The ringtail possum is 13 inches long with a prehensile tail that is the same length as its body. It has grey fur with white patches behind the eyes and a cream-colored belly. The tail has a white tip that commonly covers 25% of the appendage. They can been found on the east coast of Australia and also parts of Tasmania.
As far as I could tell, these guys are herbivores. They love fresh, young leaves and usually avoid the old or brittle ones. This is a good diet to have since the ringtail possum usually spends all of its time up in trees. They even build nests up there where they take care of their young similar to birds. But there is something else you may or may not want to know about their eating habits.
The ringtail possum does not digest food in the same way as most animals. I know this is kind of gross, but just hear me out. They will only partially digest a meal and then defecate. After a little nap, they will re-ingest the faeces and finish digesting it to get the most out of the nutrients in the food. Sound strange? Rabbits do this too.
These marsupials are known for being gregarious and even form large treetop communities called dreys. They all get to know each other and sometimes they form into mates. If a ringtail possum shows up from a strange drey, they are NOT welcome and are driven off. This is, after all, a gated treetop community. There is even a neighborhood watch.
Like all possums, the ringtail possum is not a macropod, but they do have pouches. They have 1 to 2 offspring per litter, and this is usually once a year. The young will remain in the pouch feeding off mother's milk which changes in formula as the child needs different kinds of nutrition. They will leave the pouch in about 130 days in search of more solid food.
Now, what I was referring to at the beginning of this blog was that the ringtail possum looks both cute and weird at the same time. They have fluffy bodies which is cute, but their eyes are kind of wonky and have a habit of staring into your soul. But they also are kind of goofy, so it's not entirely creepy. I like looking at them regardless, and that is reason enough to write a spotlight about them.
In fiction, I see them living like Ewoks up in treetop villages. They occasionally have little javelin battles with other dreys, and honestly the whole idea is super cute. Violent, but cute. I mean how could I NOT pick this for their fictional selves. How awesome would it be to live like that?
Yes, I am sure there are more interesting marsupials out there, but this guy still caught my attention. Having lived in a treehouse myself, I had to give this fellow a say.
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Those eyes are freaky. Interesting that they have their own little communities up in the trees. Cool that the mother's milk changes to fit the child's needs.
ReplyDeleteThe alteration of the mother's milk is one of those really weird things you occasionally come across in the animal kingdom. Too bad humans don't have this super power. It sure would save money on formula!
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