Possum Australian Possum
A possum is a small to medium-sized marsupial with fur ranging from grey to brown or black. They have a pointed snout, large eyes adapted for night vision, and a long, scaly tail. Possums are nocturnal, arboreal animals found in forests and urban areas, feeding on fruits, leaves, insects, and small vertebrates. They are marsupials and reproduce by giving birth to underdeveloped young that continue to grow in their mother's pouch.
Photo: sugar glider possum in hand
Possums range in size from the tiny pygmy possum, which is only 70mm (2.8in) in length and weighs 10g (0.35oz) to the brushtail possum, which can reach more than a meter (3.3ft) length and weighs 10kgs (22lb). Depending on the species, they have soft fur which is silver-grey through dark orange to dark brown in colour. They all have excellent night-vision, hearing and a sense of smell. Possums have a lifespan of 5-8 years.
Being arboreal animals, they are very nimble with sharp claws. that them the make them capable of climbing up vertical surfaces and clambering along flimsy tree branches and even electric power lines. Some, such as the ringtail possum, have a prehensile tail where the tail can be used to hold on to branches.
Possums are shy, solitary, territorial animals. They mark off their home patch by urinating and rubbing oil produced by special scent glands on their chests, chin, and anus in strategic locations throughout their territories. They are generally not aggressive, preferring to stare down their opponent silently rather than get involved in serious altercations. However, they can be violent if provoked, clawing and biting their attacker.
Possum Habitat Where Do Possums Live?
Possum's Natural Habitat
Possums are arboreal animals that live in forests and wooded throughout the eastern and south-eastern parts of Australia, ranging from the rainforests of Queensland (Cuscus) to the eucalyptus forests of Victoria (Leadbeater's Possum).
Photo: Possum sheltering in tree hollow
Photo: Eucalyptus forest
Possums prefer the dense foliage of trees and rarely come down to the ground. They build their nests high above ground. These nests are built in tree hollows and dense foliage and lined with shredded bark, twigs, and leaves. Some of the smaller species of possums such as the sugar glider may share a nest with up to eight others.
Possums also live in Papua New Guinea and Sulawesi. In recent times, they have also been introduced to New Zealand and China by humans.
Possum's Urban Habitat
Photo: Possums in ceiling
With urban sprawl and the destruction of the possums' natural habitat, many possums have been making themselves at home in suburban areas. Urban possums are especially fond of the warm cosy buildings humans construct. Some are known to pull off roof tiles and squeeze through openings in roofs and build themselves nests in ceilings of houses, garages, sheds, and even chimneys. These urban possums can be a huge nuisance to homeowners. Bushy tail and ringtail possums, in particular, have come to like the comforts of urban living.
Urban possums can be an absolute nuisance. They can be noisy by clambering over roofs at night, destructive by urinating and defecating in ceilings and other areas around buildings giving the whole area a terrible stench, tearing up heating ducts and insulation, raiding chick copes and garbage bins and cropping through peoples gardens.
Possum Diet What Do Possums Eat?
Photo: Possum eating
Possum's Natural Diet
Possums are omnivores. They eat almost anything edible—dead or alive. In their natural environments, possums eat leaves, flowers, fruits, grass and fungi. They also eat lizards, insects, bird eggs and baby birds.
Possum's Urban Diet
Unfortunately, these crafty possums are greatly attracted to suburban garbage bins and gardens. In domestic gardens, they will eat almost anything from flowers such as roses, camellias, magnolias; to fruits and vegetables such as mangoes, apples, pears, grapes, melons, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots; and shrubs and small trees such as wisteria and wattle.
There is even a story of two cunning possums who devised an ingenious scheme to get their little paws on some delicious vegetables in a protected urban veggie patch. One possum hung on to an overhanging branch with its back legs, grabbed onto its accomplice's rear legs with its front paws and lowered its partner down to snatch the vegetables.
List of Possums
Feathertail Glider
The feathertail glider is the smallest gliding possum. It is called the Feathertail because its tail looks like a feather. It uses its tail to balance and steer while gliding. It has very thin skin attached from each elbow to the knee. It spreads this membrane out to glide. It lives mainly on the tops of eucalyptus forests and eats nectar, manna, and small insects.
Pygmy Possum
The pygmy possum feeds mainly on nectar and pollen, which it gathers with a brush-tipped tongue and fruit and insects. It is not very fast but is an excellent climber using its prehensile tail to grip a branch while climbing or feeding. It nests in small tree holes, which it lines with shredded bark. It also nests in old birds' nests.
How Did the Possum Get its Name? Possum vs Opossum
While in Jamestown Virginia in North America in early 1608, Captain John Smith (who Pocahontas saved from death - remember the Disney movie) described an unusual animal that carried its young in a pouch in its abdomen.
"An Opassom hath an head like a Swine, and a taile like a Rat, and is of the bignes of a Cat. Under her belly she hath a bagge, wherein shee lodgeth, carrieth, and sucketh her young". He
derived this name from the Algonquian American Indian language which called this animal "apasum" meaning white animal. By 1613 the name appeared in print with the "o" dropped off becoming
simply "possum". It has been used as a colloquial term in North American ever since.
Joseph Bank, a naturalist, who accompanied Captain James Cook on the sailing ship the Endeavour arrived in Australia in 1770. When Banks observed a tree-climbing marsupial he noted it as "an animal of the Opossum tribe" because of its similarity to the opossum of North America. Again, soon, the 'o' disappeared and the Australian animal was referred to as a possum too.
In time, it was determined that while both animals were marsupials, they were very different indeed. As a consequence, the American opossum was classified under the scientific name Didelphimorphia and the Australian possum under the scientific name Phalangeridae.
So in proper usage, the Australian animal is a possum and the American animal is an opossum.
A male possum is called a jack
A female possum is called a jill
A baby possum is called a joey
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