I spotted a Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) in the front yard yesterday. It was rooting around for something at the base of a shrub, in broad daylight. I grabbed my camera and eased the door open very slowly to get a photo. Even though I was quiet, the possum heard me and turned around and trundled down the path towards the back of the house.
I did some research and found out that they are considered “nature’s little sanitation engineers” and even eat rats. I figured that it might be a pregnant female feeling so desperately hungry that she wanted to go out during daylight. Richard had found the entrance to the possum’s hideout a few days earlier– it’s living under a weathertight storage shed in the back yard, where we keep our bikes. Probably a nice little burrow.
I put some overripe bananas and a bowl of water by the hole yesterday, and today one of them was eaten all up! I know the possum probably doesn’t want to be friends with me, but it still makes me feel honored to have one living in the back yard. I was surprised to see that a lot of people think they’re ugly, but this one is seriously cute… check it out:
(Perhaps I have an atypical sense of “cute”… I used to keep mice as pets, and I think they are probably the cutest thing ever.)
2 Comments
I can’t figure out why people don’t like possums based on appearance. I think they look cute too, but I’ve heard more than one person freak out at the mere mention. Cool photo though! And mice are totally cute.
Oh man, you like mice too?? You should check out my flickr set on mice… :)
I wish I could keep them as pets again, but they’re just too short-lived and prone to disease, and I can’t take that many pets dying. It’s just too sad!
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