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 diet of Brushtail possums consist mainly of leaves, especially eucalypt leaves and also native fruits, buds and bark in the forests. They also eat a variety of other food in urban areas where they rummage in gardens and exposed rubbish bins of home owners. The major breeding season of the possum seems to be in autumn and the minor season of spring.
Females usually begin reproducing at the age of one year.
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.