12/10/06: In the last week or so, the possum visitation tally goes something like: Olaf - 6, Cocoa - 5, Queek - 4, Blackbeard - 1, Kulfi - 1. Kulfi was slightly plucked.

Olaf may have been displaced if the trees in his original territory were chopped down, or there was some major change to his general environment. He is more anxious than the other possums, but is adapting to us. In the past, we surmised that brushtails only chose the ringtail box for sleeping when low on the pecking order, sick, hurt or feeling unsure of themselves. However, Olaf has been sleeping regularly in the ringtail box, and appears quite comfortable there. I often watch him on tv while I am working on something or other.

At first, Olaf showed up early for dinner, and tended to stay put. I found it difficult to ignore him - every time I peeped outside, he looked at me with sad, hungry, teddy bear eyes. I decided to try to keep his meal (for example) to a couple of pieces of apple and a bit of carrot per night, with treats once or twice per week. So far, this tactic is working, and Olaf now only stays for a comparatively short visit before heading off again.

14/10/06: Olaf may have found apples and carrots a novelty at first, but now that he is becoming aware of the availability of more exotic items, he is exhibiting signs of choosiness, sometimes hesitating to take apple if he can smell something more exciting.

Blackbeard is the first possum we've seen on the new balustrade. He used it to get onto the balcony and into the house to wander around, and then leaped up onto it again to nibble a large piece of pear.

When Blackbeard is in the house, he often looks like he wants to nibble toes. Cocoa is likewise fascinated by toes, but spends more time exploring the house. Ginger took to climbing us instead of looking at our feet for food. We have found that if we stand on the wool rug in the living room, the possums don't want to follow us onto it - the rug is a safe zone for toes.

15/10/06: Queek visited on his own tonight. It looks like he is independent now. It was good to see him. We spoiled him, first feeding him a few 'healthy' foods, then giving him a Dorito and chocolate mud cake. He licked the homemade (somewhat hot) salsa off the Dorito.

When Olaf was presented (earlier in the evening) with two options, a Dorito or a little piece of chocolate mud cake, he sniffed both, and opted for the mud cake. (He did get to try the Dorito, though.) After eating the cake, he moved closer to the house, as if to say it was worth risking his personal safety for a chance at more.

16/10/06: Queek came by on his own again. When Cocoa showed up, she scrabbled him and chased him away. He returned later, and stayed for some time contentedly nibbling leaves. New Queek photos: Queek eating a Dorito with salsa, a scruffy-looking Queek, one in which he greatly resembles Cocoa when she first became independent, and one that shows his large hand.

19/10/06: A new photo of Olaf may eventually find its way into the Olaf section. Olaf has a large build, but has lost weight since we first spotted him. Last night, Queek and Olaf visited at the same time. Queek was on the roof, and then leaped into a tree to stare down at Olaf. Queek appeared to adopt the dominant role.

We may eventually offer live possumcams. At present, there are several issues that would need to be resolved, including data transfer increase, new video card/s, server considerations, and better quality cameras.

31/10/06: Re: the new balcony/balustrade. We are quite pleased with it. Blackbeard and Olaf use it frequently. Olaf now takes food from me very gently, rather than trying to yank it out of my hand. We glimpsed Cocoa briefly on the handrail in the midst of a major battle with Queek that moved from tree to tree, and onto the balustrade momentarily. Unfortunately, one of the results of the battle was a puddle of possum pee that dripped from the handrail onto the floor. We are not completely sure what happened, except that Cocoa had a little bit of urine on her chest afterward. It seems likely that Queek peed himself in fright. (He was squealing a lot.) Cocoa fought with him as fiercely as she did with Olaf in the movie "Cocoa vents her rage". However, Queek recovered quickly. He just kept coming back, apparently determined not to be taught a lesson. He has a generally easygoing and amiable personality, although he is somewhat fiendish at times. The Cocoa-Queek war went on for some time, but afterward Queek had no plucked parts that we could see, and didn't come across as humbled or subjugated.

It looks to us that Queek has a good shot at survival.

There is a small tree/bush at the front of the house with pink tufted flowers that look like cotton candy/fairy floss. If we pick the flowers and feed them to possums, they gobble them up as if they were candy. Why don't they just eat them off the tree? They probably do, but some of the branches are thin and it may be difficult to reach some of the flowers, or some may be too close to the ground - the possums being more comfortable higher up.

