I thought it was an open mouth for a baby bird. I guess the new computer glasses are not right.

Dorthea, good a guess as any. Is the possum still attached, Kate?

Quite the capture Kate. Thanks!

Very nice pic. Dont see that everyday.

Maybe dry catfood scattered around your magnolias would satisfy the possums - or maybe they'd just eat the blossoms as dessert! (FYI: desserts = stressed backwards!)

I thought it was a baby bird with open mouth too, at first, Dorthea. Kate, had you not told us I would have had no idea what this was. Very creative thinking on your part to snap a photo of such an unusual subject. I like it!

On Moday night when I went out a ring tail possumwas in my magnolia having a nice feed.
Gramma Linda, these possums live on leaves, flowers and fruit.

Is the possum still in the picture, Kate? Or is the gray, fuzzy stuff part of the blossum/limb? I just can't quite figure it out....

The grey fuzzy bit is the leafy covering of the bud - bud hadn't even started to open when it was eaten. The possums come out of the surrounding trees at night. there's not much you can do about them when they (magnolias) are over hung by trees like we have here. They jump from other peoples trees More...

I googled Ringtail Possum. They are very different from our Virginia Possums in the U.S.! Here's what one encyclopeida had to say about the ringtail: "The Common Ringtail Possum can make quite a good pet if treated well and given lots of attention. They are a delightful little creature..." I don't know of anybody who'd want to make a pet of our possums!

Yikes! I really murdered the word "enclycopedia" above. My fingers got ahead of my brain again.

Magnolias are so beautiful, but I guess the possum has to survive too... Good shot Kate.

Kate - as usual, such interesting pictures!

June, thanks for increasing my possum knowledge. Our possums have tails like a rat, look like something left over from a horror movie, and love cat food. I agree with Kay. NO THANKS to pet possums!

The critters in the USA are Opossums! The Aussie critters are Possums. The Possums are MUCH cuter than our nasty Opossums (also can be shortened to 'possum). And ours are omnivores with a preference for meat, eggs and fruit.

We had a nocturnal intruder of our own this week - brushtail possum in the house! Kept hearing thumps and crashes in the night and finding the fruitbowl raided in the morning.

Heidi, what is that cute little avatar? (I know it's not a possum!) Wow, Wikipedia says the Australian possums are even protected from being trapped and placed elsewhere -- no fun!

Grr possums!
Looks like a beautiful deep coloured magnolia Kate.

Possum Talk : The "ringtail opossum" is referenced many times in "Australian Aborigines" By James Dawson. Apparently the terms "opossum" and "possum" (regarding the ringtail) are used interchangeably as they are in the USA.

More Possum Talk : We have an American Ringtail too, also not a possum. The photo shows a cat-sized carnivore that looks like a fox with a raccoon tail. Check it out at:
http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/bassastu.htm

We have resident possums too. Merlin stares up at the ceiling and gets frustrated

Schultz used to get frustrated but now he's rather deaf. Doesn't even mind thunderstorms any more!

Okay, I have to admit we actually had a possum for a pet. Our dog drug him up when he was a little bit of a thing and I was soft hearted and raised the varmit. He liked baby food. We had him a couple years, until my oldest daughter was two weeks old and a family member gave us influenza. Found More...