A

• Aeon
• Akira
• Amiri
• Arrow
• Austen

B

• Bamm-Bamm
• Batgirl
• Basil
• Baxter
• Bilbo
• Blackbeard
• Blake
• Blossom
• Buffy

C

• Chilli
• Clover
• Cocoa
• Comet

D

• Darcel
• Deckard
• Dexter

E

F

• Farley
• Fifi
• Flea
• Flynn

G

• Ghani
• Ginger
• Google
• Grasshopper
• Grok
• Gumdrop
• Gumnut
• Guran

H

• Hapi
• Hazel
• Howl
• Hulot

I

J

• Java
• Jedi
• Jezebel
• Joule

K

• Keeta
• Kiki
• Kirra
• Koji
• Koru
• Kulan
• Kulfi
• Kwila
• Kyoo

L

• Laslo
• Leena
• Leopold
• Lorien
• Leto
• Lex
• Lumen
• Lychee

M

• Maple
• Marcel
• Marlon
• Marlowe
• Miel
• Mischa
• Morse
• Mr Rogers
• Muse

N

• Nebo
• Nikita
• Niva
• Ninja
• Nosferatu

O

• Olaf
• Omar
• Oz

P

• Pax
• Pebbles
• Pesto
• Pi
• Pinot
• Piranha
• Pogo
• Prok
• Puck
• Pumpkin

Q

• Q-Bit
• Queek

R

• Rae
• Rahmet
• Raffi
• Red
• Rohan
• Rio
• Rosebud
• Ruby
• Rune
• Ryder

S

• Sasha
• Scruffles the Rat
• Shane
• Stilton
• Sun
• Švejk
• Spock
• Sprout

T

• Tarzan
• Tabasco
• Thor

• Tikka
• Tilda
• Toto

U

V

• Vincent
• Vindi

W

• Walt
• Wasabi
• Wesley
• Wink

X

Y

• Yoshi

Z

• Zak
• Zoë
• Zorba

Ginger

Ginger was the first possum we knew. She was named after her love for gingerbread; one night she was found outside a window where a gingerbread house was sitting. Ginger was one of the few possums who wouldn't bite the unprotected toes of humans. I don't know what became of her; it seems that she left the area when her daughter Cocoa grew up.

Cocoa

Cocoa had a lot of character. She seemed to get into trouble more often than any other possum. She got smeared with tar when young. Later her ear got torn nearly in half and once she was found in a tree, in the middle of the day, exhausted and being mobbed by birds.

Unfortunately, Cocoa was killed by a neighbour's dog.

Blackbeard

Blackbeard was the first male possum we knew. He was the dominant male in the area for a while.

Kulfi

Left home when he became independent. He may have briefly visited in September 2006, but we are not certain this was him. It's also possible that the possum we named Leopold was actually Kulfi grown up.

Olaf

Olaf was a marauding male who stayed around for a few months in 2006. Although particularly big and strong, he wasn't fierce or obnoxious. He was like a big teddy-bear.

Queek

Queek was one of only two male possums who returned to the area after having to depart as youngsters—or so we believe, there is no certain way of telling that the adult Queek was the same as the baby Queek that we knew.

Švejk

Švejk is the other male possum who returned to the area after having to depart as a youngster. As with Queek, there is no certain way of telling that the adult Švejk was the same as the baby Švejk, however he was particularly similar in looks and personality.

Švejk was the dominant male in the area for some time.

Leopold

Visited briefly. It is possible that this possum was actually Kulfi grown up.

Kwila

Kwila was still very young when her mother Cocoa was killed and she appears to have been chased out of the area soon after, probably by Jezebel or Leena

Jezebel

Came into the area after Cocoa was killed and harassed Kwila. She left soon after. It's possible that she was scouting for a territory for Leena, who appeared soon afterwards and may have been her daughter.

Hazel

Never visited the house. Was usually only seen from a distance.

Basil

While most possums would take food from hand in a gentle manner, Basil would often swipe with his claws.