Pale-headed rosellas and rainbow lorikeets also seem to like the pink tufted flower tree.

On 26/10/06, sometime between 7:30pm and a bit after 8pm, Cocoa entered the ringtail box. She didn't appear to be injured or sick, she just groomed herself a while and then left. It was not raining and there were no unusual circumstances that I was aware of.

Tonight (31/10/06): Blood on the handrail. There were splashes/drops of blood for a considerable distance, and in both corners. Since Olaf has been using the balcony very frequently, and since I found the drops relatively early in the evening, it seems most likely that Olaf is the injured possum. Maybe he cut himself climbing up the corner post on the jagged ends of the wires where they're fastened. It worried me to see the blood, but I suppose I will just have to wait.

23:05: Blackbeard just visited, leaning over the roof. I could only see his head, shoulders and arms, but he was energetic and in good spirits, and if he is the injured possum it would appear that his injuries are minor.

23:31: Cocoa is currently in a tree eating carrot. She appears to be ok. (I didn't see any wounds.)

Unpleasant news in the letterbox: Next week construction work will begin across the street from us. There are a lot of good possum and sugar glider trees over there, and it seems that some of them will be cut down. If any of our possums are sleeping across the street they may need to find new sleeping holes. GK has decided to try to make more nestboxes asap. It is possible that refugee possums and sugar gliders will also head over to our place.

Olaf hasn't slept in the ringtail box since the night Cocoa was in there. Perhaps Cocoa scent-marked the box as a 'warning'.

Appropriately enough, there has been a lot of chattering and screeching of bats this evening.

01/11/06: 16:01: I stayed up until a bit after daybreak, but no other possums visited last night, and no possums slept in nestboxes. In a couple of hours I can start looking out for tonight's visitors.

04/11/06: Still no news of Olaf. He is a cautious possum, so perhaps he is trying to keep himself hidden while his wound heals.

08/11/06: Both Cocoa and Blackbeard came to meet GK's sister and her husband when they visited recently. Neither was shy about accepting food from new human food trees. Maybe to possums we all look alike.

We don't know if Olaf is coming back. I miss him. A couple more Olaf photos: stretching and batting his pretty eyes at me, and nibbling gingerbread on the balcony handrail. (The frangipani is not yet blooming - the neighbour's wall is visible.)

Cocoa appears to have been knocked up again. Who could ever be fierce enough to do the deed? My money's on Blackbeard, although it would be related to qualities other than fierceness. Here's a semi-recent photo of Blackbeard, looking more silly and playful than like a suave Don Juan.

09/12/06: We haven't seen Olaf, Queek or Kulfi for more than 5 weeks. We are currently in the midst of bathroom renovations, and for almost 3 weeks now have been living like nomads, wandering from hotel to hotel, sometimes coming back to the house at night for a few hours to check for possums. At one of the places we stayed, Forest Lodge Apartments, we saw a very tame ringtail (soaked with rain), which we nicknamed the 'drive-thru ringtail'. The lane leading into Forest Lodge is narrow, and the ringtail was walking along a fence that bordered the laneway. Her pouch was puffy.She was not frightened by the car, and when I rolled down my window she stayed within arm's reach looking at me, perhaps wondering if I was going to offer her some fruit. We came back later and placed some grapes along the fence rail. Here is a profile shot, and here is an extra photo, in which she is clenching one fist like our karaoke ringtail.

Blackbeard is overjoyed at the reappearance of grapes, and Cocoa is currently mad for cherries.

19/12/06: Cocoa has frequently hopped from the trees onto the handrail and back again. We once saw her use the wires to climb down onto the balcony floor. We have seen her take a running leap onto the handrail from the balcony floor, and we have also seen her climb the wooden support posts.

It may be that as soon as Cocoa no longer had a Queek to lug around on her back she was able to clean up her neighbourhood. The only male possum around lately is Blackbeard, and his appearances are infrequent.

I would like to mention again that possums do not soil their own nestboxes - or human ones. When Cocoa feels the urge, she leaves the house and leaps into a tree to relieve herself.

