I feel for animals whose official name starts with the word “common.” As if they’re not as worthy of our attention. Thus is the case with Australia’s common brushtail possum. I guess it’s appropriate, however, as this is the most widely seen possum species not only in wild, forested environments of the country, but it is also seen quite regularly in urban areas. I much prefer the Latin name Trichosurus vulpecula, from the Greek for “furry tailed” and the Latin for “little fox.” As for the above furry-tailed-little-fox, he was spotted while creeping around in a tree outside of the lodge I was staying at on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 155mm) ISO 200, f/5 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash
Yes, it’s very common on my side fence, not 5 feet from my lounge room window. We have many of our inner suburban trees in the public parks and gardens with hard plastic ‘collars’ to deter the pesky little creatures from climbing up the trees and decimating them. They eat every leaf and green twig (or young branch) in sight.
Vicki
Melbourne, Australia
Vicki, it’s always interesting to me how where you are from determines your perception of certain animals. Living in New York, I’d never waste a minute paying attention to a squirrel. When I was in Tanzania, the locals seemed to look at mongooses the way that I did the common grey squirrel. But I was fascinated by the mongoose. Sounds like the brushtail possum is the same for the Australians — but I was quite excited when I first saw one.
Actually pretty cute, I thought possums were much uglier. The one I caught as a kid was terrifying (but he wasn’t too happy at being stuck in our doghouse).
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As a resident of the US, that is definitely the cutest possum I’ve ever seen 🙂
True Andi, our opossums aren’t exactly the most handsome marsupials in the world.
Yes, it’s very common on my side fence, not 5 feet from my lounge room window. We have many of our inner suburban trees in the public parks and gardens with hard plastic ‘collars’ to deter the pesky little creatures from climbing up the trees and decimating them. They eat every leaf and green twig (or young branch) in sight.
Vicki
Melbourne, Australia
Vicki, it’s always interesting to me how where you are from determines your perception of certain animals. Living in New York, I’d never waste a minute paying attention to a squirrel. When I was in Tanzania, the locals seemed to look at mongooses the way that I did the common grey squirrel. But I was fascinated by the mongoose. Sounds like the brushtail possum is the same for the Australians — but I was quite excited when I first saw one.
I agree with Andi, a lot cuter then NA possums … cute photo
Night, camera shy—our marsupial grasps the bark—its’ brushtail unseen.
Great to see such a variety of fauna.
I don’t get to many places outside Europe so it’s always refreshing to see an image of something I’m not conversant with.
Now I finally know what Dame Edna Everage means.
Con
And now, after just looking it up on Wikipedia, I know who Dame Edna Everage is.
Actually pretty cute, I thought possums were much uglier. The one I caught as a kid was terrifying (but he wasn’t too happy at being stuck in our doghouse).