A report from Ballarat East mentions not only the skin (rind) of lemons, but also the leaves, being eaten. Although possums have not been seen in the act, evidence on the ground below shows they are present. Such behaviour has been recoded elsewhere in this district.

Last summer, we had a query from a Wendouree gardener who had an unknown creature devouring capsicums in his vegetable garden. While a rat was a possibility, a possum seemed more likely because the complete fruit was consumed each time, rather than part of it being left. A whole capsicum would possibly be too much for one rat at one sitting.

Possums’ choice of food is very wide. Fruits of all kinds and rose buds are well known, but they will tackle almost anything eaten by humans, including meat of all sorts, as well as pet food.

Their natural foods are leaves, flowers and fruits, with smaller proportions of insects, birds’ eggs, small vertebrates and seeds.

While lemon skin (rind) is eaten from time to time, the consumption of the whole lemon fruit seems rare. Lemon skin seems to be eaten more often than lemon leaves or lemon flesh.

Unlike many native animals, possums continue to thrive, adapting remarkably successfully to urban environments. They are not very demanding creatures, simply needing somewhere to shelter during the day, and access to almost any sort of food at night.

At the garden at which lemons are being damaged, geraniums are also being eaten. Possums readily eat geranium buds and flowers, but they usually reject the leaves.

Before European settlement, the brush-tailed possum lived in hollows in eucalypts. With fewer hollows available now, it chooses substitutes such as roof spaces, a thick patch of creeper on a wall or a dense clump of pine foliage.

Readers can no doubt add to this short list, demonstrating that the brush-tailed possum is indeed a very adaptable native animal.

Mosquito larvae are growing larger and larger as spring progresses, so adult mosquitoes will not be far away.

Although these are not welcome, they are pollinators of flowers and food for birds such as swallows, willie wagtails and grey fantails.

The orange-brown caterpillars of roadsides and pastures are back once again, also growing rapidly. With cool cloudy weather for much of this month, the first butterflies and dragonflies have yet to be reported but will appear any day.