Tuesday, March 09, 2010

A Not 'Common" Ringtail Possum !


"Pos" visited again today.

Common Ringtail Possum

Size range
Body 300 mm - 350 mm, Tail 300 mm - 350 mm, weight 700 - 1100 g.
Similar Species

Sometimes confused with the Black Rat (you’ve got to be joking?!...he’s much too cute)
Distribution
The Common Ringtail Possum is found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Habitat
Almost exclusively tree-dwelling, the Common Ringtail Possum lives in in forests, woodlands, rainforests, dense scrub and suburban gardens. During the day, the Common Ringtail Possum sleeps in its spherical nest or 'drey' made from grass and shredded bark. It builds the drey in a tree hole, tree fork or dense vegetation, and several individuals may share the one nest.
Behaviour and adaptations
Feeding and Diet
The Common Ringtail Possum is nocturnal and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, as well as flowers and fruits. By eating its own faecal pellets, it digests its food twice to extract the maximum amount of nutrients. When the mother is feeding, the male carries the young on his back and cares for them.
Other behaviours and adaptations
The Common Ringtail is the only species of possum currently known in which the male helps to care for the young.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Actually, common(vulgar?) 'Brushtail', but not yet brushy.
He does look a bit rattish and did a very good impersonation of a dead rat on the road when we found him.
I thought he was a Ringtail inially.
Tracey