Ringtail Possum Paradise

I have been possum proofing buildings around Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula for 13 years now, with the last 3 years mainly focusing on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula. I had thought I had seen it all – possums entering into roofs by going down chimneys or getting under the house then up walls. It was always brushtail possums doing this, never ringtail possums. 95% of the time if you have possums in your roof it’s brushtails, but then along came the ringtail possums of the Mornington Peninsula and completely changed the way I do things, making my job more difficult. I was seeing less evidence at entry points (possums usually leave a lot of fur where they are entering) and I was seeing activity at ground level while thinking “no, ringtails don't go to ground”. I was seeing footprints up gutter downpipes and wear patterns on sides of rendered buildings. The ringtails had taken over and were able to climb places and enter buildings where no brushtail could.

The ringtail possums of the Mornington Peninsula are incredible. They have adapted so well to the buildings around Portsea, Sorrento, Blairgowrie and surrounds that they are rarely stressed and rarely drop a strand of fur where they are entering buildings. This makes my job incredibly hard. I never used to have motion sensor cameras to assist me, as everything with brushtails was relatively simple – locate a hole with possum fur surrounding it, repair the hole and clear the possums out. Now it’s a case of if I find minimal evidence of possum activity it usually indicates a carefree ringtail possum and I need to repair every hole 2 1/2 to 3 inches big. Then just to make sure the job is done right I will install the cameras and they'll show me several possums dancing on the roof trying to get back inside.

It is now very rare for me to deal with brushtail possums inside of a roof toward the end of the Mornington Peninsula. Now 95% of the time it is ringtail possums. So to all the ringtail possums reading this, thank you for the challenge!

Mornington Peninsula, paradise for holiday makers and Ringtail Possums!