Garden Pests Down Under

LindiweLindiwe Registered Users Posts: 606 Major grins
edited December 3, 2010 in Wildlife
Something has to fill the ecological niche held by squirrels in the rest of the world, right? All you northerners have something to be thankful for. Squirrels don't often weigh in at 4.5kgs. :)

All of these pictures were taken right outside our front door. It's my very first attempt at night photography, and a separate flash is still on my Christmas list. :(

1. Common Brushtail Possum

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2. A very large Brushtail. No idea how that fruit came to be in the tree... ;)

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3. Common Ringtail Possum. These are only about a quarter the size of their Brushtail cousins.

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4. What's a little rain when there is fruit to be had? One very wet ringtail possum.

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5. Baby Brushtail Possum

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6. Stealing from Momma Possum. This one's a little soft, unfortunately.

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I'm looking forward to your comments and suggestions. :)

Comments

  • Ric GrupeRic Grupe Registered Users Posts: 9,522 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2010
    Nice. :D

    We have possums here too. Catching them in the daytime while they are sleepy is the safest.

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    Best to let them sleep!rolleyes1.gif

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  • LindiweLindiwe Registered Users Posts: 606 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2010
    ...WOW.
    After seeing that, I think I'll just give up on the nighttime photography :)
    I'd not want to be disturbing something with -that- set of teeth.
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2010
    Cool captures
    Dan
    http://danielplumer.com/
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  • David-StallardDavid-Stallard Registered Users Posts: 252 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2010
    #3 is a fantastic catch (Common Ringtail Possum)

    Ric - #2 is a real "get outta here" moment

    .DAVID.
    http://www.davidstallardphotography.com/

    Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints
  • LindiweLindiwe Registered Users Posts: 606 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2010
    dlplumer wrote: »
    Cool captures

    Thanks so much!
    David-Stallard wrote: »
    #3 is a fantastic catch (Common Ringtail Possum)

    Ric - #2 is a real "get outta here" moment

    .DAVID.

    The Ringtail image is my favourite of the bunch. I managed a few slightly better pictures of the brushtails after starting this thread, but none better than that ringtail. Thanks for the kind comment, and thanks for looking!
  • IntrepidBerkeleyExplorerIntrepidBerkeleyExplorer Registered Users Posts: 80 Big grins
    edited December 2, 2010
    Nearly all the possums I see have been run over by cars. They are not the same species you have captured wonderfully on film. I doubt that city streets can be handled by possums.
  • LindiweLindiwe Registered Users Posts: 606 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2010
    IntrepidBerkeleyExplorer wrote: »
    Nearly all the possums I see have been run over by cars. They are not the same species you have captured wonderfully on film. I doubt that city streets can be handled by possums.

    Thanks so much for your comments.
    The possums around here have adapted remarkably well to city life. They avoid becoming roadkill by travelling the high ways - any sort of wire will do: telephone, internet/TV cable, powerlines... :) It would be a sad day for the local possum population if all that infrastructure should ever be put underground.

    Here's a little ringtail, showing how it's done:

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    The wire of choice in this instance was the telephone line running to our house. Landlines apparently still have their uses, in this age of cell phones ;)
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited December 2, 2010
    That's quite the passel of possums there, Lindiwe! Amazing variety. Good shooting!

    Cheers,
    -joel
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
  • Brian_SBrian_S Registered Users Posts: 188 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2010
    very nice captures Lindiwe :)
    number 3 is great, kind of and end on the road for this guy no where to go but back, the last one is great also with his paws gripping the line like hands
  • PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2010
    A great series, Lindiwe, and I love #3 also. Who could believe that possum could stretch out like that--or that the branch could hold him? Also love Ric's "get out of here" shot of those teeth! Best, Pam
  • LindiweLindiwe Registered Users Posts: 606 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2010
    Thanks so much for your comments, Joel, Brian and Pam :)
    Much appreciated!

    I had a lot of fun watching and photographing these possums. They are amazing acrobats - especially the little ringtails. Despite the fact that the possums did their darndest to eat all the new leaf buds on that tree, it is now in full leaf, making additional photography pretty much impossible. I'll have to wait for next winter.
  • BigAlBigAl Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2010
    Really nicely done, especially from the onboard flash! Cute "little" guys :D

    Have you tried red-eye removal?
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  • LindiweLindiwe Registered Users Posts: 606 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2010
    BigAl wrote: »
    Really nicely done, especially from the onboard flash! Cute "little" guys :D

    Have you tried red-eye removal?

    I spent hours playing around with red-eye removal. Most of the time I ended up undoing it, because the results looked worse than the original red-eye. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not any good with the post-processing, though. I'm still hunting for idiot-proof software that doesn't cost an arm and one kidney.

    Separate flash is on the Christmas wish list :)

    Thanks for the kind comments!
  • torrbraetorrbrae Registered Users Posts: 203 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2010
    Excellent photos of the possum - being from the other side of the ditch more looked on killing than photographing the possum. Never seen them walk along phone lines, but then we have the larger Bushtail possum only. Will have to take the camera out next time chasing the possum off the roof/deck/trying to allow the apples to rippen on the tree.

    Anyway, thank you for sharing these beautiful photos.

    In respect of the red-eye removal, this may be the correct colour. My friend who shoots possums can tell whether it is a possum or cat up the tree by the colour of the eyes, unfortunately cannot remember what the colour of the possums eyes are.
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