All items sold on this website are polyurethane resin replicas, made in USA. No real or natural bone is available on this site.
Trichosurus Skull Replica or Brush-Tailed Possum measures 3.9 inches. Brush-Tailed Possum Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium & jaw).
The Trichosurus or Common Brushtail Possum has large and pointed ears. Its bushy tail is adapted to grasping branches, prehensile at the end with a hairless ventral patch.
The Didelphis vulpecula or Common Brushtail Possum has a head and body length of 32 to 58 cm with a tail length of 24 to 40 cm. It weighs 1.2-4.5 kg.
The Trichosurus or Common Brushtail Possum is considered a pest in some areas, as it is known to cause damage to pine plantations, regenerative forest, flowers, fruit trees, and buildings.
It is rather tolerant of humans and can sometimes be hand fed, although it is not encouraged, as their claws are quite sharp and can cause infection or disease to humans if scratched. It is a traditional food source for some indigenous Australians.
Its fur has been considered valuable and has been harvested. Although once hunted extensively for its fur in Australia.
Trichosurus or Common Brushtail Possum is now protected in mainland states, but it has only been partially protected in Tasmania, where an annual hunting season is used. Tasmania gives crop-protection permits to landowners whose property has been damaged.
In some mainland states, possum trapping is legal to catch when attempting to evict possums from human residences, but possums must be released after dusk within 24 hours of capture, no more than 50 m from the trapping site.
In some states, such as Victoria, trapped possums may be taken to registered veterinarians for euthanasia.
In South Australia, they are fully protected and permits are required for trapping possums in human residences or for keeping or rescuing sick or injured wild possums and other native animals.
In Queensland, Trichosurus or Common Brushtail Possum can only be trapped by licensed commercial relocators who must release possums within 25 metres of the point of capture to ensure that an animal is not released into another possum’s home range.
Since its introduction from Australia by European settlers in the 1850s, the Common Brushtail Possum has become a major threat to New Zealand native forests and birds.
It is also a host for the highly contagious bovine tuberculosis. This is not an issue in Australia, where the disease has been eradicated.
By the 1980s, the peak population had reached an estimated 60 to 70 million, but is now down to an estimated 30 million due to control measures.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation controls possum numbers in many areas via the aerial dropping of 1080-laced bait.
Hunting is not restricted, but the population seems to be stable despite the annual killing of thousands of the animals.
