Backyard Zoology · 23 November 2018
2018-11-23T11:01:29+11:00
https://www.facebook.com/backyardzoology/posts/pfbid0VWKqUf5Sjz5xnSts2Y3RXhsuaD6uwqyvBsiFYHLveE7aEnnMptBYmFLtAnQxh12zl

It is a crazy windy day today. Scarily so. The wind is roaring through the gums and they are bending and creaking and dropping bark and leaves and thankfully, only small branches. On days like today I normally firstly think: “dear trees, please don’t fall and crush the house” and then “woo hoo! Washing time!” 😂 but this morning all mixed up with those thoughts was: “POSSUMS!”

Clearly the wind had caused a visitor to head into the garage with our resident brushtails and they were NOT happy; much territorial grunting and screeching ensued. And ensued. And ensued! Guys, there's enough garage for you all! (not enough room for a car mind you, but for possums, room abounds). I ended up heading out to see if I could break up the fight. But I wasn’t the only one that the wind and noise had disturbed. The little Ringtail Possum who occasionally sleeps in the blue ceramic feeder out the front (although has been there every day since I last posted about it) had its head poked out of the hole, blinking in the morning light and looking all sorts of concerned. 

I tried to keep my head down and not make eye contact in the hope of not stressing the little one any further. But by the time I had come back from the garage, the possum had climbed out of the feeder and onto one of the nearby trees. Yikes! The last thing I wanted was for this possum heading around in the wind especially when it should have been fast asleep. So I took a deep breath and went inside. Alone. It's so hard to not intervene but that's pretty much my rule and turns out for the best 9 times out of 10. Have to admit, I spent a very anxious couple of hours letting the possum sort itself out but am very happy to report that I've just had a little sneaky peek and there's a possum shaped ball of fluff curled up, back in the feeder, sound asleep as the world rages around it.

Ringtail Possum
Northern Illawarra

#mammalsofoz #ringtailpossum #windyday #nocturnal #backyardzoology