Possums

At night, in Sydney, the nocturnal animals come out and invade our gardens. 

While lying in bed, I can hear movement, thumping, and screeching sounds through my open window. 

I stay inside after dark at night with the curtains shut because I don't want to know what's out there.  

My daughter, who gets off work at 2 a.m., took the picture below of a Brushtail possum (pozzie) sitting in a tree.

Possum sitting in the backyard Jacaranda Tree

These are NOT your US possums. While both are marsupials, they don't look anything alike. Their color, coat, tail, and behaviors are different. 

The US possums will fake death; the Aussie possums will not.

Possums are big, loud, and clumsy! 

They run across our roof at night and sound like a thundering herd of cattle. 

I can also hear them screeching, followed by loud thumps as they fall off the roof, a common occurrence.

Most of the roofing material in Sydney is terracotta and concrete, a non-combustible material that protects them from occasional bushfires. 

The roof materials are good insulators, as most older homes in Australia don't have heating or air conditioning systems. 

But I think these types of roofs intensify the sounds of the possum's heavy feet and thick nails as they hop and scratch along the rooftops.

After a 3-month stay upstairs where I was kept awake by animals stampeding on the roof, I moved to the downstairs apartment (granny flat).  

I thought, yeah, no more waking up in the middle of the night because of possum noises.  

My new roof material is vinyl and slants to drain water from the upper wood deck.

One afternoon I heard rustling noises coming from inside ceiling. At first, I thought it was my imagination. 

I continued to hear the noises and asked my son-in-law to have a look.  He heard it and said, "Maybe possums."

He had thought the entries to the roof had been blocked, but after looking closer, he discovered it was blocked only on one side. 

He grabbed a ladder, looked in the gap, and saw a possum sleeping in the far right corner.

Possums are territorial and will stay once they find a home.  

The only way to get rid of them is to close off their access and remove them professionally. 

I enjoy my deck, so I ignore the possum noise.  

After all, unless possums are unwell, they sleep throughout the day, being nocturnal. 

A possum was in our front yard one day that looked ill. 

We called the wildlife care organization to ask them to pick it up, but they told us they were too busy and we should put the possum in a box and bring the critter to them. 

Really?

The light shining through the upstairs deck creates shadows, so I thought I might be able to see the possum. 

I looked for it every day until one afternoon - the lighting was proper, and I could see the critter start to move..

After watching the possum's movements over time, I discovered that, like clockwork, he would leave at dusk and return at dawn - not one minute before or after. 

So, I watched and waited each night at dusk for him to move so I could take a picture.

When he moved, the vinyl ceiling would slightly bend, making it easy for my eyes to follow his steps.  

Upon reaching the opening out of the ceiling, he leaned over and peeked at me. 

He knew I was there the whole time and proceeded with caution to climb down the post and rest on the railing. 

He stood there for a few seconds and looked at me looking at him. 

I snapped the picture.

Possums can be aggressive if they think there is a threat, so I moved further away from him and closer to my door.  

He turned away after posing for the picture, walked along the railing, and jumped off.

I think we both realized there was no threat.

Possums are tree dwellers and prefer to sleep in hollow trees, not roofs. 

But because of new developments, trees are being destroyed, and it takes over a hundred years for Australia's common Eucalypt trees to hollow.

My resident possums settle for a seat in the Jacaranda tree.

Possum sitting in the backyard Jacaranda Tree

After that night, I accepted that possums were living in the crawlspace on my roof.  

I was even lucky enough to catch him climbing up the pole to nestle in for the day one early morning.

Once I got a surprise close-up of him when he fell off the roof, just as I had sat down to enjoy the peaceful tranquility of the back garden.

He jumped off the porch, scampered into the yard, and ran out of sight

Possums running along rooftops at night . . .

Possums that make my roof their home . . . 

Possums falling off roofs. . .

. . . I am not in Kansas!