Leena

Leena took over the area after Cocoa was killed. Although a shy and gentle possum (towards humans), she had a habit of attacking any male possums sleeping in boxes in her territory. Leena disappeared suddenly in October 2010, leaving her baby Java (who at that stage was barely independent) to fend for herself. Under the circumstances it seems likely she was killed at this time.

Kiki

Once independent, Kiki was chased out of the area by her mother Leena, but took up residence nearby. During this time she occasionally visited—usually to show us her new babies (or maybe to show her babies a food-source which existed in the area). After Leena disappeared, Kiki reclaimed this territory as her own and was the dominant female for many years. Her daughter Toto was probably destined to take her place, but was chased out of the area by Sasha.

Kirra

They say (although I'm not sure how accurate this is) that 80% of male possums don't survive their first year, with the majority being killed soon after they become independent. Unfortunately Kirra was part of this 80%.

Hulot

A marauding male who appears to have been chased out of the area by Švejk. His gangly, bumbling appearance reminded us of Monsieur Hulot.

Fifi

We never got to see much of Fifi, who was Kiki's baby while she was in exile. At one stage, the young Fifi squeezed through an incredibly small gap to sleep in the ceiling space.

Pesto

A marauding male, possibly also chased out of the area by Švejk.

Yoshi

When independent she took to sleeping in a stack of tyres in the garage. Once she had a baby of her own, she was chased off by Leena. We hadn't got around to naming the baby (who we had only seen a couple of times) before this happened.

Ninja

Another of Kiki's babies while in exile.

Java

Was chased out of the area by her older sister Kiki soon after her mother Leena disappeared.

Zorba

Left home when he became independent and has not been seen since.

Piranha

He remained in the area for much longer than his older brother Zorba. He was fairly fierce as a baby and was heard to make an adult-sounding puffing noise while still on his mother's back. He is famous for the epic fight where he repelled the much larger Marlon when he was sleeping in box 5.

Although he has now left the area, we have high hopes for his survival.

Dexter

A young male who visited for a short period early in 2011. He took food from hand the first night he came to the house. This lack of shyness makes me think he might be one of the young males from this area coming back, however he didn't look like Zorba, who was the only one of the right age.

Dexter was apparently seen again at various times in 2012, 2013 and 2014, however he has no unambiguous distinguishing marks and I can't be certain that these were all the same possum.

Marlon

Marlon closely resembles Švejk and may be related to him.

He was initially particularly shy of humans and it took several months before he would take food by hand. On a couple of occasions he would sleep in one box or other almost every night for an extended period.

Lex

He was particularly fond of practicing gymnastics on the balcony railing wires. Like Kirra, Lex was one of the unfortunate majority of young male possums who don't make it to adulthood.

Flea

Flea was a very active and acrobatic possum. Even when she was still inside the pouch, she would flail around enough to almost overbalance her mother.

Flea has been chased out of the area by Kiki and hasn't visited since. She had a baby in the pouch when she was chased out. It is possible that this baby visited box 3 on 12^th Feb 2013.

Pinot

A visiting male similar to Marlon, but seemed to be younger and lower down on the packing order. Initially nervous (but not as nervous as Marlon); it was several weeks before he would take food from hand, but eventuqally became very bold towards humans and cheeky to other possums. He was also a bit of an exhibitionist; he was seen mating with both Kiki and Flea.

Pinot never needed to be treated with antibiotics, despite having suffering injuries that would have normally required such treatment.

Wesley

Another visiting male probably around the same age as Pinot. He has a distinctive walk and manner.

Nosferatu

Named because of his expression in the photo shown (click on this picture to see a larger version). Nosferatu has not been seen since late August 2012, at which point he was still back-riding and occasionally suckling — far too young to go off on his own. Given the large number of carpet pythons in the area around this time, it's quite possible he fell victim to one.

Spock

Intelligent and inquisitive. Very gentle and friendly to humans. Also seemed to be somewhat friendly to (or at least tolerant of) the ringtail Wasabi, which is quite unusual.

