Brushtail Possum Information

The brush tail possum is among the family Phalangeridae being the regular variety of the possum found in New Zealand. It is the species known as Trichosurus Vulpecula. These imported pests from Australia came into the united states inside the mid 1800's as being a meal source and being a product for trapping and skinning for your pelt. The possum can be a marsupial animal, called because after birth the young are carried in the pouch on the mothers belly.
The color variations are wide and range between grey to almost black. The belly fur shaded from the grey-white to black-brown color. It can live anywhere and generally do, the first possums started in the South Island and inside past 150 years have spread throughout New Zealand. Their preferred food are plants and leaves, especially the broad leaves with the metrosideros and rata vines but including many native timber. They will eat the flowers, bark, and ferns, ending with the death of the plant or tree. click here for more will also eat carrion, eggs, insects' cicadas and weta's. The weight range of the possum 2.5kgs to 6kgs. The density of possums in a single area is can be as high as 10 to a hectare of land.
The possum can be a nocturnal animal which is able to moving 1 km as much as 2.5 km every night. Possums seen inside the daytime hours are usually in ill health. They communicate by scents or vocally, the dog carries a wide variety of sounds or noises. From this information, they are able to deduce the ages or social status of other live in dens seen in trees, burrows of rabbits or kiwis. They also like hay barns, log piles and woolsheds! The individual possums may also use maybe five or ten different nests.
They lead solitary lives except for the breeding season that coincides while using shortening days leading into autumn. Both sexes mature in a to two years. The females provide an oestrus of 26 days. The young are born after 17-18 days gestation. They climb into their mothers pouch and lock on to a teat for that next 70 days. Some may have a second breeding season August to babies start growing their coats if they are 90 -100 days old. Their eyes open ten days later. They finally emerge from their mothers pouch from about 4 months of age most by few months. They may continue to suckle until aged 8 months. The survival rates are high up to 90 % but can vary needless to say. They are prone to mites, tapeworm, Leptospirosis and Tuberculosis each of which could affect both stock and people.

Public Last updated: 2022-02-24 12:33:50 AM