Friday, January 23, 2009

Opossum My Possum

Look at what we have living under our patio. We think. Ain't it ugly? Good news is, if it were outside right now you couldn't see it--the snow is coming down that hard. And it was 60 yesterday.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

EWWW, I know they are benign, but to me they look like a big turbo charged rat on steroids. When we have them here, I have nightmares. So you have treated yours with a snow barrage?
Frances

Robin Ripley said...

Ohhh. No, possums aren't benign at all. They have lots and lots of tiny, sharp teeth. They move slowly. if a dog or cat were to tangle with a possum, it would mean a sad trip to the vet.

Keep pets away!

Robin Wedewer
National Gardening Examiner

Les said...

Years ago I saw our older dog Patsy in the backyard playing with what I thought was on old dirty white towel. Upon close inspection it was a possum, and the two had each other locked in death grips. I had to work hard to get the pair to let each other go, and finally the critter dropped out of her mouth and "played possum" on the ground. It surprised me, but I was glad that it was here in the first place as we are in the middle of the city.

k said...

I once happened upon a baby opossum. At the time I thought it looked like a tiny baby elephant. Google image results are telling me otherwise.

Nickie said...

Am I the only one who doesn't think they are ugly? I think they are neat creatures and very adaptable.

Anonymous said...

No, you're not. I think they're cute in an oddball way too. They visit my bird feeders occasionally and I get a kick out of them.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Benjamin,
I just found your blog through blotanical. I didn't think there was anyone else from my city in Nebraska blogging, but there you are!

My dad's side of the family are Germans from Russia. His parents worked the beet fields, and when they moved to LIncoln, in the "bottoms" they had a huge garden. I've been asking my parents to let me know if they find photos of the garden, but they haven't so far.

We have something else in common. We had an opossum and her babies living under our deck all last summer. Our yellow lab wanted to play with them in the evenings, and we sometimes had trouble getting her to come in. She never got into a tangle with them. I never saw them, but my husband did a time or two.

I had asked a few people if it was a problem having them there, and one said our dog could get hurt by the mother, but when I read they eat slugs, I decided to leave them alone.

I am so ready for spring to get here!

Sue

Benjamin Vogt said...

Hey Sue--I thought I was all alone in NE. Well I was until last fall, it appears, so I held the fort for over a year. Who gardens in NE, people ask. But there's so many great prairie plants! Happy to meet you. I've also come to read that possums are no big deal--if really threatened, they play dead and emit a foul, rotten smell.