Meet The Possum Box Sitters

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These two female brushtail possums seemed to have made this possum box in our outside laundry their home for 4 months now. Usually, I find different possums in the box whenever I check, which is about once a week on the weekends, but these two are always there now so I’ve given them names and called them the possum box sitters.

Heidi is the mother possum. She’s the one on the left in the photo above. She’s not too people friendly and has actually hissed at me a few times, and let me tell you, that sound is scary! She stays inside the box at all times if I’m around and unless I poke my camera in the box to take a photo, usually all I get to see of her is this –

Although I think I’m starting to break through the barrier as last time I saw her, she actually took a piece of fruit from my hand, from inside the box mind you, but still.

Chloe is the joey, although by now she is nearly as big as her mum and can probably be classed as a sub adult. She’s quite a cutie and is a little cautious of me but becoming friendlier as time goes on.

Chloe is the exact opposite to her mother, and when I go into the laundry, it’s not long before I hear some scrabbling from the box and then Chloe makes an appearance at the entry hole, sniffing the air, hoping I have a treat for her. She then climbs out and munches her snack before returning to the box to continue her daytime sleep. I always leave a second piece out, but I never know if Heidi gets out to get it after I’ve left or maybe Chloe eats it as well. The video below is what seems to have become our weekly routine – Chloe climbs out of the box for her treat while Heidi stays inside peering out over the edge, probably waiting for me to leave so she can get something to eat too. On this particular occasion, I was a bit worried that Chloe was going to eat my fingers that smelled liked carrot so it took her a few goes to take it.

One time, I gave Chloe a bit of carrot and she decided to take it into the box with her, but then had a tug of war over it with her mum! (That’s mum on the left)

Some nights I catch the pair of them on the veranda snacking on some fruit I left out, or they just sit on the railing and look out across the yard, probably planning their nightly adventures.

These two are such characters, it’s great to have them around and watch the little one growing up.

 

17 thoughts on “Meet The Possum Box Sitters”

  1. Pingback: Wildlife Visitors in June 2017 – My Wild Australia

  3. Hi, it’s me, Robert, again. I think it’s great that you attract animals and you feed them, well, what nature would. I say what-nature-would in ignorance ’cause I really don’t know what they eat. I’ve just now before posting this seen your remark to somebody above, I’d no idea “juicing” carrots existed.

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    1. Hi Robert, the possums eat flowers and nectar and also fruit and nuts, anything sweet really. They love banana, carrots, sweet potato and occasionally my mum gives me rose petals from her garden and the possums really enjoy those. The juicing carrots are just carrots that are too big, split, old, or generally weird shaped, that the shops think aren’t good enough to sell to us to eat and so they sell them for juicing, but the possums don’t care, as you can see. 🙂

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      1. They eat rose petals!! I love it. If I’ve a garden with overly-blooming roses [when they haven’t been pruned properly] I’d know what to feed possums :-)= And nuts, that’s fantastic!, a local, popular grocer named Trader Joes sells unsalted almonds $6.50/lb. American. Attracting the so-called ‘lower animals’ is usually a good omen I think.

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  4. Wonderful Sue. Our setup is a bit different, they live in the ceiling above a passage and venture out to a liquid amber for apple. I have never tried carrot, it may be cheaper!!

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