How you can help a possum blossom

Possums are literally falling out of our trees due to heat stress and dehydration. Naturalists say this is becoming a yearly occurrence on continuous days of extreme heat. With substantial land being cleared for development of highways and housing, safe habitat and healthy food for our native wildlife is also rapidly diminishing as we urbanise our landscapes.

There are several ways we can be ‘possum protectors’ and help our furry friends to not just survive seasonal challenges, but thrive in our neighbourhoods:

• Grow a large tree and other native shrubs in your garden. These will provide food, shade and shelter for wildlife over many years

• Teach your pet dog to not chase wildlife and put a bell on your cat when it’s not under curfew between dusk and dawn

• Avoid using pesticides in your garden; possums can be poisoned if they eat contaminated flowers, insects and leaves

• Construct a custom-built nesting box

• Call your local wildlife rescue service for advice if you find a possum that you think may need assistance

• Protect our remnant natural spaces, restrict urban sprawl by engaging in centralised urban planning to promote smart growth, and reduce our environmental footprint.

Peninsula school children have embarked on an environmental effort to boost the number of artificial tree hollows available in our neighbourhoods for wildlife, helping our local possums blossom. Providing artificial timber nesting boxes can compensate for the loss of natural habitat and significantly improve the conservation of Australia’s hollow-nesting animals. Ten possum nesting boxes, a size also favoured by parrots, were constructed in an important collaborative intergenerational project for nature. The Main Ridge Men’s Shed and Mornington Peninsula Intrepid Landcare helped run an artificial tree-hollow construction workshop with young students during the school holidays using donations from Bunnings and Mitre 10.

Students from Frankston High, Derinya, St. Augustines, Frankston Heights, Overport and Kingsley Park Primary schools gathered at Joy of the Earth community garden in Frankston to paint their artistic representations of possums on the sides of the boxes under my guidance. Each group then took the nesting box they had decorated back to their school to hang 3-4m high up in a tree in their playground. The students cannot wait to have families of possums living safely in their artificial hollows, foraging among foliage and blossom, feeding, breeding and contributing to a healthy ecosystem within their school yards.

Possums are really helpful to humans. They contribute to the propagation and maintenance of plant life. As they move from tree to tree, they inadvertently aid in pollen and seed dispersal, helping to spread and grow many of our native plant species. Possums are a protector of our eucalypts, snacking on the parasitic mistletoe that sucks the life out of our gum trees.

For upcoming regular opportunities to connect with, contribute to and care for nature, families and their children aged up to six are invited to join Natured Kids’ outdoor adventures via www.natureplayeveryday.com.au