sequel to possum post

A recent post was about my success in rehousing a possum couple. The nest stayed empty so it seemed that the possums had settled in their new home. The pittosporums were getting thin and spindly. It was time to trim them radically.

As Greg climbed a ladder and waved his loppers he suddenly shouted: "There's a possum in this nest!" It was another possum, an unfamiliar possum, brown and looking a bit like a koala bear. The poor thing panicked and ran into the trees. It was a bright sunny day, much easier to get a clear shot than in the night.

Comments

  1. Maybe he knew you would find him a nice new fancy house :) I know we have possums here, but they look quite a bit different. I hope he finds a new home.

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  2. OMG!! He is quite big. Good shot-it is a koala?

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  3. Well, I guess the critters find your home (and your pittosporum) a favorite hang out. It says something about the owner.

    Will we get a third installment on the fate of this creature? :-)

    And thanks for the sweet comments on my blog. It's been a pleasure getting to know you.

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  4. Wow, I'm glad your husband didn't fall off the ladder in surprise:)

    That looks nothing like possums we know here...in fact, he's kind of cute (comparatively speaking). I'm not real crazy about their looks...but yours I might be able to get used to!

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  5. I enjoyed reading your blog this morning. I hope to come back and see how your garden progresses with the changes you're making to it. I have trouble keeping up with all this blogging, though. I'm not sure what's going to happen to my blogging when gardening season gets here.

    We had a possum family living under our deck last summer. I wonder if they'll be back. As far as that goes, maybe they're still there.

    Have a great weekend!

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  6. The previous owners have probably sublet their old home (lol)

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  7. Gosh, I'd love to find a possum in my garden!
    I liked your post about the cubby. We have a tree house which is still in frequent use by hordes of invading teenagers and I love to hear them up there. I'll be quite sad when they don't need their den any more!
    Thanks for popping into my blog and I'm glad you enjoyed reading about my 'little' project.

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  8. I didn't even know possums were arboreal - although perhaps you've got a different kind there than we have in the Western U.S., the tails of our possums have no hair. I guess you're going to have to start putting up possum condos in your garden? congratulations on your earlier solution of making room for the wildlife and the garden. A good kind of story to pass around.

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  9. Very cute critter. It's nice to see your opossums are scared of humans still. The ones in my backyard are quite cheeky. As are the raccoons. They lumber across the fences and get fatter and fatter and come within 5' of me if I'm outside with a sandwich... Bah.

    Anyway!! Good job on creating a haven for them!

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  10. Neat photo! We've had them in our yard before - they often try to get into the trash cans.

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  11. This is a Brushtail Possum, which nests in hollows, not nests (or dreys, as they are known). Only ringtails build dreys.
    My guess is this one is sheltering temporarily and waiting to find a more suitable home.

    I have a ringtail in a drey nestled in a pittosporum outside my dining room window, which is lovely. I check on it every morning; sometimes it must stay in other residences, because it's not always there.

    The drey is getting mighty bedraggled so I'll try and get agreement to put up a nesting box for it. Thanks for this idea, Sue.

    Re: owls. Are you sure it was an owl, not a Tawny Frogmouth? If you had a Powerful Owl in your garden, it would not only need an enormous nestbox, you'd also inadvertantly be providing it with ready access to food: they eat possums!

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