· Possums are marsupials mammals meaning they carry their babies in their pouch on the outside of their tummy. The baby (which is called a joey) is born really tiny and crawls into its mother's pouch. The joey lives in its mother's pouch till its quite large. Even when it's quite large it still drinks milk from a teat in its mother's pouch

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· The possum is the only marsupial that doesn't live only in Australia (they also live in New Guinea and nearby islands)

· The common possum gets to be about 50 cm. (20 in.) long, plus a long, hairless tail. They can weigh up to 6.5 kg and have 50 teeth (with very large mouth!)

· They are omnivores, eating mostly fruit and insects

· Possums move at night and sleep during the day

· Possums are a diverse group of mammals (there are 40 species of possums), ranging from tiny gliding possums to large agile climbing brushtails

· The Brushtail Possum is the most familiar of all the Australian possums. They are found in most areas where there are trees, especially open forests and woodlands
· The Brushtail has also adapted to living in urban areas, often making their homes in any dark area, often the space between a ceiling and roof of many buildings, particularly family homes
· The Brushtail Possum ranges in colour from dark brown to silver-grey on the back and cream to pale grey on its underside. It has long oval ears, a pink nose and a big bushy tail, brown-black in colour
· The young can spend up to 4-5 months in the mother's pouch, attached to one of the two teats, where it develops quite quickly. 1-2 months are then spent suckling and riding about on the mother's back

· Usually after this weaning period, it leaves the mother and makes its own way into the world. Even though possums are at the mercy of being killed by foxes, dogs, humans and bushfires, they are still large in numbers and they are amongst the most familiar and popular Australian mammals