Quiet, Attractive, Nocturnal, Marsupials… Common Ringtail Possums

By Keith Hutton on September 23, 2015 in Other

It’s not unusual after dark to see a swashbuckling brushtail possum bounding along on the ground towards the trunk of the nearest tree, then sitting watching you, still on the ground or up on a low branch. Less likely in the Eastern Suburbs are possums of a different kind, not so widespread and normally located sitting quietly, half hidden, in a leafy tree or tall bush; these are Common Ringtail Possums. They are less obvious and a whole lot cuter than their bigger, more confident cousins.

Ringtails were neither recorded in the recent extensive biodiversity surveys organised by Waverley Council, nor in the environment reports from Randwick Council; also, they get no mention in Centennial Parklands information sheets. Consequently, I was quite surprised to hear of one along Lang Road adjacent to the park recently. It was in a well-established private garden and was noticed at dawn making its way down from a big, leafless, overhanging branch to the boundary hedge, and then along to the patio of the house next door.

Ringtail possums are noticeably smaller than cats and brushtail possums, with tapering prehensile, white-tipped tails. They are very attractive little animals, highly variable in colour from soft grey tones to rich rufous-red, with white patches behind their short rounded ears, and usually paler below.

They are distributed all along the eastern coastal areas of Australia from Cape York to Tasmania, where they occupy a broad variety of vegetation types including eucalyptus forest and woodland, rainforest, shrubby woodlands, heath lands, coastal scrub, parks and suburban gardens where shrubs form dense masses of tangled foliage.

Family groups forage and nest together until the young disperse. They are strictly nocturnal and most active foraging takes place during the first half of the night, after which they rest for a while, then feed again before dawn. Although anatomically specialised eaters of leaves of native vegetation, ringtail possums also feed on flowers and fruits, and in major Australian cities have adapted to live close to people and their gardens, where they eat a wide variety of flowers and fruits from introduced plants.

Ringtail possums generally adapt well to people, and vice versa. Unlike brushtail possums they are not attracted to human food scraps, nor are they as likely to move into the roof of your house and be noisy and messy. They prefer to make their own nests in tree hollows or thick vegetation, mainly eat natural foods and have little interaction with people. However, there are problems with logging, fires and consequent modification of preferred habitats. In such situations natural predators such as large forest owls and pythons, and introduced foxes, dogs and cats, may adversely affect local populations. Common Ringtail Possums are protected in NSW, remain common nationally, and are not listed in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.