Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) is a collection of whimsical poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It is the basis for the musical "Cats". Eliot wrote the poems in the 1930s, and included them, under his assumed name "Old Possum", in letters to his godchildren. They were collected and published in 1939, with cover illustrations by the author, and quickly re-published in 1940, illustrated in full by Nicolas Bentley. They have also been published in versions illustrated by Edward Gorey (1982) and Axel
Leadbeater's possum Leadbeater’s possum involving protection of remaining old-growth stands, and maintenance of younger stands that are allowed to attain hollow-bearing age. The combination of 40-year-old regrowth (for food) and large dead trees left still standing after the fires (for shelter and nesting) allowed the Leadbeater's possum population to expand to an estimated peak of about 7500 in the early 1980s. From its peak in the 1980s, the Leadbeater's possum population was expected to further decline rapidly, by as much as 90%, due to a habitat bottleneck. The population has dropped sharply since 1996. Particularly, the February 2009 Black Saturday bushfires destroyed