# Something cute!



## Stone (Feb 29, 2016)

A Ringtailed possum taking a nap in the roof of my carport.


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## troy (Feb 29, 2016)

Lol... comfy half hanging out of the rafters, I guess the long tail allows them to get around pretty good at heights, are they tammable? Some animals like that around here keep out rats mice & snakes etc..


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## Secundino (Feb 29, 2016)

So nice!


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## NYEric (Feb 29, 2016)

Pretty cool.


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## abax (Mar 1, 2016)

How come Aussie opossums are so cute and ours look
like big rats that raid our bird feeders? Is this the species
that invaded NZ? A NZ friend sent me two pair of possum
socks a couple of years ago. Same species????


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## ehanes7612 (Mar 1, 2016)

The possums in the Melbourne city parks were neat..very cute.


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## kiwi (Mar 1, 2016)

abax said:


> How come Aussie opossums are so cute and ours look
> like big rats that raid our bird feeders? Is this the species
> that invaded NZ? A NZ friend sent me two pair of possum
> socks a couple of years ago. Same species????



No it is the Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) that is here. It is a cat-sized marsupial, that was introduced to New Zealand in 1837 for the fur trade. In Australia, the possum is protected as a native species. But in New Zealand, it has become the country’s most damaging animal pest, wreaking havoc on native forests. There are some 70 million estimated in NZ and they have no predators here.


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## Clark (Mar 1, 2016)

Not often seen on the forum.
cool stuff.


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## Stone (Mar 1, 2016)

kiwi said:


> No it is the Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) that is here. It is a cat-sized marsupial, that was introduced to New Zealand in 1837 for the fur trade. In Australia, the possum is protected as a native species. But in New Zealand, it has become the country’s most damaging animal pest, wreaking havoc on native forests. There are some 70 million estimated in NZ and they have no predators here.


We have plenty of brush tails here....The bastards! They eat everything and anything. Broccoli or Magnolia flowers, Apples or oak trees, anything...


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## Happypaphy7 (Mar 1, 2016)

Saw the pictures before the text and immediately thought 'hmmm what strange black whiskers that cat has...is that a monkey tail? What's going on here?'

Haha 

Do they bite?


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## abax (Mar 1, 2016)

Thank you in Kiwi and Stone for the species identification. When I saw the cute photo I thought they
make socks out of such a wonderful looking critter. The
possum socks are really warm and I don't have to feel
guilty about wearing them. My NZ friend told me the
brush tail was decimating tree fern forests and surrounding areas. What a damn shame!


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