Amiri

Amiri was particularly cute and photogenic. Although very mischievous and energetic as a baby in the nest box, he was always calm and well-behaved towards humans. As an adult, he was very smart and agile and seemed to have the ability to move from A to B in complete silence.

Baxter

This possum was found trapped in the ceiling and hasn't been seen since he was released.

Deckard

Visited Box 2 once, where he fought with and ejected the much larger Dexter. Hasn't been seen since.

Thor

Only visited once. Looks more like a real Thor than the comparatively young and well-groomed Hollywood version. Old and battle-scarred but in very good condition.

Oz

Highly active and inquisitive. May have left the nest box to go exploring while still a young baby under the care of Kiki. Despite his inquisitive nature, Oz was lucky or smart enough to avoid suffering any injuries the entire time he was here (usually possums pick up at least a few scratches or pluckings, and many require treatment for infections).

Prok

When Prok first appeared, he was mistaken for Flea because the tip of his tail looked identical to Flea's. Prok occasionally sleept in Box 1 or 3, and was also seen in the garage door. He was very shy of humans and didn't taken food from hand, although will often take food left out for him when no one is present. Prok seemed to be lower down on the pecking order than the older Dexter and has been seen being chased by him.

Comet

Comet was even more of an exploring possum than his older brother Oz. He slept on his own in the ceiling space once while still under the care of Kiki. He stayed in the area much longer than any of Kiki's other babies.

Farley

Farley was the dominant male for a couple of years. In Feb 2015, he started using the possum boxes and since then had slept in boxes pretty much every night. In March 2015 he suddenly decided to take food from hand and immediately become confident around humans.

Farley was a pushy possum. Rather than wait for food, he would crane forward and snatch with his hands. He often came into house to toe-bite. He seemed to suffer from pluckings and wounds considerably more often than other possums.

Toto

Toto was a calm and confident possum and also seemed to be skillful at evading fights with larger possums. In Sept 2015 she took up living in the ceiling and had a baby in the pouch. This baby disappeared at around Nov 2015. She left the area in Aug 2016, but briefly returned for a few visits during Feb to Mar 2017.

Sasha

Sasha is an adult female who suddenly appeared in the area. She was bold enough to take food from hand the first time she visited. Her size and appearance are unusual for this area and it is possible she was (illegally) relocated here from a relatively distant location. She was the dominant female in the area of the house until her daughter Wink took over, at which time she moved to the bottom of the garden but no longer visited the house.

Puck

Puck was a typical baby possum; bold, energetic and a trial to his mother. He disappeared when still very young and probably suffered some mishap.

Kyoo

Kyoo looked like another confident youngster. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of him, as Kiki left the area soon after he started to back-ride.

Flynn

Flynn was a toe-biter like his parents. Although (when last seen) was cautious due to his relative youth, he was persistent and will probably turn out pushy like his father.

Mischa

Mischa had the misfortune to have a tick attach itself under his right eye-lid when he was still very young. After it dropped off, the eyeball had turned almost completely blue and looked in bad shape but got better over time. Despite this setback, Mischa was bold and adventurous and ventured further into the house than either of his parents. He grew to be large and muscular (for his age) and has now left the area permanently.

Raffi

Raffi seemed to be less aggressive towards other possums than some youngsters and also seems more inclined to sleep in than other male possums. It is not clear whether this would have changed as he grew older, because he was chased out of the area at a young age (early June 2017). His being chased out earlier than normal may be because his father left the area around that time, and the incoming male, Marlowe didn't want him around. He was brave enough to come back for a visit in August 2017.

Marlowe

Marlowe resembles Thor and may be his offspring. He took over from Farley as the dominant male in the area. Until August 2017, he kept away from the house and was difficult to photograph but reached the stage where he would occasionally visit and accept food from hand.

Arrow

Somewhat large for his age. Something of a toe-biter when he came into the house, and occasionally scratches fingers but generally well-behaved towards humans.

Tarzan

Tarzan seemed to have a particularly strong toe-biting nature and chased after feet vigorously. He grew into a large fluffy possum before leaving the area.

