Wednesday 21 April 2010

Poss-zilla

I had given them the benefit of the doubt. Coppery brushtails look like fuzzy footballs because of all that long fur, essential for keeping warm in a montane rainforest. But at three o'clock last Monday morning*, I noticed a turn-in-the-wind (Mallotus paniculatus) in the back garden had started to do yoga. It looked as though it were trying to touch its toes.

The tree bent over further and further until it was almost formed an inverted U. And then with a crack, it snapped in half. A fuzzy football fell on the ground, looked dazed for a moment and then strolled off.

These possums have picked up where Tropical Cyclone Olga left off. Nothing can resist the rampage of the coppery poss-zillas.

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* I'm becoming an insomniac.


The culprit, Poss-zilla, goes about his business of stealing cherru guavas. The fruit doesn't even get a chance to ripen before it falls prey to the rapacious marsupials.






The turn-in-the-wind first thing on Monday morning




The turn-in-the-wind on Monday afternoon, after the pademelons found it




Please, can I have some more?