Thursday, April 06, 2006

Intruder alert

Jasmine alerted us to the presence of an intruder last night in her usual manner (by barking like a crazy dog).



Just on the other side of the tree line we found a possum. A.k.a. a Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana), a.k.a. North America's only native marsupial.

He didn't roll over and play dead, but he sure did a good job at playing frozen.

10 comments:

Randa said...

oh my gosh that is so cute! They are probably as common around your parts as raccoons are around ours. Raccoons are cute to look at, but BOY are they nasty!!!

robin andrea said...

That is a very cute critter. It's funny, I know they are marsupials, but for some reason it always seems strange to think of them as real marsupials. Oh, if only they looked like a kangaroo!

R.Powers said...

The cuteness factor drops when you find them eating your chickens. A good paintball gun seems to modify their nocturnal habits. If you see one with blue spots, it was at my house.

Kay Cooke said...

Hi Pam - What a cute fellow!
We have possums that clump over our roof at night. You'd swear they were wearing hobnailed boots. Over in NZ they are a classified pest as they destroy the native trees.

Rurality said...

Yep, cute but chickens beware.

I've heard that they'll eat chickens' legs off through a wire cage!

This guy stayed completely "frozen" the whole time we were there.

R.Powers said...

I have an almost toeless barred rock hen that proves that last point!

KFarmer said...

They really are murder in a chicken coop. The ones at my house used to place their "goodies" up on the rafters to let them season- oh the smell, so gross. I had one that killed half my girls before I could catch him.

Kay Cooke said...

Sorry for calling you Pam ... Urrr ... I got a little mixed up between you and Pam from Tuscon. Call it colonial confusion or krazy kiwi kombobulation ?? ;-< Please forgive me?

Rurality said...

Ha, don't worry about it. I'm proud to be confused with Pam from Tucson. :)

Anonymous said...

I generally give into my temptation to feed the raccoons and occasional possum that happen to visit where I live. I have cats and they never go out at night (3 are now on leashes for their daily walks)... Point being, who will feed these critters? They sure love the dry cat food I put out. My neighbors have also complained about the rooftop noise of overly pampered raccoons.

Now this picture has me in a full-on quandry! hee