Comments

Our blog, currently, has had 726 pageviews, and we would like to thank everyone who looks past the term 'vermin' and sees a living, breathing, feeling animal. Your attitude helps! But so far we have only had a few comments. We would really like to know what you think of our blog and our reason for being, or if you have any ideas that could help possums. If you have anything to say, please comment.

Thank you,
Miki Bluethorn

Mutilation of possums

IMPORTANT! LOOK AT THIS BEFORE READING!: Some of the following information is shocking. We recommend that parents read before letting their children see this. If you are a child, please let your parent/s read this before you.:

Today, while we were looking at The Age website, we found an article describing some horrific incidents in which possums have been treated with severe cruelty, for no reason other than being possums. Many people see possums as pests, but that is no good excuse for some of the things we heard about. The article, 'Possum mutilation on the rise: RSPCA', which was written by Alexandra Bolkas, was published on the 17th of October. Possums have been found in the Knox region with no paws or tails, apparantly caused by fishing wire traps, which tear paws and tails off when the possums try to escape. There have also been many possums poisoned with rat poison, and have needed treatment. Rheya Linden, an Animal Active campaigner, said that possums had also been deliberately hurt at Carlton North's Curtain Square park. She said that

       “Over the past two years we've come across possums trapped and burnt alive in wheelie bins and this year we found a possum stabbed to death with the knife left in it.”

All our information came from: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/animals/possum-mutilation-on-rise-rspca-20121017-27pv5.html#ixzz29uHIo3Qv 

If you are interested in the issue then please read the article yourself, as there is other information that was not used in the post.

Sincerely,

Miki Bluethorn

Zoos Victoria's breeding programs

Humans have taken over most of Australia, leaving very little room for native animals like possums. Because of this, both the Mountain Pygmy possum and Leadbeater's possum are in danger of becoming extinct... Twice. Luckily, Zoos Victoria has breeding programs for both of these species at Healesville Sanctuary, to make sure that if they do become extinct in the wild (which is unfortunately quite possible) there will still be hope for them. They have made a commitment to ensuring that no more Victorian vertebrate (with a back-bone) species become extinct, and luckily the Leadbeater's and Mountain pygmy possum are included. If you want to help, you can donate to their breeding programs. Hopefully they are a success! 

Possum shows compassion

We were at the Curtain Square park yesterday, and were talking to our friend Rheya Linden. We were talking about the possums, and were told an amazing story. A few nights ago, when Rheya was visiting the possums, she noticed that one of the possums, who was pregnant, seemed to be keeping a small animal warm. At first she thought that it had given birth, but then she realised that it was a baby magpie! It had been left all alone by it's parents, and the possum had been keeping it warm. She took the little magpie home, and the next day it was reuntied with it's parents at the park. It is important to remember that it's not only humans who can show compassion.

Sincerely,
Miki Bluethorn

Threatened Species Day!

Friday the 7th of September was National Threatened Species Day (here in Australia)! It is on the 7th of September every year because that is the date of the death of the last know Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger). It remembers a very sad day, but is also a reminder to look after our current wildlife, to make sure that future generations still have the amazing, unique animals that we have today. Of course, I'm going to link this to possums. The Mountain Pygmy Possum and Leadbeater's Possum are two beautiful, shy Victorian species that future generations may not be able to see, will not be able to unless we are careful. Threatened Species Day is a good reminder that we are losing animals that not everyone even knows exists. Did you do anything for Threatened Species Day? If you did, or would have liked to, you can leave a coment if you like, someone else might be inspired by your idea, and maybe even try it.

Miki Bluethorn

  

Do you have a dog?

Do you have dogs? Do you take them out for walks in the evening or at night? And do you live near possums? If the answer to all three questions is yes, then please keep this in mind: Dogs can seriously injure possums, and other wildlife as well. If you take your dogs through a park with possums while the possums are awake then please keep them on a leash. This one, simple action can save the lives of native animals.

Lost and found

Eric Wilkinson was 22 years old and the assistant of the curator of fossils at the Melbourne Museum on the 3rd of April 1961. He was on his first field trip when he made an amazing rediscovery: Leadbeater's possum. The possum had been thought to be extinct for 50 years, and now there was photographic evidence that they still existed. Definintely a fantastic descovery.

