“Katie” Brushtail Possum

Tues 30th July 2022  I collected a baby /juv possum from Merriwa vet. She had been found alone in Singleton by a MOP with no parent in sight and taken to the vet. She was checked over and appeared to be in good health.  One of our carers collected her but  was not keen to have her in care so I agreed to take her. She was transported to our town vet. I called her Katie after Kate the girl who transported her. That has now changed to “Naughty Katie”  as she would give me a good bite and scratch if she could! I do pass her a piece  of apple when I take her fruit bowl in in the eve but am careful about my fingers.

I had her in a large cage .She was eating her fruit and  some native vegetation which was also in the cage and drinking her milk formula.

Katie in her cage

I have cared for many possums when in Sydney as they were always losing their habitat to human expansion , car collisions and humans not wanting to share their yards. Possums are opportunists and will eat avocados ,roses , parsley and the like and some humans don’t like sharing. Possums in care will eat their fruit before their natives!

I loved having possums in my yard when I lived in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. Out here in the bush we have possums living around the house. I love seeing them running around at night. We don’t get possums coming into care from out here .If I have 1 in care its come from a town area.

Katie was moved into her outdoor aviary about 5 days after coming into care.

 Fri Sep 8th  2022—760grams – She is loving the space in the aviary , comes out of her box about dusk eats then explores. All the native flowers are out now so Katie has a great choice of munchies. She loves roses and my friend Jenny brings some from her garden.

Native flowers for Katie

 

 

The native flowers also look lovely in a vase on my dining table.

 

 

Katie continued to grow well. She was a lovely girl.

 

 

 

By the end of Oct she weighed 1335 grams . Big enough to be released . She continued to stay around , going in and out of the opening in the roof of the aviary which has a large tree trunk which takes her straight into the big mulberry tree growing there. She was a big muncher of mulberry leaves. Eventually Katie stopped retuning to the avairy and then we found she had moved into  possum box which was in Larry’s shed and had a big belly!! She became special to us and we spoil her with fruit . She had her first baby .

Katie and Bub