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Ponds Creek Reserve North
A feature of the Ponds Creek Reserve North as you travel southwards are the open grassy settings along the way.
Here you can see a range of different forest types including Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest which continues to fringe the creek line. This vegetation type is now rare due to land clearing and is specially protected under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
The trees here are home to a range of wildlife including ringtail possums. These nocturnal animals can be spotted at night using torches. During daylight hours be sure to listen out for the medium sized birds that frequent the area.
Descriptions of these birds can be found on the track posts along the walk.
Animals of the Upper Ponds Creek Catchment
Common Ringtail Possum – Pseudocheirus peregrinus
Ringtail Possums are nocturnal marsupials that are well adapted to a life among the trees. Equipped with a prehensile tail – that is, a tail that is capable of gripping – they can travel easily through the canopy overhead. Ringtail possums are herbivorous, feeding on a wide variety of plants, as well as flowers and fruits. Sometimes confused for black rats, ringtail possums can be seen carrying their tails in a coil when not in use.
During the day, most Ringtail possums live in nests, known as “dreys”, often made from grass and shredded bark on forked tree branches, or in tree hollows. Each nest will tend to be inhabited by an adult female ringtail, and adult male, and their offspring from the previous year. The majority of young ringtails are born between May and July each year, with the average litter made up of two possums, and more rarely, triplets. Young possums will usually spend between 120 – 130 days in their mother’s pouch.
Unlike other species, the Ringtail is the only species of possum known where the male adult provides care for the young, with male possums reported to carry the young on their backs when the mother is feeding.
Ringtail possums are a protected species across Australia.