I forgot to note that Kulfi was the possum who held the speed-eating record. I think he was always aware that he wasn't in his own territory when visiting, and would have to sneak in to gobble up the foods he couldn't get in his own territory as quickly as possible.

GK will probably soon begin to work on this year's gingerbread nestbox.

Photos: blue-faced honeyeater, Cocoa with a cherry in her mouth, looking for more cherries, Cocoa hugging.

The scruffy-tailed possum to the right was spotted in the daytime in a park restroom. On some of the days we were waiting for our own bathroom to be finished up, we spent time in parks. This possum looked like it had been beaten up. The tail is sparse, and it looks like there's some kind of bug, swelling or infection in the ear.

28/12/06: Cocoa and Blackbeard have been in the house frequently during the holidays. We haven't seen any other possums lately. A while back, it was evident a possum had been in the large nestbox - it was probably Cocoa. She might have scent-marked the box to keep other possums from sleeping in her territory. She did something similar in October to scare Olaf and other possums away from the smaller nestbox. Also, Cocoa has taken to 'patrolling' the garden lately, sniffing around on the garden floor and out towards the borders of the property.

One night I thought I heard possumish noises, switched on a flashlight and opened the sliding door to the balcony, looked around but didn't see any possums. I was just about to close the door when I felt a wet nose against my toe. I was startled, but Cocoa didn't bite me. She just wanted to come in and wander around the house for a while.

On Christmas Eve, the Possum Santa distributed fresh gingerbread to the neighbourhood and nearby park possums. (GK made a gingerbread nestbox and took some of the leftover bits with him when we went for a walk that night.)

Cocoa's baby is at the stage where fur is starting to appear. We have seen the baby's back, but no limbs yet. We hope it will be a female possum, as we have had a lot more males than females in the area so far. We might name the baby Kwila (pronounced Kweela). Kwila is a strong, durable wood that starts off reddish in colour and ends up grey.

01/01/07: Something silly to start off the new year: a movie of a blue-tongue lizard that GK filmed late in 2005 when he was travelling in the Northern Territory (for work). Maybe he will eventually put together a website of wildlife photos he has taken while travelling around Australia. (The movie is 10 seconds, 741k. Click here for a 1-second, 164k version.)

Here's a cute photo of Cocoa with a gaping pouch - her baby's back is visible.

26/01/07: We have seen baby possum limbs dangling out of the pouch and have been able to peer into the pouch - Cocoa's second baby is a boy. We have named him after the Good Soldier Švejk. Photos: Švejk's tail and hand, Švejk's hand and tail again (on the two occasions a grabbing hand reached from the pouch, Cocoa was eating gingerbread), Cocoa and the new gingerbread house - 1 and 2. Cocoa also climbed up onto the dining table via a chair to nibble some of the gingerbread house on one occasion.

03/02/07: Tonight for the first time we were able to feed a ringtail.

I heard a crashing in the trees, and went out with a flashlight. A male ringtail peered down at me inquisitively. I held up a slice of apple to him, and he tried to get closer to me. He was too far away, so I put the piece of apple on the end of a pole. He plucked it from the pole deftly, without any hesitation or anxiety. He accepted two more slices of apple from GK. A few times he seemed to try to get closer, as if he would be willing to take food from our hands. There were no convenient branches.

Photos: Cocoa on the handrail, (Švejk's hand reaches out of the pouch to hug Cocoa's leg) and Švejk's leg protruding from the pouch. Švejk's leg is long and thin. His feet are not as large as Queek's were when he was at the same stage of development. The baby brushtails we've seen usually start off a bit orange-looking, but Švejk already appears to be a very light grey.

08/02/07: Cocoa and Švejk spent the day in the brushtail box. Approximately half an hour before the evening's departure, Švejk became hyperactive, pulling at Cocoa's face, picking fights continually and leaping on Cocoa.

Švejk's body shape reminds me of Blackbeard's. His tail is impressively long.

A mystery possum appeared on the roof tonight. He came right to the place where we normally feed roof possums, and without any hesitation or coaxing, took the first food offered to him - a grape. Grapes are small, and he had no problem taking them from our hands very gently, as if accustomed to human food trees. GK aimed a camera at him. We were able to see that he was a male possum. He looks like a cross between Blackbeard and Olaf. Blackbeard body shape, Olaf colouring and ears. Perhaps the father of Švejk? Here's a profile shot, and here's a frontal.

