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

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.

...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.

Update 7th Dec 2014

Comet has now progressed to the stage where Kiki only barely tolerates his presence, and he is well aware of this fact.

Comet looking around nervously - 3^rd Dec 2014

If he is in a tree nearby when Kiki is being fed, which is happening less and less often, he often scampers off when Kiki makes a sudden move towards him.

Update 14th Nov 2014

Comet is starting to reach the next stage in the education of a young possum; the stage where the mother possum no longer tolerates having food snatched out of her mouth, and chases off the youngster instead. So far he's been chased off only once (that I've seen), but his days of grabbing food are severely numbered.

Kiki (left) and Comet (right) - 30^th Oct 2014

Update 19th Oct 2014

Comet is doing well.

Comet (left) and Kiki (right) - 18^th Oct 2014

Comet particularly likes going off on his own. Normally, when a young possum of his age is with his/her mother, and scores a particularly delicious piece of food (usually by tearing it from the mother's mouth), they will retreat (no doubt to prevent the mother from grabbing it back) to perhaps a metre away from the mother to enjoy their treat. In Comet's case, however, he often runs off and hides in another tree five or more metres away. This is unusual; even Oz, who was a particularly adventurous/exploring possum, never did this.

Update 29th Aug 2014 - First photo of Kiki's new baby, Comet

Kiki's latest baby has been named Comet. He (I'm not 100% sure, but he looks like a male in the box camera footage) seems to be a particularly energetic little possum. I managed to take his photo when he put his head out of the nestbox yesterday.

Comet - 28^th Aug 2014

Comet is now leaving the nestbox riding on Kiki's back, but returns to the pouch before Kiki visits the house. He will be back-riding for longer periods every night from now on, and will become less and less energetic when he returns to nestbox.

Update 14th Feb 2014 - First photo of Oz

First of all, just a note to say that I've put up a new blog - Game of Thorns - where I can write about non-possum things.

Here's the first (and, if we exclude snapshots taken by the box camera, so far only) photo I have of Kiki's baby Oz. Sorry it's a bit blurred, but I didn't want to get too close and scare the little one.

Oz, looking out of Box 7 - 12^th Feb 2013

Update 2nd Feb 2014

Recently, two female ringtails were seen near the house, one with two back-riding babies and one with a slightly swollen pouch. It's always very difficult to tell who's who with ringtails, but these two look very much like Tilda and Ruby.

Tilda with back-riding babies 29^th Jan 2014

Update 25th Sept 2013 - A possum fight and a trapped possum freed

I'll start with a cute photo of Amiri.

Amiri grabbing onto Kiki's back 15^th Sept 2013