Thanks to Kurichan and her librarian friend, I have an answer to the question of "Who's Poos" !
The little critter is a Ringtail Possum and supposedly... they're pretty common in urban/suburban environments - I just never saw one before. Probably because I'm in bed long before they come out to party! Hey... does that make them party poopers?
I'm just relieved, knowing that it wasn't a snake or rat ... because I was starting to get seriously stressed, thinking about the children being at risk from something dangerous.
But just look at them! Aren't they cute little critter's?
(Geez...I feel like Ellie Mae Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies, saying stuff like "critters"... and I only wish had some way of working "ce-ment pond" or "howdy" into the conversation!)
The Common Ringtail Possum is a shy animal that has adapted its behaviour to live in urban environments with humans and their gardens, making use of ornamental native plants and introduced fruits and flowers.
A smaller animal in size, the fur on the Common Ringtail Possum is not dense but light to dark grey with a creamy coloured belly. It has a softer looking face with rounder ears that have a white patch behind each ear. It has a tapering white tail, which is not bushy like the Common Brushtail Possum.
A smaller animal in size, the fur on the Common Ringtail Possum is not dense but light to dark grey with a creamy coloured belly. It has a softer looking face with rounder ears that have a white patch behind each ear. It has a tapering white tail, which is not bushy like the Common Brushtail Possum.
The Common Ringtail Possum is found in a variety of habitats where trees and shrubs have dense foliage. This species builds a nest, or drey, in amongst the dense foliage of trees or shrubs and several metres above the ground. These spherical shaped nests are lined with grass, shredded bark or leaves. Common Ringtail Possums rarely enter a building roof.
20 comments:
Well thank goodness for that! We don't get possums here so can't say I have ever encountered their droppings.
You can rest easy now that you and the kids are safe.
Tania
I didn't know that we got them here, either!
They're probably the reason I never noticed the fruit on the plum trees either - they more than likely ate the plums before I even knew that I had fruit!
Wow the wonders of your backyard!!
Lucky you :)
I think I'll go elephant hunting tommorrow! You never know what I may come across out there!
LOL ! I was going to say "what are you doing up at this hour?"... and then I remembered that there's 2 hours difference between us. :o)
He's a cutie!! I was hoping it wasn't a snake! :)
Hi down under! Thanks for visiting The Queen's Blog and posting - having company is soooo nice. But the best part is I came to visit you and I love your blog. Anyone who can make writing poop stories funny and entertaining gets my vote! Loved it. Queenie/Sharon
I would of never guessed that was a possom, looks nothing like the ones we have here.
That's a cute little thing. I don't think that our version of possums are as cute as yours!
Oh - I so glad the Queenie dropped by!
Hi there, this is my first time visiting your blog. I saw your name on another blog's comments and hehe, I had to write. My younger son's name, yes real on his birth certificate, is Tater. We named him after Tater Porter the PBR bull rider. So I'm essentially "tater's mama" too!! lol
Thank goodness you figured out your poo situation too. I would have just thought it to be some dog poo, but it would have to be a really really small dog. lol hopefully you don't see the critter around. What does snake poo look like??
It looks so cute! My dad is obsessed with the Beverly Hillbillies. I still call swimming pools cement ponds!
Yeah, and my daughters would want me to take in the critter. I don't need any more critters, what with Thor and the guinea pigs and my daughter's parakeets!
Whewww! Glad it wasn't some unknown monster lurking in your garden beds!
A Party Pooper they aren't! Ask my folks! They have one creeping around their yard come nightfall and wreaks havoc from the critter on the other side of the glass! Their dog! Quite a "party" goes on! The possum however would not be a good dance partner for Katie, the daschund. It'd tear her a new you-know-what!
I totally love possums from Australia ! My husband and I visited Australia a few years ago, I would move there in a minute if I could !!
Jackie from Minneapolis, MN USA
They look a little cuter than the possums we have around here.
I am so glad to hear that it is just a little ol' possum!! We have so many possoms here that some people joke about their roofs being insulated with possum poo (so apparently they do their share of pooing!). I know that they are fairly common in some of the suburbs of Melbourne as well, as there is a one-eyed possum that has taken up residence at the house in Cheltenham and apparently gets along with the cat, and eats the cat's food.
I am thinking if he likes it there, he may hang around. Not sure if you want him to do that or not, but it might be kind of interesting. I believe they are very noctural??
Sooze
lol I know how it is with the kids and the critters. The sunday before Christmas my son went to stop his chihuahua from chasing what he though was the neighbor's kitten around the front porch. He opened the door and in ran a ferret. The kids named her Lynnie the Christmas Ferret after a song called Lenny the Christmas possom because she has the coloring of a possom. I would of let them keep her, because she was quite a character but didn't think they could or would handle the responsibility, ferrets are alot of work and need lots of attention. But we found her a good home with a young couple, and she is happy and health and having fun.
The only thing I know of possums is their teeth. I tried to raise a baby one once and who knew they hissed and had big, long needle teeth. It went to a wildlife rehab.
Yours is very cute and I might have been more tempted to keep him. Which is, after all, REALLY what I need.
THANK you for the PICS! Had to call the kids over right away.
Just as a sidenote, Kate--he figures it is a bushtail possum rather than a ringtail because they are bigger (and hence have bigger poops than the ringtail, which are more the size of a chocolate bullet ;-) lolly!
He sure is a cute thing! We have possums here but they are no where near that cute, in fact our opossums kind of look like a rat on steroids, with a long hairless looking tail and all.
It looks like he was active again last night, so I'm pretty sure that he lives somewhere near-by.
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