Box 7 in the garage was the safest option, but Box 8 is strongly constructed and Blossom had spent most of her life there, so maybe she went with what was most familiar.
By the way, it looks like Ahab's injury predates the cyclone, so he had to cope with the wind and rain during the healing process, which must have been difficult, given that ringtails build nests on relatively thin branches in the trees.
Here are some photos of Blossom and Sprout from earlier in the year. Since the cyclone, they no longer sleep together and keep their distance when visiting. Sprout seems to have a sleeping place outside the area and sleeps there more often than not, although I still hope that she ends up sharing the territory with Blossom.
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| Blossom (right) and Sprout (left) with tails linked - 3rd Jan 2025 |
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| Blossom (left) and Sprout (right) with tails linked - 30th Jan 2025 |
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Blossom (right) and Sprout (left) in garage - 6th Jan 2025
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Sprout is doing very well. She is confident and chases off Grok when she sees him.
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| Sprout - 2nd Jan 2025 |
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| Sprout - 31st Jan 2025 |
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| Sprout - 16th Feb 2025 |
Grok has probably found a territory elsewhere. He stopped sleeping in the boxes some time ago, and at the end of February stopped visiting. He was about 6 months out of the pouch at that point, which is a normal time for a young male brushtail to go out on his own. I expected that he was gone for good, but about 2 weeks later he came back for a visit. He was in perfect health with no injuries and seems so far to have avoided falling into the mystery grease that young possums often do in the process of exploring for a new home.
Since then, he visits relatively regularly.
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| Grok - 3rd Jan 2025 |
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| Grok - 5th Jan 2025 |
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| Grok - 25th Jan 2025 |
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| Grok being silly - 17th Feb 2025 |
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| Grok - 17th Feb 2025 |
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| Grok - 11th Mar 2025 |
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| Grok - 11th Mar 2025 |
When Grok visits, Laslo is often nearby. As this appears to be Laslo's territory, he would be expected to chase off a young male like Grok, but this doesn't seem to have happened. Grok seems to have no fear of Laslo - here is a photo of him try to take food from Laslo's mouth.
The angle of the photo make Grok look bigger than Laslo, but it's actually the other way around.
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| Laslo (top) and Grok (bottom) - 4th Jan 2025 |
During Grok's first visit after being away for 2 weeks, Laslo was near-by but didn't come over to the house. It's almost like he was looking out for danger and protecting Grok. Laslo is unlikely to be Grok's father; Grok was already out of the pouch before Laslo was first seen in the area.
There aren't many recent photos of Laslo, although he still visits periodically. Since the photo below, he picked up a wound on his left ear and also one on his forehead that stopped just short of his left eye. Both wounds healed properly.
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| Laslo - 30th Jan 2025 |
The brush turkeys
Merlin and
Tabitha are still around. It's past breeding season, so Merlin's wattle has shrunk, and both turkeys are moulting. Merlin isn't tending his mound, but is often seen nearby. Water dragons
Elton and
Ziggy are also often seen in this area. Strangely, Merlin chases Tabitha away when food is offered, and the water dragons intimidate Merlin, but Tabitha intimidates the water dragons.
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| Merlin (left) and Elton (right) - 27th Jan 2025 |
The water dragons sleep in the trees at night, but sometimes also perch there during daytime. Here is
Elton perched on the branch in the possum feeding area where the possums visit at night.
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| Elton - 27th Feb 2025 |
I am so, so, so excited to see this updated, thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt's really nice to meet Indie and Ahab, and I was actually wondering why Blossom and Sprout had been snuggling again recently, so this fed my curiosity. Laslo is just making up for scaring Grok when he was younger.
Thank you.
DeleteIt's possible Laslo has made it his mission to protect Grok. They both arrived at the house together last night.
I think Grok is still likely to leave the area this year, the female possums are less tolerant than Laslo and Sprout in particular chases him off on sight.
Thank you for the update! It's good to hear Grok is well, even if he's not sleeping on top of the boxes anymore, and that he's made peace with Laslo. I really like how dopey he looks in all his pictures, too.
ReplyDeleteI hope Ahab is able to keep doing well, he seems like a tough little possum. It's also cute how Blossom and Sprout still take some social calls when they're nervous.
What do the possums usually get to eat in the feeding area? And do the water dragons ever get fed?
Thank you.
DeletePoor little Grok can't help his eyes. :)
A normal meal for a brushtail possum would be:
1 Slice of apple (1/8th - 1/12th of a small apple)
1 Slice of banana about 2 cm long
1 Grape or slice of pear
1 Small piece of wholemeal pita bread dusted with Divetelact
Sometimes they get special treats.
Brushtail possums will eat way more than this, but we limit it so that it's less of an adjustment if they have to leave the area.
A ringtail would normally get a smaller serve of the same, only minus the pita bread, but no ringtails have accepted food in many years.
The water dragons do get fed. It turns out they like grapes, and if a grape is tossed to the brush turkeys, they will run in to grab it. They get about 1 per day.