This a typical back of the envelope scribble. Sometimes I think about the form of an animal so much I have to draw it. Here I was thinking about the underlying anatomy and how the possum holds itself with that hunched back. It's kind of like a permanent crouching position. They always look alert with those protruding eyes focusing on multiple distances. Sometime I will have to study these possums better to draw them more realistically, but as yet I have been short of time. As you can see there is significant water damage to this drawing because I spilled a cup of tea onto it! That's the sort of respect my drawings get! :-)
The Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is a very widespread marsupial and it as been able to adapt to an urban existence, adopting any dark cavity for a tree hollow substitute for nesting during the day. The space between the ceiling and the roof is typical. This is an animal the people seem to either love or hate. Some people feed them apples in the night and others evict them from their houses and shoot them. There is great phenotypical variation with Tasmanian animals being larger, woollier and darker. Possums in the north are brighter coppery colours, smaller in size and have shorter fur. In recent years Trichosurus vulpecula has undergone a range contraction in the arid centre of Australia but occurs in high population densities in New Zealand where it is feral.
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