Bilbo

It is possible that Bilbo took over from Marlowe as dominant male mid 2018, however neither possum was visiting at the time, so it is not clear what happened when. As Bilbo was a fairly small possum, he may have been mistaken for Tarzan when sleeping in some of the nest boxes.

He disappeared early in December 2019 and was replaced by Marcel.

Pogo

A very cute possum. He menaced rather than bit toes; he would rush at a person's feet in a disconcerting manner, but then seemed to want to trip the person up rather than bite their toes. His father could be either Marlowe or Bilbo , but Bilbo was particularly indulgent towards him.

Zak

Zak was a cute little baby possum. Unfortunately he disappeared on the 3^rd March 2019. He was still back-riding at this stage and almost certainly suffered from some mishap.

Miel

Miel (French for honey) was named for his colour and sweet nature. When he was here he avoided any injuries and seemed to have a smart and cautious nature.

Marcel

Marcel took taken over from Bilbo as the dominant male brushtail in the area. Marcel was at first a small possum and suffered a lot of wounds and plucking but grew strong and confident. At one stage he required antibiotics for a wound and was a perfect patient, always arriving at the same time every night. Sadly, he was killed by a car on the road.

Rahmet

Rahmet was first thought to be a boy possum; Sasha had nine boys in a row prior to Rahmet and Rahmet at first looked just like the others. Rahmet soon had her first baby, Pax and quickly learned how to be a good mother. She appeared to be sharing the area relatively peacefully with her mother Sasha. It is not clear what happened to her; she was smart and vigilant and in good health and I would have thought she was one of the least likely to meet with an accident. It is possible she had been crushed by a python.

Rohan

Visited briefly during breeding season. I thought he would oust the much smaller Marcel as the dominant male in the area but he departed after a short time and hasn't been seen since.

Wink

Wink got her name because she winked at the humans the first time she was seen out of the pouch. She is pushy towards humans but (almost always) very gentle to them. After a brief but serious fight, she took over from her mother Sasha as the dominant possum in the area.

Pax

Pax was orphaned at a young age but managed to survive without illness or injury. She mostly stayed apart from the other possums and appears to have been pushed out of the area when Sasha moved into the territory she was occupying after being displaced by Wink.

Shane

Walt

Walt suddenly appeared late in April 2021 and somehow seemed to peacefully coexist with the dominant male Marcel. He has a very nervous and jumpy manner and had at least twice fallen off the balcony handrail as a result. Walt is the first possum in a number of years to have a white-tipped (or actually more like golden-tipped) tail.

Blake

Blake was a smart and confident possum.

Blossom

Blossom is particularly cute but somewhat liable to snatch at food offered by humans. In March 2022 she left the area, and it was thought she was gone for good, but a couple of months later she started appearing at the house again. Her territory currently includes Box 8 but probably extends to neighbouring houses on the North. Unusually, she missed out a breeding season in late 2022/early 2023.

Jedi

Jedi is particuarly tough and independent. While still very young, she was attacked by her aunt Wink and later got separated from her mother and had to spend a whole day on her own, at a time when she was still suckling. Owing to her mother's precarious position in the area, she has had less human contact than other possums of her age.

Darcel

Darcel was probably Marcel's baby and he shared his calm and competent manner. He was a cautious possum and I thought he would do well but unfortunately he got unlucky just when he was starting to go exploring on this own

Hapi

Hapi first started back-riding at the same time as massive flooding started (about a year's worth of rain fell in three days) and he was named after the ancient Egyptian god associated with the flooding of the Nile.

Kulan

Kulan replaced Walt as the dominant male in the area. He had probably been in the area for a while - possibly even while Walt was still around - but only approached the humans in August 2022. He has almost an opposite personality to Walt; he was incredibly calm around humans. Early in 2023 he was replaced by Vincent

Guran

Guran was seen on the possum box cameras before he was seen in the yard. He always kept his distance from humans. Although he was present in the area at the same time as Kulan I don't think he challenged Kulan for the territory.

