Meet a Brushtail Possum
A mammal is a warm-blooded animal that breathes air, has a backbone, and grows hair. Marsupials are a type of mammal that carry their young in a pouch. Possums are marsupials.
Meet Percy the Possum!
This is Percy the brushtail possum! She lives at Centennial Park.
Let’s follow her on an adventure! She loves going out at night, climbing trees, and finding tasty food. Who will she meet on her adventure tonight?
Before we follow Percy to find out who she meets let’s learn a bit more about her.
What do you know about possums?
Did you know?
Not all possums look the same!
Brushtail possums can come in different colours and sizes. It depends on where they live.
Let’s learn more:
In cold, wet places (like rainy forests):
- Possums grow thick, fluffy fur to keep warm.
- They are usually dark brown or black, so they can hide in the shadows.
In warm, dry places (like sunny parks):
- Possums are smaller, with thinner fur to stay cool.
- They are often light grey or even golden in colour.
All brushtail possums are great climbers and come out at night! We call them nocturnal animals.
Where do possums live? What is their habitat like?
- Possums live in trees, where they can climb and hide.
- They sleep in hollows during the day to stay safe and warm.
- At night, they come out to explore and find food like leaves and fruit.
Activities
What does a possum look like?
- Look at the possum and baby diagram, and use this as inspiration to draw your possum with a baby. Choose some names for them and write them down.
- Use these words to label your drawings of possums – eyes, ears, pouch, joey, brush tail, legs, nose.
Lifecycle of a possum
- Look at the images and think about the correct order of the lifecycle.
- Use these words to create your life cycle – adult possum, gestating possum, possum as a joey and possum in pouch. You can also draw your own stages of the life cycle if you want.
Use your knowledge of possums to build a miniature possum habitat
- Go into the playground and find natural materials (fallen/on the ground) to help build a miniature possum habitat. If you have cardboard boxes, you could also use these too with your collected natural materials.
- Think about where the possum will sleep, eat, and go exploring during their nighttime walks. Let your imagination go wild as you create the habitat for your possum.
Image 1: Brushtail Possum. Source: Centennial Parklands
Image 2: Cartoon illustration of Percy the Possum. Credit: Sam Crosby, Greater Sydney Parklands Education and Community Programs Team
Image 3: Cartoon illustration of Percy the Possum in tree hollow. Credit: Sam Crosby, Greater Sydney Parklands Education and Community Programs Team
Image 4: Cartoon illustration of brushtail possum and baby. Credit: Sam Crosby, Greater Sydney Parklands Education and Community Programs Team
Image 5: Cartoon illustration of brushtail possum life cycle. Credit: Sam Crosby, Greater Sydney Parklands Education and Community Programs Team
Image 6: Photograph of Percy the Possum in possum box, Centennial Park. Source: Centennial Parklands