While I'm at it, any Brushtail Possum gurus around?

[Psychaesthetic]

This very outgoing young male has had this shorter section of fur around his rear, well since I've known him. I wondered whether it's a negative (dermatitis, some kind of mange or fleas, etc) or is its simply him either shedding for summer (seems unlikely for him to shed only around the rear-end though) or perhaps even simply "rub-off" caused by moving inside his tree hollow.

Anyone wanna hazard a guess?

Edit: he looks perfectly healthy, doesn't scratch much at all and his coat is as soft as cotton wool.

Edited December 23, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[ThunderIdeal]

such gorgeous creatures

i have no idea but i'm reminded of things like mange in dogs which is usually harmless except for loss of fur. the parasites that cause mange in overpopulation, are present on healthy dogs too.

i also wonder if a traumatic encounter with some human technology knocked the fur off his backside and it's regrowing. will be interesting if you can watch his progress and see if he returns to a normal appearance.

Edited December 23, 2014 by ThunderIdeal

[Psychaesthetic]

Here then, for your animalpornish viewing pleasure: A few more possum pics from the camp

Edit: (clockwise from top-left): very young female, same young female with mother, outgoing male Possum holds my finger to keep my hand steady while he eats flat-bread, young male, young male, young male, Bush Rat.

Edited December 23, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[waterboy 2.0]

I'd guess a mange mite as well

[Psychaesthetic]

Poor little bugger.

He never seems particularly bothered by it, and although I've seen him scratching here and there it's usually his armpits that appear to be itchy; never scratches his rump and he's at my tent for hours each night.

Edit: I thought to, maybe it's a baby-coat/alt-coast transition because, although he's very territorial he's pretty small; about the size of a 6-month-old cat I suppose, give or take.

Edited December 24, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[paradox]

if it's a resident public camp site possum then it could be just about anything.. possibly mange but if it's being fed by campers & in general is tame & in constant contact with humans, human food & pets etc it can have any number of problems..

It's really irresponsible to feed wild possums.

They are gorgeous creatures but when they eat a lot of processed human food it's really bad for them & when people feed them all the time they become dependent & once they are used to people they become a major pain in the arse & will usually become very unhealthy..

It's also probably not the best idea to be feeding european black rats eh ;)

[Psychaesthetic]

No no, these are no campsite animals.

The way I camp is to follow a disused fire trail 'till I'm way out in the valley, then simply turn - 90° - adjacent to the trail and walk into thick, virgin bush until I find a flat chunk of ground large enough to fit the tent. I don't even clear leaves; simply toss any sticks or twigs that'll dig into me or punch a hole in the floor of the tent and that's my "camp".

All the animals that visit are from an area that's miles from any "used" campsite, and the fire trail I use to get out there is only frequented by a half dozen fitness freaks per week. I camped *on* the trail for a few weeks to begin with - or very close to it - so I got to see how few people use the area over a several week period.

The possums that far out and being territorial critters have likely never interacted with humans before I got there; Being Nocturnal *and* in the Middle of nowhere.

But contrary the the general concensus that feeding wildlife is "bad", I say always feed the animals; they have to work pretty hard to survive out there, even though they're well adapted to it, and the diet I feed them consists of died and fresh fruit, plain water crackers and nuts. I take the dried fruit and nuts just for them since I don't much care for it. The most processed food they get is pasta with peas and tomato paste but that's only every few nights I cook that.

I'm also not out there continuously, but 8-10 days a fortnight so they still have to forage for their usual diet when I'm in town.

Yeah. They also get a little bread but only for the first day or two of each outing; I have sandwiches those days to easy the bread while it's fresh and then it's gone.

So free, nutritious food for animals who live of bugs and leaves, I say most certainly.

Edited December 24, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[paradox]

So free, nutritious food for animals who live of bugs and leaves, I say most certainly.

well i'm not gonna argue with you about this point but in my opinion this is pretty ignorant & serves your desire to interact with the animals a lot more than it serves their interests. This is a pretty complex issue thats been pretty well discussed & it's not my job to educate anyone about it.. but if you're in this same general area 10 days out of every 14 then you're gonna end up with some pretty unhealthy & extremely annoying pests.. might wanna keep an extra eye on all your gear..

[paradox]

it's not my job to educate anyone about it..

the ironic thing is it actually is part of my job to educate people about these issues, boring as it is..

