I would first like to apologize for not posting anything for so long. When I started this blog I made a rule that I wouldn't apologize for posting entries later than intended because I knew that this would invariably happen and I didn't want every entry to start with a tedious apology and excuses.
But this time it's been months and months and people have probably been wondering whether this blog was gone for good.
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| Drak - 8th Dec 2025 |
Part of the reason for not posting was that I was putting things off until I could announce the new Possum TV Server. I will post separately about this wretched thing. Basically it became a giant saga with a ridiculous number of things going wrong, and most of the enhancements I had wanted turned out not to be possible owing to infuriating limitations with hardware and software. I ended up having to (temporarily) remove old possum TV movies from the existing server to make enough room on the hard disk to keep it going.
I had also hoped to post pictures of Sprout and her new baby, but unfortunately, Sprout has chosen (or been forced) not to share the territory with Blossom. She isn't using any of the possum boxes and doesn't visit the house any more.
She has been seen only once - on the 4th Dec 2025 she was seen climbing a tree in a neighbour's garden with a baby on her back - but was far too far away to photograph.
Yesterday (9th Feb 2026), what appeared to be her child was seen in the same area.
Currently only two brushtails are visiting; Blossom and Gandalf.
Drak has moved away. He followed the usual process of a young possum leaving home; first he stopped using the boxes, then he started visiting the house irregularly and at odd hours when no other possums were around, then he stopped visiting altogether.
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| Drak - 8th Dec 2025 |
Here is Blossom encouraging Drak to move out by biting him on the back.
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| Blossom (left) biting Drak (right) - 24th Dec 2025 |
Here is a photo of him from the very last time he visited.
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| Drak - 11th Jan 2026 |
I wish Drak well. He is a very fast and agile possum, and smart enough to avoid plunging head-first into the grease (I still haven't identified what and where this grease is) which young possums seeking a new territory often seem to do.
Both Blossom and Gandalf are in good health and have suffered no visible pluckings.
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| Blossom - 11th December 2025 |
Blossom now has a new baby in the pouch and there should be a baby possum alert in a few weeks. I hope she decides to use Box 7 when the baby comes out, because the Box 3 camera is worse than ever.
At one point Gandalf managed to put his nose into the mystery orange powder. It's clearly a rust infestation on some plant, but I haven't identified which one.
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| Gandalf - 30th December 2025 |
I don't know whether Gandalf is Drak's father, but Drak had little fear of Gandalf and Gandalf behaved somewhat indulgently towards him.
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| Blossom (behind branch), Gandalf (bottom) and Drak (top) - 27th Nov 2025 |
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| Blossom (top), Gandalf (left) and Drak (right) - 21st Dec 2025 [click for larger image] |
Anyone viewing the possum cameras will have seen that two ringtails are now using the boxes.
I have been unable to keep track of which ringtail is which. Originally a very persistent male ringtail named Rudy started using Boxes 2 and 3, despite brushtails also wanting these boxes. Then it seemed like he moved into Box 8, but it was actually a female ringtail named Roxy. Roxy later brought her children with her. After that different ringtails started using the boxes and it wasn't clear whether Rudy, Roxy, Roxy's children or even other ringtails were using Box 8.
None of these ringtails have visited the house for food, although they don't seem to be scared of humans and sometimes they come very close.
I have very few photos of the ringtails because there is a lot of foliage in the garden and even when they come close they are often concealed amongst the leaves.
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| Rudy - 11th December 2025 |
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| Ringtail Family - 9th December 2025 |
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| Ringtail Family - 9th December 2025 |
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| Young Ringtail eating avocado leaves - 9th December 2025 |
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| Ringtail Family - 11th December 2025 |
Anyone viewing the possum cameras will also have noticed that Box 1 has been off-line for a while now. What had happened is that during a downpour, water had got inside the camera somehow. This should have been impossible because the camera enclosure was completely sealed except for a gap around the camera lens, which was at the lowest point on the enclosure. What I think happened is that tiny ants had brought debris inside the camera enclosure and allowed water running over the sides of the enclosure to wick up inside.
Water shouldn't have got inside the possum box in the first place, but it seems the tree had grown out more than anticipated since the box was installed. The roof of the box had been pushed outwards, pulling the hinge out of the wood and causing the roof to lift. Bark piling up behind the box channelled water running down the tree into the gap under the roof.
The box was in poor condition and the wood inside was soaked and it smelled mouldy. Also, termites had got into the wooden rungs I had put on the outside of the box.
So I removed the box from the tree. The box is currently awaiting refurbishment, including a new camera and modifications to the frame to hold it further out from the tree.
Also the roof of Box 4 had got damaged in a storm due to tree branches banging against it. At least this was relatively quickly replaced.
Merlin the Brush Turkey is still around. Breeding season is over and his wattle has shrunk back down.
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| Merlin - 4th Jan 2026 |
Several brush turkey chicks have hatched over the summer. They can hide really well when they want to. At first I thought there was only one which had then disappeared, but later I saw three of different ages all together in the garden.
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| Brush Turkey Chick - 6th Jan 2026 |
The oldest one is recognisable and has been named Orlando. Recently Orlando and one of younger ones have taken to roosting together in the trees near the house.
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| Orlando (left) looking over younger sibling - 3rd Feb 2026 |
Elton the water dragon is still around. The other smaller water dragons haven't been seen in a while, but the garden is very wild at this point and water dragons can also hide well if they want to.
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| Elton - 6th Jan 2026 |
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