"Remember that possum we couldn't find a few weeks ago?"

[senoritafish]

I got a phone yesterday starting with that sentence. John had gone to put a newly washed comforter in the hall closet and discovered a small opossum looking out at him. I told him to wait until I got home and I would try to catch it. My dad decided to call Animal Control, but by the time the person got there, it had disappeared again. He suggested getting a Hav-a-Hart Trap at the pet store - John was more of the opinion of just shooting it, but the guy told him they are protected (they aren't -I just looked it up in the code of regulations and they're in there with nuisance animals like coyotes, rodents, English sparrows and starlings - but I'm not telling him that). Today, he said that when he went outside and down the walk by the side of the house, he saw the possum again, looking out my dad's bathroom window. So took the screen off, found a board and put it from the window to the fence by walkway, then went back inside and shooed it out the window to the fence.

So that's taken care of. I think we'll have to wash everything that was stored in that cupboard - there were several turds left behind, but they're surprisingly dry and they don't smell. He must have ducked back in there after we were chasing him around, and come out at night to eat the cat food we leave in the bathroom. The screen door has been fixed and there is now a "no leaving the door open at night to let the cats in" rule.

These guys never did the "play dead" routine. Maybe they only do that when they're older.

Comments

[poetpaladin.livejournal.com]

Awww!! :)

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I suppose they're cute when they're little. I'd just rather they stayed outside. ;) It's rather startling when they wake you up at 4 am, like they did my dad.

[megthelegend.livejournal.com]

Wow, that looks far more hedgehoggy than the possums we have here. Very cute.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Yours are far nicer looking than ours. This guy looks sort of cute because he's little. They have very coarse fur and naked tails. When you're not expecting them, they can look like giant rats.

When they're scared, they open their mouths wide and hiss at you, and they're not cute at all. Thy're very good at playing dead, with the glazed eyes, and the open drooling mouth, and that's just not pretty at all.

A friend of mine kept one for a pet for a while, and it was really more like keeping a reptile. They're pretty primitive mammals, and I don't think their brains are developed enough to love you back or anything.

[angelsmum.livejournal.com]

Wow, they are totally different from our little beasts:



They aren't protected either, completely the opposite.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Yes, yours are much nicer looking. Ours start looking like giant rats as they get older. Antipodean possums look like they'd be much nicer to pet.

[angelsmum.livejournal.com]

Yeh they're all cute and cuddly...they make good hats. ;)

[bakayaro-onna.livejournal.com]

It's a little strange these wayward children have decided your place is a safe haven, especially since 'monkeys' live there.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Haha, that's what my dad used to call us when we were kids.

Yeah, it is strange. You'd think three kids and four cats would deter them a little bit. Or the cats would have caught them or something. Hmm, the felines are not doing their job...

[metalmensch.livejournal.com]

In order to get the play dead routine out of them, you have to damage them. The really crappy part about shooting them is that they don't die easily. Their brains are very small and their skulls are very large. Inevitably, the person just makes the possum angry and then it plays dead for a bit. I used to have to kill them on the farm when they'd get a taste for chicken. After I left for college, I had to teach my mom how to kill them, because I came home to visit and she was there putting bb's into it's skull.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remember looking at their skulls when I took a mammalogy course in college, and being surprised at how small the brainpan was in comparison to the size of the skull. I doubt BBs would be very effective. Something like trying to wring a pelican's neck, I would guess...

My dad suggested just stomping on them. Ugh, that'd be a mess. I'm really more of live and let live, when I can.

We've had some that got trapped in empty trashcans on the patio. When I went to check out what the ruckus was, he hissed at me first, then when I tried to dump him out, he immediately started playing dead, so I just left him there to run away on his own.