Possum

Each night marauding possums emerge from their daytime hollows. They clump and thump on the roof, hiss and spit at each other, and scare visitors by walking heavily on the verandah like malicious intruders.

Photo: Brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

I am pleased with this rare case of me getting a photograph of a native animal! It helps that the leaves are no longer on the tree.

Words to walk with:
From Widower in the Country by Les Murray
“Last night I thought I dreamt - but when I woke
The screaming was only a possum skiing down
The iron roof on little moonlit claws.”