Tuesday 28 June 2011

Possum magic!

I was worried when I saw a young possum out by day. Had the poor little thing been orphaned? Was he so hungry that he had to forage in the afternoon? Since then, I've seen him in the company of his mum. And I'm beginning to get an entirely different picture of this little marsupial. I think his mum has had enough of him.


If his mum or a pademelon approaches him while he's eating, he screams and hisses like a possum possessed. If mum has food, he will try to steal it from her. She tolerates this behaviour for as long as she can, but always ends up relinquishing the nosh. I'm not surprised that she often makes herself scarce.

He has now taken to climbing up to the kitchen window to check out what's cookin'. I took this picture at nine this morning, an odd time for a possum to be out and about. He had been staring at the fruit bowl on the counter — so close, but still unreachable — until a pademelon distracted him.

He also likes to sit on the broom that's leaning next to the back door and has knocked over pretty much everything in the carport. It won't be long before he works out how to pick the locks ...