Since Švejk has probably begun back-riding early in the evening, it may be about the time for male possums to start sniffing around Cocoa again. Perhaps she is known in the possum kingdom as a highly attractive mate. Olaf appeared at a similar stage in Queek's development.

The mystery possum seemed very happy to receive gingerbread. His expression was animated in the way that suggests a possum is eating something it especially likes.

It could be that a more mature Kulfi has come back for a visit. Hopefully we will get a chance to see the mystery possum up close sometime soon.

11/02/07: We have seen a back-riding Švejk. Last night Cocoa and Švejk appeared on the roof during a rainstorm. Švejk was calm. He already exhibits signs of independence - sitting side-by- side with Cocoa, and eating leaves while sitting on Cocoa's back as Cocoa accepts food from us.

Photos of Cocoa and Švejk, which may eventually be organized or sorted into a Švejk section: 1 2 3 4 5 6. As well, there are a couple of extra pouch shots from several days ago: Švejk's furry body and Švejk's ear/nose visible.

03/03/07: Cocoa has been bringing Švejk onto the handrail frequently, and has brought him into the house two times so far. He is not afraid to come close to us, he will allow himself to be petted, and he sometimes likes to grab onto fingers in play.

When Švejk stalks along the handrail, he looks just like a miniature Blackbeard.

Blackbeard often shows up at the same time as Cocoa and Švejk. He may be trying to mate with Cocoa, or maybe he will soon.

New photos, which I will try to put in a new section later:

back-riding
in the house
Švejk steals food from underneath Cocoa
on handrail eating carrots
side by side on handrail
Švejk on his own
pulling at Cocoa's eye
Švejk hugs Cocoa
Cocoa tramples Švejk
side by side again
Cocoa makes a funny face
Švejk looks over Cocoa's shoulder

31/03/07: Švejk will probably be independent soon. Today a Švejk section has been added to the site. We may have Švejk videos eventually. At present, the footage we have has not been converted. Here is a photo of Cocoa with her tongue out. Blackbeard currently looks extremely fit.

08/04/07: Blackbeard has been plucked. When we first saw him, it was alarming. We had never seen so much plucking at once. A shoulder, a leg, the back of his neck, a bit above his eye, little bits in odd places, plus a large, irregularly shaped spot on one side of his body. Pictures don't seem to capture the effect. There were a few scratches on the skin, but no deep cuts. The first night we saw him, he was nervous, and only able to gobble down a couple of grapes before Cocoa's appearance scared him off. The level of panic inspired by her presence hints that she may have been the one who plucked him. However, an injured or recently attacked possum may feel more vulnerable than usual, and may be especially wary of any other possums.

Švejk has now arrived a couple of times considerably earlier than Cocoa. We might have to be careful not to feed him too much, in case he becomes too dependent. He is a very calm possum, and seems very unlikely to scratch or bite, almost liking to have humans close. Last night, he climbed up on the kitchen countertops sniffing in the direction of pizza boxes (this photo also appears below to the right.)

On 04/04/07: Blackbeard visited once in a tree, and once on the roof. He was intimidated the first time by Cocoa's approach. Cocoa also appeared on the roof with Švejk while Blackbeard was on the roof. I went down to one end of the roof to feed Blackbeard. I was able to for a short time, but then I heard the running approach of another possum, and then Blackbeard fled. The possum who chased Blackbeard off was Švejk. That probably wouldn't have been possible if Cocoa hadn't been nearby.

Recently, GK photographed a dragon lizard in the backyard.

We will probably not get many more photos of Cocoa and Švejk together. Here they are in the house and in a tree, from underneath.

07/05/07: Švejk is now independent, but visits frequently. An annoying habit: early in the evening, he consistently leaves a few dribbles of pee on the balcony handrail. Possums usually mark territory with secretions from their scent glands, but Švejk's are not yet developed. Perhaps he is trying to mark out the balcony and house as his territory.

He is a toe biter. Here is a photo of Švejk biting GK's toe. (We were present when Cocoa taught Švejk to bite toes.) So far, the only non-toe-biting possum was Ginger.

