Brush Tailed Possums

There are lots of different possums.

They are small furry plant eating mammals that live in the bush and in parks and gardens. Possums are marsupials, which means they are a mammal whose females have pouches in which the young develop after they are born. Possums are nocturnal, which means they are active at night. In the day, they sleep in tree or other convenient hollows.

Common Brushtail Possums

Brushtail possums have pointy faces and thick furry tails. Possums’ tails are not prehensile which means they cannot use them to hold onto things like tree branches.

Brushtail possums are found in south-eastern Australia.

The males are territorial and fight other males that enter their territory.

These animals breed in autumn and spring. The baby is born 18 days after mating. Females have two nipples in the pouch but give birth to only one single young. The young possum stays in the pouch for 4 to 5 months. It then rides on its mother’s back for another 1 to 2 months, drinking from a nipple in the pouch.

Blainey the Brushtail possum

Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park is home to may wild possums.  It is also home to one very special handraised possum called Blainey.  Blainey’s mum was killed by a car and he was found alive in the pouch and was raised by a registered wildlife carer.

Blainey’s attachment to humans is too great, so he cannot be safely released back into the wild.  He moved, therefore, to Walkabout Park in 2008 where he gets the best of all worlds.

The trained keepers give him all the attention and protection that he needs, and he gets to interact with visitors who stay over at the park for ‘a wild night out’, a treat for everyone including Blainey!