Aeon

Grasshopper

Rae

Sun

For a long time I was convinced that Sun was male, but in August 2023 a pouch became visible. Sun left the area with a baby in her pouch late in 2023.

Lorien

Lorien was still back-riding when Sasha stopped visiting the house, consequently Lorien never got familiar with the humans and vice-versa. After Lorien left Sasha, Lorien only once visited a possum box and never visited the house.

Vincent

Vincent took over from Walt as the dominant male in early 2023. He was very gentle towards humans and respectful towards other possums. He was replaced by Laslo in August 2024.

Joule

Joule was a bold but prudent youngster. He didn't snatch at food like his mother and didn't bite toes, although he frequently got under foot. He has now left the area.

Lumen

Lumen has a particularly fluffy tail. He was allowed to stay in the area longer than other young males, possibly because his mother Wink waited a year before having another baby (Grok). Lumen left when Grok was just starting to back-ride. Lumen is a competent possums and managed to avoid any noticeable pluckings or other injuries while he was here.

Q-Bit

Q-Bit has never been seen outside of nestbox footage. Sasha has been careful to keep him well away from the house - possibly because Joule and Lumen, who were older than Q-Bit, were already in this area and Sasha considered that he stood a better chance elsewhere.

Grok

Laslo

Laslo took over from Vincent as the dominant male in August 2024. Laslo caught on to how things work here incredibly quickly - he was taking food from hand from the humans the first night he visited. Soon after, he disgraced himself by attacking Grok who was riding on Wink's back at the time, however he picked up that this wasn't acceptable behaviour and now always acts very peaceful and innocent - at least when the humans are around.

Sprout

Pumpkin

A very friendly ringtail. Although we had seen other ringtails before, Pumpkin was the first we got to know.

Google

On the right in the photo (Pumpkin is on the left). Google was more outgoing possum than hir twin Pi.

Pi

Gumdrop

Gumdrop was around for longer than any previous ringtail. Since she often went long periods without visiting and only occasionally slept in a nestbox. It's unclear how many babies she has had, but it appears to be around ten. On two occasions she had three babies in the pouch simultaneously, which I believe is unusual for a ringtail, who normally only have twins. She would take food from hand. Sadly, she and her baby Lychee were attacked and eaten by a python in nest box 2.

Rosebud

On the left in the photo, hiding behind Gumdrop

Gumnut

Chilli

Stilton

Named because of his supercilious expression. Wouldn't take food from hand and refused to visit nestboxes.

Lychee

Lychee appears to have been with Gumdrop when they were attacked by a carpet python in box 2, and was probably eaten.

Wasabi

Wasabi is much less shy than most other ringtails and would readily take food from hand and enter the house. He had his own schedule and would occasionally go away for months at a time, returning when least expected. In March 2014, and again July 2015 ,he was kept in a cage for nearly a week while being (successfully) treated for a tail infection. He seems to take particularly good care of his offspring.

Tabasco

Was probably one of two babies who visited with their mother in September 2012. Did not seem to be very shy but had not taken food from hand. His name was chosen in the hope that, like Wasabi, he will prove to be distasteful to pythons.

Vindi

On left in photo, Wasabi is on the right.

Visited the house in March 2013 with Wasabi who appeared to be looking after her.

Ruby

Had been seen close to the house for a long time, but only started taken food from hand in June 2015. She visited regularly since that time and since 2016 started bringing her babies to the house. She was found dead early in March 2017 after having apparently being killed by a python.

Tilda

Was often seen about, sometimes with Wasabi. Built a drey in a wattle tree in the front yard in January 2014. Started to take food from hand in October 2014.

Batgirl

A very brave and athletic possum. When barely independent, she was not scared to approach humans on her own.

Red

Visited the house back-riding on Ruby early in September 2015 but hasn't been seen since. Ringtails often keep their babies away from the house, so Red may still be around.

Maple

Visited the house with Ruby and Wasabi, back-riding on Ruby. Is a twin with Clover. Maple has been seen looking her younger siblings Koji and Keeta.