[Psychaesthetic]

Oh yeah, how horrendous of me too want to interact with the animals. I just don't know how I can trudge through each day, lugging around this massive burden of shame! ;)

THE SHAME OH LOOORD SMITE ME DOOOWN IT'S JUST. TOO. MUCH.

[ThunderIdeal]

i wonder if its problematic for a real bush animal to get a feed once or twice in its life.

there are definitely problems with picnic areas and such where they get fed frequently.

[Psychaesthetic]

i wonder if its problematic for a real bush animal to get a feed once or twice in its life.

there are definitely problems with picnic areas and such where they get fed frequently.

There's probably data on it somewhere. ;)

Personally, I just view it as the simplest kindness from one species to another.

People can sit around, talking about "long-term impacts" and negative repercussions for the animals, but as long as you're feeding them a nutritious assortment of food I honestly can't see why anyone would yap on about it being a 'bad practice'. Humans like to yap.

Of course you can apply all kinds of ideological nonsense to condemn any kindness to being no more than a misguided act, but then take that out there - where all the animals forage their day away just to feed themselves - and tell those hungry animals "you'll have to stay hungry, because we - the idealist human wankers - have decided that giving you food is bad", and see if they give a shit about anything any one of these human idealist wankers have to say.

They are hungry, I share my food. That's really all there is to it.

Edit: Godamn typos. I'm on a phone so I get a bunch of those.

Edited December 24, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[waterboy 2.0]

They are not hungry...lol...they are just being opportunistic

watch the bread, its of the worst to feed em. Had to put down animals that have contracted "lumpy jaw" from

to many acts of kindness where they've been fed too much.

[Psychaesthetic]

Yeah well as I said, they only get any bread at all the one or two days a fortnight I have it still.

And you can state for fact, that they're not hungry? That they've full stomachs when the arrive?

[Psychaesthetic]

My lord, Google tells me that Lumpy Jaw is actually a real thing.

Though it seems to focus on macropods, and I can't see any direct reference to bread at all, just "poor diet". Sounds like a nasty infection, though I dunno if the amount of bread "my" Possums get is enough for that top be too much of a worry.

Still I'll omit the white bread from their menu and only give them the flat bread - again anyway though, it doesn't last long since I eat it before it goes dry and stale; I buy the wholemeal Flatbreads anyway so they're a bit healthier

Edited December 24, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[waterboy 2.0]

And you can state for fact, that they're not hungry? That they've full stomachs when the arrive?

lol..can you state for a fact that they are hungry?

you make it sound like those poor animals are starving in the bush

and I am glad you've learned something today.

EDIT - they are just being opportunistic that I can state as fact

Edited December 25, 2014 by waterboy

[Psychaesthetic]

lol..can you state for a fact that they are hungry?

you make it sound like those poor animals are starving in the bush

and I am glad you've learned something today.

EDIT - they are just being opportunistic that I can state as fact

Well of course they're being opportunistic, there's nobody debating that, but as to whether they're hungry or not; I should think I would be in a somewhat better position to assess how hungry their poor, starving little furry mouths are than you, since I am in the company of the Possums in question so much.

I can most certainly state for a fact they're hungry, because they stop eating - every night - once they've had enough. Of course, I can't state categorically *how* hungry they are on a moment-by-moment basis, but I can get an approximate idea based on the level of gusto with which they eat.

I half said I'd remove white bread from their diets simply to placate you, really, since the whole first page of Google results did not in any way single out bread as any kind of "great evil": all the information I read blamed "poor diet" - an ambiguous umbrella statement indeed - for Lumpy Jaw.

It also gave me the impression the information pertained to captive animals specifically, which the bush Possums are of course, not. I'll be in town 6 days this time which is almost a week, so the Possums in question have returned to their leafy shoots and bugs for days before they'll get easy calories again, and bread is just a fleeting treat for them each outing, like I said in a prior post.

But, I will take the white sandwich bread of the menu anyway and limit them to the wholegrain flat bread.

Edited December 25, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

I've had roos turn me damp site upside down only to eat nothing but our 4 loaves of bread. Mind you the fuckers went through one of those plastic bins with clip on lids to get it. They were half feral and mangy as fuck, lumpy jaw to the max. Surviving on camp bread because the campgrounds has worn away all the grass and there wasn't much else there for em to eat. Plus they were too fucked up to travel like they naturally should for food.

