Pygmy Possum
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ID#45
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Classification: Mammal
Endangered Status: not threatened. Habitat: the Australian mountains, forests/grub lands The Pygmy Possum looks a lot like a Door mouse. That’s where it gets its nickname, the door mouse possum. It weighs about 1 oz and is about 7-18 cm long. In captivity, the Pygmy Possum can live to about 8 years. But sadly the possum only reaches about the age of 4 years in the wild. If you ever see one of these possums, the first thing you’ll probably notice is their big ears and huge whiskers. Most Pygmy Possums feed on a very wide range of food which includes flower nectar one of the possum’s favorites. The possum also feeds off of insects, pollen, and even scorpions. The Pygmy Possum is usually active at night and sometimes comes out on cloudy days. During the day these possums usually like to sit in their nest and sleep with the rest of their group. Pygmy Possums are not enormous breeders, though the female possums can breed year-round. So for them there’s not really a real mating season. One thing about these animals is that they simply will not breed if the conditions are bad, for example if a bad storm is coming through the female possum would delay labor till the conditions would pass. The female possum has 5 tits on their belly and give up to 2 or 3 litters of up to 6 young each, per year. The Pygmy Possum is not currently endangered or even threatened but studies have shown that their population has decreased to 3,000 possums lately. That’s a big drop down for such small animals such as the pygmy possums. In the long run this could result in their species becoming threatened or endangered. It would be such a shame if these amazing animals were never to be seen by men again wouldn’t it? |