We rarely see these guys - I thought they were nocturnal? He came casually walking across the terrace this morning, but when I walked outside with the camera, ducked behind the fountain. Wonder if he's the one that ate the parsley last week?
Oh, if you aren't familiar with the critter, it's a possum.
I see possums day and night. Oh the stories I could tell!! LOL
Oh, they are out and about during the day, then? I know they can be troublesome, but are they destructive to plants? I was blaming the squirrels for my parsley!
I thought he might be young - he wasn't too big and was very frightened. Go on, pepper, regale me with some tales!
I see these guys all the time. Usually on overcast days or in the early evening though. The adults are so ugly, to me they look like very large mangy rats. The babies are a different story though, they are just adorable. I worked at an animal shelter years ago and people would bring in "orphaned" babies in the spring (I know they were not orphaned, but that is a different topic). Fortunately for them, these oppossum babies are pretty tough. I would take them home and take care of them for a week or so to make sure they were eating properly and then take them out into the woods on our property. You would not believe what a grip these little guys had with their paws and tail.
He was definitely a baby then, because he was pretty cute. Those little toes just fascinate me.
Too cute. I did not even know there was possums on the west coast.
I had a opposum once who loved my cats. He/she would play with them daily. Could be because he ate their cat food?
When I first discovered him he was young and dead I thought (on my car port). I scooped him up with a shovel, threw him in the ditch, and covered him with dirt.. The next night the same thing . I reacted the same way. This went on for several nights. Finally my dad visited one day and I told him for some reason I had been invaded by opposums. He laughed and told me it was the same one over and over. He way just playing dead. I really felt stupid then. He apparently was after the open bag of cat food I kept on the carport. By then it was cold. I made him a house out of two card board boxes lined with newspaper. He lived there until he was too fat to get in the boxes. A car finally killed him. We gave him a decent burial in the back yard.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think this animal is the only animal that the babies are as unattractive as the parents. But they are incredible and unusual. They roam around all the time, day and night and are great ones to steal the cat and dog food. Read up on these guys, you will be surprized at how unique they are. But I still think they are snarly and ugly.
Awww, he wasn't beautiful, but he wasn't ugly, either. But I have seen some big ones that are pretty scary!
Off to do some reading.
I saw a toy one in the store once (stuffed animal) and they couldn't even make that look cute.
The ones we get like to eat the cat food and sleep in his house. Every time we get one in there I go out there and try to shake him out. That doesn't work so I kick the side of it, then the back, the top, then I get the stick I have out and beat the house with it. That doesn't work either so I lift the back of the house up and try to get him out that way. No go. No matter what I do they never come out. It's really funny to watch me do all that cause I'm out there kicking and talking loudly and just making a ruckus basically.
Kyjoy, that was funny! That was where the phrase "playing possum" originated. They will lay there or let you carry them around in a shovel for an hour and will not move. As you found out, they will even let you bury them and still not give any indication that they are alive. As soon as they hear that you have gone they will dig themselves out and go about their business. I can just hear that possum mumbling under his breath "here comes that dumb human with his shovel again, if he buries me one more time....!" Hee Hee.....
Yeah, I laughed a good one at that too. Probably because I have been there. They are a strange critter.
I get them in my live trap sometimes and they can be mighty mean. You should see the teeth...they hiss and growl and can attack. Be careful.
I did some googling yesterday and they really are fascinating. Did you know that playing dead thing is involuntary? It's triggered by their fear - when it gets to a certain level, wham! they keel over. How cool is nature? And yes, they do have some teeth, BUT at least they don't carry rabies. In fact, they are one of the cleanest animals when it comes to diseases. Very interesting critters! Too bad they are nomadic, I wouldn't mind having one around doing garden cleanup (another of their specialties). They only live for about two years. I'd really like to see a mama with some babies on her back. :-)
I have posted some stuff I have seen with our possoms here on another thread but will repeat. The male has a forked...um...male part. Looks double and I read the female has two uterus. The females pouch is vertical on her body, not like a kangaroo that is horizontal. To hang on the little ones climb in and attach themself to a long (about 2") noodle-like teather (teet) with their mouth, for food and to keep from falling out. They have lots of babies at one time. The ones here have about 10-12 in a batch.
To me, they fall into the "so homely they're almost cute" category: and the babies are just adorable. Beauty contestants or not, they're useful to have around: can keep your lawn free of grubs, and do real service cleaning up carrion and bugs. And ya gotta respect an animal that's survived since prehistoric times...
