Possum Raids Figs

The Brush-tailed Possum caught raiding the fig tree

After the success of catching the cockatoo raiding the chickens' food bins last week, I thought I should try to find out who was raiding the figs and focus a camera-trap on the fig tree.

The figs are the last fruit to ripen in our Canberra garden at the end of summer and we always look forward to opening a nice ripe one for breakfast. But, not this year, some animal has been eating them before we can pick them.

At first I thought it might have been fruit bats as I have seen them on the tree in previous years. Not this time though, the thief was a Brush-tailed Possum. It was a female, probably the one that sleeps in one of our garden nest-boxes, although if it was her, she has parted with her joey. The last time I saw her a week or so ago, she had a large joey (a young marsupial) in tow, still trying to hitch a ride on her back even when it was at least half mum's size.

She will probably have a new tiny joey in her pouch already, so I suppose she will want to add a hint of fig flavour to her milk. Lucky possums.

To watch a clip of the surveillance film, as evidence of the criminal's identity, click here.

We do like the possums, but...... there are times......

Cool Possum

She was cautious enough in the daylight to only peek out of the box

It was a bit warm yesterday in Canberra, topping at 39 c. And while I was in the garden giving the chickens and wild birds some fresh cool water I heard the possum fidgeting in her box, so I gave the box a quick squirt from the hose to cool it down - it was catching direct sun at the time. Then when I stopped I heard her give a sort of brwuff, a bit like a dog that wants to pay with a stick, not the commonly heard back-throat growl which brush-tailed possums give when disturbed. It sounded like she had liked the water splashing into the box.

She turned her face up into the spray, deliberately catching the water on her face

So, I gave a squirt directly onto the box and she quickly raised her head to the entrance. Whereupon, she happily lifted her head to catch the spray. The camera was handy, so I took a few shots. Then as I didn't want to soak her fur, I stopped, and she gave a me a look which said something. I don't know what, although she seemed to want more. I'm sure her fur is waterproof to a level far above what I gave her, but I left her with that and walked away while she just sat there watching me with a puppy expression.

She looked so calm and relaxed after her shower

Garden Possum

Brush-tailed possum in the garden

Click on the link below to watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8bYBfLH70E

I have set up a trap camera in the back garden to try it out and here are the first results. These are infra-red images of a Brush-tailed Possum, which are our common garden pet/pest depending on one's attitude to wildlife. He is feeding on scraps which we place on the old log for the birds during the day and the possums at night.

Not bad, for my very first wildlife film.

The camera I am using is a Bushnell Trophy Cam HD, and it was set about 4m from the log..

Possums

I made a stock check at the weekend of what possums were sleeping where in the garden. These are common brush-tailed possums which are common in suburban Canberra. The one above is a young male which was in a nestbox above the logpile. He came down willingly for a piece of bread and jam.

The next four shots are of a mother with her well grown youngster which were sleeping in one of the boxes in the back garden. She came out first and waited for the young one to climb out after her. The boxes were put up to encourage rosellas, crimson or eastern, to nest in the garden. However,the possums found the soft pine wood easy to chew and they quickly enlarged the entrance holes to fit them, and they have subsequently taken them all over. They use them for alternative roost holes used in rotation, although they do use one or other box for long periods before shifting.

Once out the young one quickly clambered onto the mother's back.

Then off they went up the tree and through the continuous canopy of the trees along the back fence.