Švejk is the first possum not to be afraid of the wool rug in the living room. Here he is on one of the sofas.

09/05/07: We haven't seen Cocoa or Švejk for a couple of days, but last night a mystery possum visited. This possum readily accepted food extended to him on a pole. He grabbed the food roughly. We don't think we have had contact with this particular possum before, but he does resemble some of our possums. He is definitely a male possum. He is at the stage of development that Queek would probably be by now, but doesn't remind us of Queek. Another profile shot can be found here.

As I compile this entry, a possum is sleeping in the ringtail box. I am not yet sure which possum it is, but it could be this mystery possum. It is a smallish possum, but the ears are large and stick out the way Olaf's did.

12/05/07: The second night, the mystery possum came right to the house after leaving the nestbox. He went to the branch Olaf went to in the beginning, and even took food in the same way, backing away in a panic. (Olaf grew more and more comfortable, and in the end was very calm, gentle.) This new possum took food by hand on the second night of contact. However, later on, when he was in another part of the yard, Blackbeard chased him a fair distance, and then went into the nestbox the new possum slept in, possibly to scent- mark it as a warning.

We still haven't seen Švejk, but Cocoa visited last night. We have seen Blackbeard a couple of times recently. The mystery possum visited early in the evening yesterday, and again took food from our hands. It is possible this possum is Queek, but we are not sure. As I write, he is again sleeping in the ringtail nestbox.

26/05/07: We haven't seen Švejk since around the first week in May. There have been a couple more mystery possum sightings. Cocoa has another baby in the pouch. Blackbeard has recovered from his major plucking - his fur is filling in nicely.

02/06/07: The mystery possum is still hanging around. From now on he will be referred to as Leopold.

14/07/07: Blackbeard slept in the brushtail box during the day yesterday, and Cocoa came into the brushtail box last night, possibly perturbed that Blackbeard had dared to sleep there. She did this weird thing where it looked a bit like she was swaying back and forth. She actually toppled herself over a couple of times while standing up looking around, which was quite cute. We had a few glimpses into the pouch. The baby is still pretty white (furless), but appears to be at the stage of development where it will soon have fur. It was very windy last night, and while Cocoa might have originally entered the box to scent-mark it as a warning to Blackbeard, she might have stayed for a while because it provided shelter from the wind and cold. She spent some time on her back grooming the baby in the pouch - which would have been difficult to do in a tree.

Cocoa and Blackbeard have their winter fur, which is very soft and fluffy.

There have been no Leopold or Švejk sightings for some time.

23/07/07: A mother ringtail appeared on the balcony handrail last night with one of her babies on her back, apparently having left behind the other in a nearby tree. (If you look closely, you can see a small glowing eye to the right of the mother's face, and depending on your monitor, you might be able to faintly make out a baby possum shape.) She ate a small bit of carrot and some apple that had been left out for Cocoa. The two on the balcony did not run away when we came closer, although the mother hissed a little at one point. Most of the time she was calm. In another photo the one left behind is a little easier to make out (again on the right, but up higher this time).

When the family reunited in the trees, there was some confusion, with all three possum bodies hanging together in a furry cluster. It was difficult to tell which parts belonged to which possum as they flailed about.

In a somewhat blurred shot, the three possums make their way through the trees together.

Cocoa's baby now has fur - we have seen the tail hanging out of the pouch.

GK has converted some of Švejk's baby movies from March 2007 into clips for Possum TV. The new additions can be found near the bottom of the possum tv page.

29/07/07: The ringtails have put in several appearances lately. Here's the mother with one of the babies. The mother (with babies in her pouch) may be in this photo from early June. Ringtails have only rarely been fed by us over the years. Their digestive systems are a lot more delicate than those of brushtails, and they are more shy around humans than brushtails. The mother has eaten small bits of carrot, apple and pear. One of the babies on its own accepted a piece of pear extended to it on a pole (this baby's back looks like it has been plucked - perhaps by its sibling).

Brushtails and ringtails appear able to coexist peacefully with one another.

Some of the trees across the street have recently disappeared, (the site is being prepared for construction - we were informed that they would begin quite some time ago, but they have only intermittently worked on it since then) and this could have something to do with why Blackbeard has been choosing to sleep in one of the nestboxes. When trees are chopped down, native animals lose sources of food and places to sleep. If an animal is sleeping in a tree at the time it is chopped down, that animal can be injured or killed.