Not weighing into the argument but it was pretty horrible to see. Some of the manky mothers had the cutest joeys and ya knew they were destined for mankyness too. I told the owners to maybe tranq dart the babies and move em out and they'll die out won't they? They laughed...

Edited December 25, 2014 by prioritise

[incognito]

Geez give the guy a break. Feeding some wild animals some bread is the least of their worries.

Good on you bud.

I had a nice moment with some rock wallabies when I climbed to the top of this mountain here in a national park. Awesome view, hectic climb.

Anyways we sit down at the top taking in the view eating oranges, pegging the skins into the bush as you do. Anyway these rock wallabies come out and start eating the skins, so we throw them orange pieces and low and behold they gobble them and come right up to us and we shared our oranges with them. Was an awesome money and I really doubt the wallabies had much human contact. I doubt oranges form a natural part of a wallabies diet but neither are cacti and they will still mung on them.

Edited December 25, 2014 by incognito

[incognito]

I just think some of yall guys are wielding the hippy hammer rather ferociously on the newb

[Psychaesthetic]

Geez give the guy a break. Feeding some wild animals some bread is the least of their worries.

Good on you bud.

I had a nice moment with some rock wallabies when I climbed to the top of this mountain here in a national park. Awesome view, hectic climb.

Anyways we sit down at the top taking in the view eating oranges, pegging the skins into the bush as you do. Anyway these rock wallabies come out and start eating the skins, so we throw them orange pieces and low and behold they gobble them and come right up to us and we shared our oranges with them. Was an awesome money and I really doubt the wallabies had much human contact. I doubt oranges form a natural part of a wallabies diet but neither are cacti and they will still mung on them.

Don't the uphill climbs suck balls 'round here? ;)

Wallabies are hard to get close to, too. I've seen plenty of Wallaby backsides as they crash through the ferns and bushes to get away from me, but they're very fast, flighty critters I've found. The few times I've had one even stop to look back, I've immediately reached into my pocket and slid the camera out but by the time I've turned it on and held it up, the sucker is gone.

And the trust they seem to have so quickly over just a few scraps of food is just as touching as the interactions themselves, I find; most of the animals I've encountered have been this way, and I always think, "Animal Bro, what if I have been some arsehole looking to hurt you; far. too. trusting."

Sadly the concept of 'stranger-danger' hasn't reached the Animal kingdom yet, but their naivety sure gives me the feels.

Yeah maybe I'll find a way to stuff some oranges in the pack; Id love just one clear, well lit photo of a Wallaby, though feeding them gets an even bigger thumbs-up ;)

Edited December 25, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[Psychaesthetic]

I just think some of yall guys are wielding the hippy hammer rather ferociously on the newb

Ah, you know what they say opinions are like..

I'm pretty sure that if the animals could talk, they'd very quickly tell the naysayers not to ruin the scam they got going, to stfu and mind their own business.

;)

Edited December 25, 2014 by Psychaesthetic

[Psychaesthetic]

I've had roos turn me damp site upside down only to eat nothing but our 4 loaves of bread. Mind you the fuckers went through one of those plastic bins with clip on lids to get it. They were half feral and mangy as fuck, lumpy jaw to the max. Surviving on camp bread because the campgrounds has worn away all the grass and there wasn't much else there for em to eat. Plus they were too fucked up to travel like they naturally should for food.

Not weighing into the argument but it was pretty horrible to see. Some of the manky mothers had the cutest joeys and ya knew they were destined for mankyness too. I told the owners to maybe tranq dart the babies and move em out and they'll die out won't they? They laughed...

Sounds horrible. Like, an underclass of Kangaroo bogons.

Hard to find much of a similarity of course, between a public campsite where people would just dump absolute junk, garbage food and do it in droves since anyone and everyone who wants to can camp there, then just dump their garbage before leaving and the Virgin bush I camp in our the fresh and dried fruit, nuts, water crackers, tomatoes and pain bread I fell my area.

The public campsite sounds much more extreme to me.

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Defiantly not a public camp grounds, was potatoe point, so 15km from town and a very tidy bush park with no dumping at all. Lovely place cept for the roos!

[waterboy 2.0]

lol... after checking I realise you are the mad bushman Riley

you pissed me no end then , your last tirade at me pissed me again.

No fckn wonder you end up spending your time out with the animals