11.40 p.m…What is that scratching sound outside on the deck? A Possum?

Certainly the scratching of claws on the metal railing sounded possum-like. Imagine our surprise when, on turning on the deck lights, we saw this young male koala. He had clambered up the timber post, nearly coming to grief on the stainless steel wires, coming to rest with his butt on the metal rail.

From there, he allowed a couple of photos until we tried to get Jian into the picture too…that was enough and he  continued up the post, finding at ceiling height, that he had reached his limit.

We tried unsuccessfully a few times to help him down, but as cuddly as he looked, those claws are ferocious and he warned us off any further attempts with ‘stay clear’ growls and grunts.  Not wanting to stress him, that is where he is staying for now…..hopefully he can find his own way down by morning…or we’ll have to build a tree for him to climb down.

Read Koala update: the morning after.

Shanghai student Jian meets a local