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Quiz about Lets Play Possum
Quiz about Lets Play Possum

Let's Play Possum! Trivia Quiz


No beating around the bush here, either you love these critters or you don't. They're a declared pest in New Zealand, but in Australia they're protected. Let's find out why.

A multiple-choice quiz by dramatica. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
dramatica
Time
3 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
364,274
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
9 / 10
Plays
748
Last 3 plays: Guest 98 (6/10), Guest 110 (9/10), Guest 104 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Why are possums a declared pest in New Zealand and protected in Australia? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. How are possums controlled in New Zealand? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. What useful purpose do possums serve in New Zealand? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. There are about 70 species of possum native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. What is the most common species of these arboreal marsupials in Australia? Hint: It may need a comb. Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Which suborder of the order Diprotodontia do the Australian marsupial possums belong to? Hint: think of fingers. Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. What type of possum is an omnivore (eating everything it can get its little paws on)? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Why do possums move into urban areas? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. If a possum takes up residence in your roof or ceiling space, and is making a mess, what do you do? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. At what time of the day are possums active? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. After mating, it takes 18 days for a baby possum to develop enough to be able to crawl into its mother's pouch (where it will spend up to five months growing to full size). What is a baby possum called? Hint





Most Recent Scores
Oct 15 2024 : Guest 98: 6/10
Oct 15 2024 : Guest 110: 9/10
Oct 11 2024 : Guest 104: 7/10
Oct 10 2024 : Guest 140: 7/10
Sep 27 2024 : Guest 82: 8/10
Sep 17 2024 : boombaby: 7/10
Sep 17 2024 : CmdrK: 10/10
Sep 17 2024 : ghosttowner: 10/10
Sep 17 2024 : mandy2: 8/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Why are possums a declared pest in New Zealand and protected in Australia?

Answer: Possums were introduced to New Zealand and have no natural predators there

Possum are native to Australia, and therefore a protected species. In Australia, their natural predators are tiger quolls, goannas, carpet snakes and certain owls. European settlers introduced the common Australian brushtail possum to New Zealand. As the Australian possums had no natural predators in New Zealand, their numbers increased so fast that they soon became a pest.

Not only have native New Zealand trees and wildlife been severely damaged by the Australian possums but also livestock in that they act as a carrier of bovine tuberculosis.
2. How are possums controlled in New Zealand?

Answer: By poison bait

Aerial dropping of bait laced with sodium monofluoroacetate is used in many areas by the New Zealand Department of Conservation as a way of controlling possums. By 2009, it was estimated that possum numbers had been reduced to half the number they were in the 1980s. Also, as an introduced "pest" species, hunters have carte blanch to dispose of possums on their property, or in the wild.
3. What useful purpose do possums serve in New Zealand?

Answer: Their fur is used to make clothing and fur trimming

The common Australian brushtail possum was originally introduced to New Zealand in order to set up a fur industry, and that tradition has carried on. Their fur is either blended with fine merino wool to make clothing (Ecopossum, Merinosilk, Merinomink, possumdown, eco fur or possum wool), or straight possum fur is used as a trim for jackets, bed throws, and leather gloves.
4. There are about 70 species of possum native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. What is the most common species of these arboreal marsupials in Australia? Hint: It may need a comb.

Answer: Brushtail possum

Possums are quadrupedal marsupial mammals with long thick tails which are either bushy, scaly or "ringed". The smallest possum is the Tasmanian pygmy possum. Its adult head-body length is just 70 mm and it weighs just 10 g. The cuscus is not native to Australia, thankfully, because although it belongs to the same species as the possum, some of them are quite large and can weigh more than 7 kg.
5. Which suborder of the order Diprotodontia do the Australian marsupial possums belong to? Hint: think of fingers.

Answer: Phalangeriformes

Wombats and koalas belong to the suborder Vombatiformes; kangaroos, potoroos, wallabies and the musky rat-kangaroo belong to the suborder Macropodiformes, and possums and gliders belong to the larger suborder of Phalangeriformes.
6. What type of possum is an omnivore (eating everything it can get its little paws on)?

Answer: Common brushtail possum

Generally, all possums are herbivores but the common brushtail possum will sit down and eat dinner with you, and dessert, and come back for breakfast and lunch. Once a possum has found a good food source it will return day after day, year after year, until it expires. Honey possums are nectar-feeders; mountain pygmy possums are insect eaters, and greater gliders delight in a feast of eucalyptus leaves.
7. Why do possums move into urban areas?

Answer: Plentiful food and shelter, and no natural predators

Being arboreal, the natural habitat of possums is trees, but the most common possum in Australia, the brushtail possum, has migrated almost en masse to urban areas and taken up residence in just about everybody's roof space. Their numbers have grown rapidly in urban areas and it is not uncommon to see them darting across busy streets at night, or running along overhead electricity lines.

In fact, possums use electricity lines to gain access to house rooves (where there are no trees to allow access) and will find the smallest space to gain access into the roof cavity to build their "nests".

It's so much easier for them to find a warm and dry place to sleep in the city than out in the wilds; and even pot-plant gardens provide a feast of exotic food for them if they haven't figured out yet how to open your refrigerator door.
8. If a possum takes up residence in your roof or ceiling space, and is making a mess, what do you do?

Answer: Call a registered possum catcher

A possum catcher will trap the critter legally and move it to a more natural area (but within your area, as required by law), where it will be able to live happily (hopefully) as nature intended it to. To introduce any other animal into your home as a way to scare off a possum is fraught with danger, and all of the other "deterrents" are a waste of time and money.

The only way to get a possum out of your house for good is to use a registered possum catcher who will also block likely places where possums can gain entry.
9. At what time of the day are possums active?

Answer: From sunset to dawn

Possums are typically nocturnal and if you see a possum during the day it is either ill or injured (and not necessarily by human cruelty, vehicular accident or cat attack). Possums are pretty vicious about attacking each other if one of them invades the personal "territory" of another possum, and young male possums starting out in life are most at risk.
10. After mating, it takes 18 days for a baby possum to develop enough to be able to crawl into its mother's pouch (where it will spend up to five months growing to full size). What is a baby possum called?

Answer: Joey

Typically, brushtail possums breed in the autumn, but if food is abundant (like it is in urban areas) they will breed throughout the year. Female brushtail possums start breeding when they are about one year old, giving birth 18 days after mating. Only one baby (called a "joey") is carried, and like all marsupials it is blind and hairless and stays in the pouch attached to a teat for up to five months, after which time it rides on its mother's back until it is fully independent and must leave its mother to find its own territory. Typically, female joeys don't stray too far from their mothers, but male joeys have to travel long distances, and suffer many hardships, before they can find a territory that doesn't belong to another possum.
Source: Author dramatica

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