Furry huddles

As a contrast to Ronlit’s recent fascinating posts on wasps and spiders, we thought we’d show a few cute and furry nocturnal mammals, and a check of local nest-boxes during the daylight hours is usually a sure way of finding some. The pair of Common Ringtail Possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) pictured at left was a nice example.
 
With a bit of care and caution it is usually possible to lift the lid, inspect the box and take a digital camera photo with minimal disturbance to the occupant(s), as was the case with this cluster of Sugar Gliders (Pretaurus breviceps) at right, all of whom remained fast asleep! It is interesting that these animals still huddle together despite the summer heat. It must get pretty hot in the boxes so we generally try to mount them facing east to be in shade most of the day.
 
A specialised nest-box camera mounted on a pole can be inserted in the entrance hole and eliminate the need for a ladder. This is generally less intrusive than physically inspecting the nest-box, but the image quality is poorer – see the photo at left of another group of Sugar Gliders.