Some months ago, I read of a prison which had inmates making nestboxes for various animals, including possums. Thank you to all who participate in such programs.

04/08/07: Blackbeard has a scary-looking mouth wound that doesn't seem to bother him much. Cocoa is very plump and quite a pretty mother possum. It won't be long now until her new baby begins to back-ride. The mother ringtail still occasionally hangs out with her babies.

07/08/07: Last night, the mother ringtail took apple from my hand. This is the first ringtail to ever take food directly from my hand or GK's. She held onto my finger momentarily.

From now on, I am going to call the ringtail box brushtail box #2 (it was designed to be a ringtail box, but only brushtails use it), and the original brushtail box will be brushtail box #1.

18/08/07: Cocoa's baby is out of the pouch. We have named her Kwila. Kwila is the first possum to be fascinated with the Big Brother camera in the nestbox. She played with it as if it were a toy or punching bag.

Kwila has a little wound on her nose. Blackbeard's mouth wound still looks scary, but he still doesn't seem to be bothered by it. He has been coming to the house more frequently than usual, though.

More Kwila photos: looking directly at camera 1 2, looking fiendish, back-riding 1 2, and a shot in which Kwila's eye looks blue.

28/08/07: Kwila is incredibly energetic, acrobatic and independent. She ventures off on her own frequently, but still returns to back-ride, or to use Cocoa as a perch (or support). Like her brothers before her, Kwila tries to take food out of Cocoa's mouth, and often succeeds.

Last night, the mother ringtail and one of her babies put in an appearance for the first time in a long time. Here are two very cute photos of the two of them together: 1 2. I don't know where the other baby was, but both the mother and the baby that was present took food offered by hand. They played tug of war with the first piece of pear I gave to the mother, and the baby even made a threatening noise toward its mother. We may name these ringtails.

Blackbeard's wound appears to be getting better, and he is visiting less frequently.

01/09/07: It is with deep sadness that I write the following words: Cocoa is dead. A dog attack left her with severe spinal cord injury yesterday evening. GK and I took her to a veterinary hospital, where she was euthanized.

We don't know exactly what happened. I remember hearing something that sounded like the snapping of a tree branch, and then a dog barking and possum screeching. It seems possible that an overhanging tree branch broke, stranding Cocoa and Kwila in a yard difficult for a possum to escape from. The fence dividing this property from the neighbour's is a colorbond fence - an expanse of galvanized iron sheeting with nothing for a possum to grip. The only tree was located across the large open area of lawn at the back border of the property.

There was no way for us to get into this yard ourselves. The fences are high, and the neighbour has made it so it is impossible for anyone to even knock on his door or ring his doorbell - there are barriers everywhere. We managed to attract his attention, and eventually he let GK into his yard. GK saw an injured Cocoa pulling herself under a hole in the fence at the very back of the neighbour's yard. The neighbour said he had seen a possum in the small tree, and we wondered if that had been Kwila.

By car we went to the house/property that Cocoa had crawled to. GK received the resident's blessing to go and search for Cocoa, and he found her. He brought her to the car wrapped in a towel (possums will feel safer if covered when they are picked up - it is also a good idea to cover their heads), and told me that it didn't look good. There wasn't much blood, but Cocoa's body didn't look right, and GK said that she had only been able to use her arms to pull herself along.

I held Cocoa in my lap on the way to the vet. Her head poked out of the towel, and my instinct was to stroke her head to reassure her. Hehe, she bit down on my hand. I thought it was a good thing. (She didn't break the skin or draw blood.) I had hope that she might recover.

We were told that Cocoa's injuries were too severe. We agreed to have her put down, and we were allowed time to say good-bye.

We didn't know this, but it is apparently policy here that all the care costs for wildlife are covered.

When we returned to the house, it was very painful. Cocoa has been an important part of our lives, and we felt a great sense of loss. We were also worried about Kwila, and wondered if she was injured and/or scared. We worried that she was too young for total independence.