Clover

Is a twin with Maple. Stayed in the trees nearby when his parents visited the house with Maple.

Koji

Is a twin with Keeta. As a baby was somewhat more outgoing than Keeta, he voraciously grabbed food out of Ruby's mouth and was not scared of humans even when very young. After Ruby was killed in March 2017, he took over looking after his younger siblings Nebo and Niva. Koji was very gentle when taking food from humans and never even accidentally scratched hands.

Keeta

Is a twin with Koji. Keeta is a very tough possum and when a baby took being attacked by Sasha in her stride. She was comfortable around humans and would take food from hand.

Nebo

Is a twin with Niva.

Niva

Is a twin with Nebo. Niva was a very brave and active little ringtail. He was confident but gentle in taking food from humans.

Zoë

Zoë was first seen after Ruby was killed. For a long time was very cautious of humans and keept her babies out of sight, but in April 2018 started visiting regularly with Nikita.

Akira

Twin with Nikita. There has been some confusion about which possum was which because they were difficult to tell apart except when visiting together (which rarely happened).

Nikita

It's difficult to say whether the adult Nikita currently is the same possum who was named Nikita as a baby. As an adult, Nikita acted very much like father Koji. She was very friendly towards humans and has brought her first babies to show them. Nikita disappeared from September 2019 to January 2020.

Leto

Twin with Ghani. Appeared somewhat less bold than Ghani.

Ghani

Twin with Leto. Fearlessly entered the house as a youngster.

Pebbles

Pebbles appeared along with Bamm-Bamm in Sept 2018 and did not appear to be any of the known offspring of Koji or Zoë and may be a refugee from land clearing nearby.

Pebbles never approached the humans closely enough to accept food and photos of her are rare. The photo may be of Nikita.

Bamm-Bamm

Bamm-Bamm appeared along with Pebbles in Sept 2018 and, like Pebbles, might be a refugee from elsewhere.

Austen

It is not clear exactly when Austen arrived or what his history is. He has probably been confused with Bamm-Bamm on occasions. Nikita has taught him how to take food from humans.

Ryder

Twin with Rune.

Rune

Twin with Ryder. Rune was particularly friendly with humans and quickly learnt to take food from hand.

Koru

Koru is the Maori word for the spiral shape of an unfurling fern frond and this name was chosen because when first seen she had her tail curled in a similar shape. Koru was very independent from an early ago but usually keept away from humans. Koru's twin was never seen and could have met with a mishap at an early age.

Omar

Omar seems to be the companion of both Pebbles and Nikita. He has been rarely seen and it is not certain it's the same possum each time.

Rio

Accompanied Nikita to the house once on the 20^th April 2020. Looks plump in the photo but is actually a thin possum.

Howl

Twin with Muse. Howl was so named because one of the twins was making noises when still in the pouch, and Howl was the slightly more bold of the two so this was atrributed to him.

Muse

Twin with Howl.

Mr Rogers

Mr Rogers has visited only once. He is not scared of humans but not interested in taking food from them.

Scruffles

Scruffles was a black rat, but has learnt that if he acted like a possum he could get treated like one.

Very smart and active and can be cheeky towards possums.

Rats have only short lives so he will no longer be alive.

Tikka

Tikka was also a black rat. She managed to evade a python which had been lurking near the house.

Morse

Morse was another a black rat. She was very active and cheeky towards possums and would take food from hand from a human. Her name was chosen because she introduced herself by leaving messages - dots and dashes of poo - on the balcony. The message appeared to be "please feed me", because the poos stopped as soon as she was offered food.

Buffy

Buffy was first seen on the patio under the balcony, seeking out food dropped by the possums above. She never came close to the humans. One time she was seen carrying babies up onto the roof during a period of heaavy rain.

Elmo

Elmo appeared around the same time as Buffy but was more bold and came onto the balcony. Initially he tried to get into the house but was trained to wait away from the door to take food. As at July 2022 he would accept food from hand in the possum feeding area.