western australia

brushtail possum

Sharing my dinner

@JudyEv (351845)

Rockingham, Australia

April 27, 2025 8:56am CST

Our third campsite on our time away was in the Dryandra Forest. There was some houses there that accommodated forestry workers. There are also several other campsites, one of which we stayed at in our motor-home. Vince’s brother travelled with us but slept in his tent. Once night fell, we had a barbecue and we’d hardly finished when several little creatures appeared. At first, we talked in whispers and moved slowly but as you can see, the animals were quite at home with campers. Feeding from my hand is a woylie. He even let me stroke his back. A brushtail possum was also happy to be fed but didn’t want to be touched. Woylies are marsupials and carry their young in a pouch. We did see one with a very distended pouch but I don’t know if it had a young one or was just very pregnant. We felt very privileged to be so close to these adorable little creatures.

21 people like this

19 responses

@snowy22315 (188502)

• United States

27 Apr

Each to their own..I would be afraid it would nibble my fingers. I saw a cute thing on FB though. These people had a casement window that had a little built in ledge with it. They put out sunflower seeds and birdseed for the local squirrel who would feast from the ledge. She had 2 or 3 cats that would watch their friend squirrel close up. Nico is not so friendly, he likes to fight through the glass with our resident squirrels.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

They are so small that their nibbles don't hurt. I can imagine Nico dying to get at the squirrels.

1 person likes this

@snowy22315 (188502)

• United States

29 Apr

@JudyEv Some days definitely, other days he seems content to ignore them.

1 person likes this

@RebeccasFarm (94378)

• Arvada, Colorado

27 Apr

I had never heard of these ones Judy. You are very kind to the little ones. I bet they love you.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

They aren't very big but they were just about begging for a handout! Very hard to resist.

1 person likes this

@rebelann (113864)

• El Paso, Texas

27 Apr

I would love to have a wild animal like that get that close to me. The only 'wild' animal I ever had the priviledge to share food with were some very friendly kangaroo rats that used to frequent a drive through burger joint. Sadly that joint no longer exists.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

I felt very privileged to be able to do this. Were the kangaroo rats native to your region?

1 person likes this

@rebelann (113864)

• El Paso, Texas

29 Apr

I'll have to check what kinds of rodents we have in our deserts but back in the 1970s the area wasn't as built up as it is now and many of the wild life that used to live here has disappeared.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

10h

@rebelann The quenda is one that seems to have adapted to suburbian life.

1 person likes this

Show more comments

@Marilynda1225 (84530)

• United States

27 Apr

Sounds like you're enjoying your camping trip. How cute the creatures are so comfortable around campers and will actually let you feed and pet them

1 person likes this

show previous comments

@Marilynda1225 (84530)

• United States

29 Apr

@JudyEv like you said, I guess they are used to people being around and know they are going to get some goodies if they hang around.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

I was really surprised at how tame they were.

1 person likes this

Show more comments

@Ronrybs (20394)

• London, England

27 Apr

Hope they are not becoming dependent on humans for meals. Maybe they are exploiting their cuteness!

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

That could be - that they're exploiting their cuteness. I can't imagine they'll become too dependent. It's very hard to resist giving them a small amount of food.

1 person likes this

@Ronrybs (20394)

• London, England

2h

@JudyEv I know, I am an easy mark for giving food to beasties!

@Neil43 (3878)

•

28 Apr

Woylies and brushtail possums are wild animals in Australia, right? Are their meat edible? You should have taken a picture of them.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

You can eat them but Australians don't. That's a woylie in the photo. Here's a brushtail possum.

@GardenGerty (163230)

• United States

28 Apr

They have learned to be pretty trusting of all the campers, I guess.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

Yes, it would seem so.

@shaggin (74144)

• United States

27 Apr

Oh my gosh how adorable. I can’t believe it even let you pet it. They have become quite tame it seems from people being around at that campsite all the time.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

I put my hand down very gently to stroke its back. I fully expected it to jump away but it just stayed there.

1 person likes this

@much2say (57518)

• Los Angeles, California

28 Apr

Wow, such friendly little creatures - I guess they must be used to campers! Amazing it would let you pet it too

!

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

I was really surprised to be able to pet it. And yes, they must be very used to campers.

@allknowing (144699)

• India

28 Apr

I admire how you were comfortable with these creatures that were strangers. How sure were you that they would not harm you?

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

It's too small to do much damage and its behaviour wasn't in the least aggressive.

1 person likes this

@DaddyEvil (146686)

• United States

27 Apr

I would have tossed food to them but I don't like things eating out of my hand. I've had too many that thought the hand was also food. I'm glad you had fun with them, though.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

I am careful too but this guy was so small I didn't think he could hurt me much.

@wolfgirl569 (115144)

• Marion, Ohio

27 Apr

Those would be cute to watch

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

We enjoyed seeing their antics very much.

1 person likes this

@rakski (135691)

• Philippines

28 Apr

sharing a barbecue under the stars and having woylies just wander up like that is nice and one of a kind adventure

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

It will be a while before I forget that night.

@RasmaSandra (84353)

• Daytona Beach, Florida

27 Apr

I put out leftovers for a possum that comes at night but tree rodents seem to always get there first,

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

Wild animals soon learn where free food is available.

1 person likes this

@ARIES1973 (11650)

• Legaspi, Philippines

27 Apr

What a nice experience you had! Haven't seen such creature personally but the way I see it, they are also very friendly.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

It took a while for them to decide we weren't going to hurt them.

1 person likes this

@jobelbojel (36790)

• Philippines

27 Apr

I learned something here that aside from the Roo, there is another creature with a pouch. Interesting.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (351845)

• Rockingham, Australia

29 Apr

We have a lot of creatures with pouches. There are various size kangaroos to start with. This one is a pregnant quenda or bandicoot.

@FourWalls (74103)

• United States

27 Apr

That is so super COOL!!!!! What a cute little critter!

@Mshafeeq (1572)

• Bangalore, India

27 Apr

That's very cute Judy. You are a animal lover and they love you too. Hope you had a good time.

@Beestring (15279)

• Hong Kong

27 Apr

You are a kindhearted lady.