I couldn't sleep. I thought that Kwila would probably try to hide somewhere, and that if she was still alive, it might be a long time until we saw her again. I put on the small nestbox tv channel, not thinking I would see anything, but I felt a need to have it on. Later on, more than 7 hours after the accident, a possum entered the small nestbox. It was Kwila.

She did not appear injured or traumatized. She began to groom herself, and then curled up in a ball and went to sleep. As I write these words, she is still sleeping in the box.

GK called wildlife professionals to ask for advice concerning Kwila. The response was immediate: a carer was sent over to assess Kwila (and her potential to live independently) very soon after GK got off the phone.

The carer looked at recent photos of Kwila - we had some from a few days ago, and a couple from the night before the accident. She said that Kwila was a good size. And when GK pointed out Kwila's route to the box, from the back of a neighbour's garden to the possum box at the front of GK's house, she was impressed and said it was a good sign that Kwila had been able to manage that. [If you would like to see a young possum trying to make his way on his own in the back garden, see the 'Queek flailing' video on the possum tv page.]

The carer was also able to observe Kwila in the nestbox on tv. Again, she was encouraging. Before she left, she suggested that we leave fruit and vegetables outside the box for Kwila when she leaves the box for the evening. She also suggested that we leave some water with honey in it on top of the box, as Kwila might need water but find plain water unappetizing.

GK had an all-hours vet phone number programmed into his phone, and because of that we were able to make arrangements very quickly once Cocoa had been found. If you find an injured animal, ring the nearest all-hours vet. We rang:

Samford Valley Veterinary Hospital
07 3289 1322 (all hours)

Wildcare Australia can put you in touch with wildlife carers, or offer info/support (24hrs):

07 5527 2444
(http://www.wildcare.org.au/html/home.htm)

After Cocoa bit me, my hand swelled a little. When we returned to the house, the swelling had subsided and there was a visible imprint on my hand that seemed to us like a possum version of a human lip print. It was Cocoa's kiss good-bye.

The most recent photos we have of Cocoa were taken on August 30th, the night before Cocoa died. These photos are the last two photos displayed on the right of this diary page.

Cocoa was very much loved, and this is a difficult loss for us.

At present, we want to help Kwila as much as we can, such that she will be able to take over Cocoa's territory.

And I think that is all I can write for now.

03/09/07: I have tried to compose a eulogy for Cocoa. [Note: I intend to place it in my blog, which means that the back links on the pages won't return you to Possum TV.]

10/09/07: Kwila sighting! Around midnight I was able to observe Kwila for a while in a large tree at the back of the garden. She appears plump and well-adjusted. She has not yet returned to a nestbox to sleep, but it is possible that she is finding some of the food I have been leaving out for her. (I have been leaving food in a few different spots, partly because I am not sure if Blackbeard and/or other possums are eating some of this food.)

Pumpkin and Google also put in an appearance last night, but I did not see Pi.

13/09/07: I observed Kwila at the back of the garden at approximately 2am. The zoom on my camera doesn't go very far, but here is a photo of her in the distance. I also have a cute one of Pumpkin and (probably) Google (but I am not completely sure).

15/09/07: Kwila hangs out with Google on a Friday night. Last night GK noticed a baby ringtail at the back of the garden. I think it was Google. When he went to get his camera, I spotted Kwila near Google. They were fairly close to each other in the same tree, but when GK started taking photos, Google seemed to stay hidden behind branches and leaves, not allowing for a clear shot.

Kwila photos: facing camera, fluffball possum, leaf eater, dangling by one foot, cute profile shot, still nibbling leaves and a belly view.

Google later changed her mind about having her photo taken: She ventured onto the balcony to eat a couple pieces of apple - she took one from me, and one from GK. GK decided to try to pet her, and she allowed it. She is the first ringtail either of us has ever petted. In the following photo she appears to be talking to GK. Here are a couple of photos of Pumpkin from August: facing the camera and stretching.

20/09/07: Several nights ago Kwila momentarily peeked over the edge of the roof, accepted a piece of apple, and then ran off with it. Since that time she has been spotted a couple of times in the back garden again, and last night she accepted food by hand on the balcony handrail. She seems to be a skillful, as well as a healthy and happy little possum.

We remain hopeful that Kwila will claim this territory for her own.

Most recent entry: 28/09/10
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