O is for Opossum, those ugly slow marsupial transplants from the southern hemisphere to northern. They don't fit in here.
They're slow. They are hit by cars often. They try to avoid trouble by playing dead. Their cranial cavity is about the size of a dime. They have the most teeth, at 50, of any land mammal.
Their low body temp prevents them from getting viruses, like rabies! They also eat ticks by the score and ticks can carry lyme disease to humans so good riddance.
I don't mind opossums, but many people hate them.
Once, a homeless guy in Corvallis stopped me to see if I had any cat food. I did. I asked what he needed it for. He opened his coat to show me a young possum he was keeping as a pet. "Ok," I said, and gave him some cat food.
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| This mother opossum and her babies got into a trap I had set for a yard stray a few years back. |
Our Possums are a heap cuter than your Opossums. Except when they are piddling up a storm in the ceiling. A friends ceiling collapsed under the weight of possum piss.
ReplyDeleteYours are much cuter, but that is not something I want to think about, so much possum piss a roof collapses. Yikes!
DeleteIt really wasn't good. Piddle and poop. Which naturally collapsed on the sofa. Which was occupied at the time. Eeeeuw.
DeleteOhhhh no. I'm getting a very vivid unpleasant picture.
DeleteOur possums are cute but many dislike them in the suburbs because of the damage they can do to gardens. We exported them to New Zealand where they have become a real pest.
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