The....South-Western Pygmy Possum!

Today we are raising awareness for the South-Western Pygmy Possum!

The South-Western Pygmy Possum, commonly known as the Western Pygmy Possum is distributed in Western Australia, as well as some parts of South Australia, Kangaroo island and Victoria. It also resides in some areas of NSW, but there it is listed as endangered. Aren't they cute?
    The SWPP is an odd colour compared to its grey relatives, as it is a bright cinnamon colour with a white underbelly and a splodge of dark fur in front of its eyes. It has larger more oval shaped ears, big eyes and rather long whiskers. Its tail is interesting as it is covered in fine scales rather then fur. It seems to make them even cuter!
     They are nocturnal and solitary creatures so are not often
seen. They like to eat nectar and pollen and this helps with pollination.

They are sooooo cute! Eeeeek! They are so adorable! And they are so tiny! :-)

Click here for more information on the really cute South-Western Pygmy Possum. So, so cute!

Leadbeater's possums

·       The Leadbeater’s possum, Victoria’s fauna emblem, is now an endangered animal.

·       After the 2009 bushfires there were less than 1000 left

·       Also after the 2009 bushfires they had only 40-50% of their habitat left, and that is the only area in the world where they are found.

·       Because of lack of sightings the Leadbeater’s possum was thought to be extinct for 52 years.  


 A very cute Leadbeaters possum!

Habitat

·       Most possums like to live in areas with lots of trees.

·       While there are a lot of possums in south east Australia and Tasmania, the population is lower in other parts of the country

·       Brushtail possums will use just about any hollows as a home

food

•       Most possum’s favourite foods are native leaves, flowers and fruit, but they also like to eat bananas and pawpaw.

•        Brushtail possums main diet are leaves and most have toxins inside them, Brushtail possums have a high tolerance to plant toxins.

•       Brushtail possums also like to eat parasitic plants like mistletoe. If mistletoe spreads it can kill a eucalyptus tree, so the possums are protecting the trees that provide them with shelter.

Simple ways to prevent possums entering your home

• Make sure that all entry points are closed or blocked off.
• Make sure your roof tiles aren't loose and that there aren't any holes the size of a tennis ball or larger for a possum to enter through.
• Trim any branches that are hanging over the roof.

Thanks, Miki Bluethorn

Good news

The council has decided that they are not going to be culling the possums and are considering other options. Hooray!

More updates soon,

Miki Bluethorn.

Did you know?

That the Yara city council has said that possums are harming the elm's, but last year the same trees where being cut down in Curtain Square!

Possums also are beneficial to native trees, as they help to protect them by eating and preventing the spread of fast-spreading weeds.

Possums now occupy only about a third of the amount of land that they started out with, and have mostly disappeared from western and central Australia.

When the Tasmanian tiger problem was going on it resembled the possum problem. One of the last Tasmanian tiger hunters said "Why did you want to go and protect those useless things," and now they are extinct.

Most possums will die if moved to a new habitat, and if they are moved the young will often go to another vacated area.

Miki Bluethorn

Think about it

         

Look how cute these possums are. Do you really want our native animals in Australia to be culled for no good reason?

If we don't help stop the culling they will probably end up looking
like this:

                             



So think about it, see which one you think is better, having our native animals killed for our sake of having a goods night sleep, or finding a humane option and giveing back something for the huge amount of land that we have stole from them in the last few years.



                                            sincerely Miki Bluethorn

Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to our blog.
      

This blog was created to help save the possums of Curtain Square, a Carlton North park (and other places, we still care about possums from all around). We feel very strongly about this matter especially because there has been talk of culling the possums, and they are already under threat from local cats and dogs. But luckily the Yarra council are considering other more humane options and are having a debate with animal activists. 

      

You might think that possums are vermin and pests but they are actually a native animal to the area and Australia. If you get to know the possums they are very friendly and cute, so please check our blog for more posts.     

                 Sincerely, Miki Bluethorn. 

We must save the possums of Curtain Square!