Let's Play Possum! Trivia Quiz

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.