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Pseudocheirus peregrinus
The common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus, Greek for "false hand" and Latin for "pilgrim" or "alien") is an Australian marsupial. It lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, as well as flowers and fruits. This possum also consumes a special type of faeces that is produced during the daytime when it is resting in a nest. This behaviour is called coprophagia and is similar to that seen in rabbits.
Ranges on the east coast of Australia, as well as Tasmania and a part of southwestern Australia. They generally live in temperate and tropical environments and are rare in drier environments. Ringtail possums prefer forests of dense brush, particularly eucalyptus forests. This one was spotted in my backyard. They are common in urban areas.
The Common Ringtail Possum feeds on a wide variety of plants in the Myrtacae family including the foliage, flowers and fruits from shrubs and lower canopy. This fellow was true to form because it was feeding on the fruit of a Lilli Pilli. We get lots of the brushtail possums in my area, but fewer ringtails. In the same Lilli Pilli tree, there have also been Brushtail Possums feeding, as well as Black Flying Foxes. The bats will not approach the tree when the Brushtails are present, but seem quite happy to feed with the smaller Ringtail. Here's some info on the tree itself - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/944... I've been waiting for months to get some photos of a ringtail and I finally did, although the quality of the photos is less than I had hoped for.
Spotted on Nov 19, 2013
Submitted on Nov 24, 2013
11 Comments
definitely funny!
Well done. When you see me lurking around the neighbourhood, crawling on my knees or diving into bushes, you'll know what I'm up to. When Di was living here last year, whenever people would walk past the house she would say "they're coming to see the 'funny man'". That just about sums me up, don't you think?
great pic neighbour! I have finally signed up to Project Noah and found you here!
You win!!! ;-)
Thought so. I've got a bunch of t-shirts still wet from 2 years ago.
It's been a hot spring and the storms have been massive. Summer is going to be a stinker, and much noisier. The humidity I can do without. Keep the digs coming. I love it :-)
Oh well more digs on the way then :) How's the Bris summer building.. can you still breathe?
The pic of the two young ones in the possum box is a classic. Never seen a black ringy either. Glad to hear I'm not the only self-confessed dag... but I do wear black very well. I've been in Brisbane for 15 years, but I'll always be a Sydney boy till the day I drop. Can take the boy out of the city.....
A classic Melbourne dig but often I see it the other way around too. If you don't wear basic black in Melbourne you're nobody... that's just as daggy :-) Check Rachael's Melbourne ringies here for comparison... http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/727... More than just flash involved. And the ones in WA are black http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/192... I've got a good collection of daggy shirts too btw... and I thought you were a naturalised Bris person now !?
Cheers, Mark. They are a lovely colour here in QLD, but the flash highlights the colour considerably. I don't recall seeing too many around Sydney, and I certainly don't remember what colour they were. Re: The shirts. Is that a little Melbourne dig? Nice :-) My shirts aren't loud, but they are incredibly daggy. A fashion tragic here :-/
Yeah I still haven't got decent shots of ours. Good job. Yours are so different coloured. Ours are boring grey. Maybe a climate/fashion thing. Sydney people tend to wear loud shirts. :-)