A Possum Story
A little more than a year after the massive fires tore through Cobargo, it was clear what trees simply wouldn’t be coming back. We engaged a fantastic, wildlife-conscious team to cut down and mulch the trees that had become brittle and would soon fall, providing the survivors with more room to flourish.
In this process, we missed seeing a nest up in one of the trees near where we were working and a family of ringtail possums was awoken from their daytime slumber. They scampered out of their nest, the mother dashing across the dry treetops to a nearby healthy gum tree temporarily leaving her triplets alone. The guys stopped work of course and moved to another area of the property. I grabbed my camera and waited.
It didn't take long; once the area was quiet she gently traversed the tiny brittle branches to get back to her kids. They piled on her, and she very gingerly navigated her way across three treetops to get to a fourth tree that had yet another nest in it and they dove in.
She is approximately the size of a cat (about 11 inches or just under 30cm) and her tail is the length of her again. Watching her using the weight of her and her kids to bend the branch from one tree to meet the next, and her tail to hang on as she transferred from branch to branch was amazing.
Not only are these nocturnal marsupials but it is also uncommon for triplets, so what I got to witness and photograph was rare. Needless to say, the cluster of dead trees she and her family are living in will be left alone and they are in easy reach of some healthy gum trees, providing her and her and the little ones plenty of food. Hopefully, they will lead a long and happy life here on the farm!
