Talk:Common brushtail possum

message: Sorry, but in my experience as an arbourist I can assure you that Brushtails do eat eucalyptus leaves.  In Melbourne it is common to see Eucalypts (particularly mallee and corymbia groups) stripped bare by brushtails.  I've seen numerous otherwise healthy park trees die from brushtail damage.  We have to put guards made from PVC or sheet steel around the trunks to protect them.  I'll try and remember to get a photo next time I'm out. njh 04:40, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Don't touch Eucalypts? 

message: Is there a reference for the information about their social behaviour?  It is true that the possums where I live seem to make up a colony, and that the 'top' possum is a female– but most sources say they are solitary!  Could this all have been inserted by the person responsible for the hoax about tools, language and military uses (see above)? Dawnfire 04:08, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Social behaviour of brushtails 

message: Does anyone have a source to suggest that brushies have been introduced to N. America?  I have never head of such a thing...
ElZilcho  —Preceding signed but undated comment was added at 12:34, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This has to be a hoax. I will remove it from the article  - its been there since October without a source. It can always be inserted again if someone finds a reliable source for it Kāhuroa (talk) 10:20, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Introduced to North America/Wolf-primate comparison 

message: Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that :File:Trichosurus vulpecula 1.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on February 13, 2012. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2012-02-13. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! —howcheng  {chat} 21:21, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[:File:Trichosurus vulpecula 1.jpg]] to appear as POTD soon 

message: Considering the number of times possums in New Zealand are mentioned, surely the map should include New Zealand. Mdw0 (talk) 00:42, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Range map

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Although i do not want to argue about at least some of the removals, nor my not referenced, observtional addition being removed, i would disagree strongly about Seglea and Underspanky, or others claiming that they are not intelligent.
I should not have to say, that Intelligence is a on a RELATIVE SCALE - what is intelligent for an ant, is vastly more intelligent than what a fungus can do... whereas both are relatively limited although perhaps/less complex of timing/mechanisms... than what we can do,.. so ;
when you assess something that is in the middle, soto speak, of simple to complex organisms, marginal differences are actually quite a lot, in terms of a particular species importance - especially if the species, like a bee, or possums, are a part of reproduction cycles, or in the case of SOME possums in my exp, active MAINTAINERS of some of the trees they live in / get food from.
The fact that they can be a pest, should NOT somehow be used as a claim to justifying calling a relativly intelligent animal UNintelligent.
only a few days ago, one indicated to me that my garden arch was needing repair, in a intelligent, cooperative way - you also said, Seglea/whoever,.. on par with/like  dogs -
dogs are one of the most intelligent, actually - but NOR are dogs and rats comparable, Underspanky - i've done enough  Animal-Psychology,  to know - while most rats might be able to understand that some things it can get through to get into a house, and others cannot, and to actively remember and identify the differences ( a grill compared to a hinge, a scratched-hole, compared to a open plug-fitting, yet to've been closed up, etc )... dogs (bred, i mean)  have good social adaption/imitation memories and learning-centre adaptive traits... that doesn't mean that EVERY one you meet, will be lassie...
but it does mean that when a rat might have an oppertunity to adapt to a social need, that i cannot with anywhere near as good a range of COGNITION OF NEED, as dogs.
They have mostly(if not completely)  more internally-driven instincts, they will socially adapt for their OWN children, or at a low level of immediate need and organisation FOR, needs...
...but they do not have the kinds of dream/imagination social capacities of dogs, at a higher level of emotional awareness, or similar - do not value the INDIRECT effects, when identifying emotion - if i make my owner happy, them BEING happy, will affect others in a way i want, rather than them being angry/demanding... or ... my owner who puts me in pit-fights, is in a apathetic, shocked, emotionally-sensitive state, after losing one of their own children... ill be physically playful and alert, with them, to SEEM like im still able to do what i need to be able to, for them to continue to want to keep me - if they think i'm not still a ferocious fighter, he might get rid of me... etc.
THAT kind of REASONING, is something well and truly established, with dogs.
rats?  no, Possums have PHYSICAL APPEARANCES a little like rats, and people often cannot be BOTHERED LEARNING or observing the differences.
you have grouped both together, when they should be quite far apart.
As i said at the start of my criticism, when youre NOT starting from either end of the scale... humans are definately at one end...
then SEEMINGLY insignificant differences, are actually a LOT.
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im saying this because the co-operative help (drawing my attention to a broken garden-arch) i received from a possum not two nights ago, says to me...
this animal could understand REPAIRS... and the oppertunity if not also, need, to report them.
yes, it would be in their interest, i would not deny that,..
...but that would not detract from whether or not it is intelligent, to do so.
quite the opposite - doing things that is in your interests, is a big part of what being intelligent, is all about.
at least when talking about it in biology generally - abstract arts / creation, obviously not... but would that be a fair comparison / quesiton ?
of course not...
being able to THINK a problem out, is definately a sign of intelligence, whether you like them or not.  Same goes for anyone else reading this and wanting to compare gross differences, for a marginal-difference question.
i don't USUALLY care about marginal differences either!  and if i was in NZ , i could happily munch down on a Possum Kebab!
But that does NOT mean, i would say they are not intelligent - i happily chow down on pig, cow, and i would a brumbies, if it was in the supermarket, WHILE STILL CALLING THEM, intelligent.
mmmm, intelligence, delicious!  NZ, yes, but not here - here they are a valuable animal, in terms of the reproductive chain, food chain, and topsoil redistribution dynamics, as well as a few other things, like having a place in Aboriginal culture / sky-myth-methaphor, etc.
The intelligence question should not be acted upon in gross experience of DOMESITCATED v non-domesticated.
People often find criticisms in WILD creatures, compared to under our control ones, rather than sticking to the question impartially.
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communicating to me to make me aware of a repair that needed doing, is DEFINATELY intelligent in my book.
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Vurrath (talk) 20:00, 27 December 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Intelligence question  /  social behaviours value 

message: Just removed this. Certainly OR ("original research"), and very close to a rant. More that that it is unclear what the point(s) is/are - and caps DON'T help. - Snori (talk) 23:08, 27 December 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: Edits by Vurrath

message: I'm not an expert on wiki or possums, so I won't make any changes to the page. I'll leave that to more qualified people.
The image labelled "Dentition of a common brushtail possum" :File:Animaldentition_trichosurusvulpecula.png looks nothing like the teeth in the image labelled "Skull of a common brushtail possum" :File:Trichosurus_vulpecula_02_MWNH_929.JPG    nor those shown at https://www.bien.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Skulls-of-Tasmania-Rainbird.pdf page 29.
The "Dentition of a common brushtail possum" image contains the words "Sooty Tapoa". Googling this results in various versions of poorly hand-drawn images dating from 1839 and 1856 - this image is one of them.
Could I suggest that this image be replaced with another, eg 
https://www.bien.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Skulls-of-Tasmania-Rainbird.pdf
An Illustrated Key to the Skulls of the Mammals in Tasmania  R. H. GREEN & J. L. RAINBIRD  Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania 1983  ISBN 0 7246 1127 4    Page 29
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Garrytre (talk • contribs) 07:10, 26 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title: Image replacement request