Possums are something that happen when you can't get to sleep.

Last night we had a possum on our roof. Now you have to remember that our roof is flat and made from metal so each time the possum dropped a tree cone and it began to roll about the possum would chase it. By 2am I was ready to shoot it, that is if I had a gun lol.

For those who know little about Ring-Tailed Possums, they are very common to many areas around the east coast and have adapted well to living in close association with humans.

Many people around here often see them at night if they walk around their back yard and garden areas. Possums are about the same of a cat and are grey with white patches around the eye area and on their belly.

Because they are nocturnal animals the days on our roof are left peaceful however, when we need to sleep at night they can be quite noisey. Up at Sydney I have had to call in "The Possum Man" on several occassions to set traps and relocate the possums elsewhere. They are a protected species due to being a native marsupial so we cannot simply kill them in order to remove them from roof cavities, etc.

I once read that when the mother possum is feeding the male will carry the baby on his back and care for it.

I hope you enjoy these photos. They were shot out on the front verandah at Callala Beach.

Bombed by Bushtail Possums........

My evening was average last night until a thump caught my attention out the front. A possum had jumped from the verandah to the Banksia tree. He was happy to play while I took a few photos of him. I am somewhat cautious around possums as they often have little or no fear of humans. John told me a story of how they will run up your body mistakenly thinking they will climb high into a tree....lol. Goodness, all I could think about was their sharp claws.

Anyway, I was surprized at just how nimble they are in fact, very fast moving. He arrived at dusk to feed and appeared to use his tail to balance on the tree branch. This possum was about the size of a cat, with a pointed face and long pink ears and a pink nose which you will see in my photos. Apparently their diet is made up of leaves, the tips of gums, flowers, and fruit. Now this fellow appeared to be inspecting the dish I had filled with bird seed for the parrots so I guess they enjoy bird seed as well.

Now later in the evening there was a notice on local radio to say that the road to Point Perpendicular will be closed this coming Friday due to bombing practice by the navy. Now at first I looked at John and he looked at me and we dissolved into laughter. Bombing practice? OMG! It seems that the road out to Point Perpendicular is via the Naval Bombing Range.

On ordinary days one can drive along this road to a point and then walk the restof the way. Many people camp here although I noticed in amongst the information that one has to take your own shovel and water as there are no facilities of any type. John assured me that meant NO facilities and that taking a shovel was not to help erect a tent lol. Now on the opposite side of Point Perpendicular is HMAS Caswell which is a training college for the navy. Stands to reason that the navy have to learn to bomb inland from sea I guess....no wonder they have no facilities lol.