Notes

Brushtail Possum Information
The brush tail possum is one of the family Phalangeridae being the common variety of the possum present in New Zealand. It is the species generally known as Trichosurus Vulpecula. These imported pests from Australia arrived to the country inside the mid 1800's as a source of food and being a product for trapping and skinning for that pelt. The possum is often a marsupial animal, called because after birth the young are carried in the pouch that comes with the mothers belly.
The color variations are wide and range between grey to just about black. The belly fur shaded from the grey-white to black-brown color. It can live anywhere and usually do, your initial possums started inside the South Island and in the past 150 years have spread through New Zealand. Their preferred food are plants leaving, specially the broad leaves with the metrosideros and rata vines but including many native bushes. They will eat the flowers, bark, and ferns, ending while using death in the plant or tree. They will also eat carrion, eggs, insects' cicadas and weta's. The weight range from the possum 2.5kgs to 6kgs. The density of possums in a single area is will be as high as 10 to a hectare of land.
imp source is a nocturnal animal which is effective at moving 1 km as much as 2.5 km per night. Possums seen within the daytime hours are often in ill health. They communicate by scents or vocally, the animal features a wide range of sounds or noises. From this information, they could deduce time 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 might use a couple of different nests.
They lead solitary lives except for that breeding season that coincides with the shortening days leading into autumn. Both sexes mature a single to two years. The females provide an oestrus of 26 days. The young are born after 17-18 days gestation. They climb inside their mothers pouch and lock on to some teat for that next 70 days. Some will have a second breeding season August to babies start growing their coats when 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 half a year. They may continue to suckle until aged 8 months. The survival rate is high around 90 percent but could vary needless to say. They are vulnerable to mites, tapeworm, Leptospirosis and Tuberculosis each of which may affect both stock the ones.
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