Oh, how I love possums! Or as many people call them, Opossums. We have a possum that makes nightly visits to our yard and has for several years. I’ve named her Margaret and anxiously look forward each night to her visits. I leave food out for her as well as for the raccoons: William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Louisa May Alcott, and Dean Koontz. Um, I like to read…) that also come each night. Adorable!
They love the cat food that our cats share with them but they also go wild for grapes, breadsticks, popcorn, corn on the cob, and just about anything else I give them. You haven’t seen cute until you’ve watched a possum or raccoon eat an ear of corn!
Possums are totally misunderstood. They’re actually very, very neat little babies. Margaret actually washes her hands in a bowl of water I leave out. She also likes to turn it over intentionally and paddle through it. I’ve watched possums bathe themselves as meticulously as any cat. They’re also much cuter than most people seem to realize. If you look right at their little faces, you’ll see just how cute they are. I can’t say much for their tails – they’re kind of unattractive, but then again they may say the same thing about humans. Whatever, Margaret, whatever.
The Nature Station at beautiful Land Between the Lakes is having a program called Pocket Full o’Possum at 2 p.m. on August 26th. You can visit with the Nature Stations resident Opossum as she eats and learn more about her. If you go, look at the face – I dare you to tell me she’s not cute! You’ll find out how she carries her babies in her pouch (did you know possums are North America’s only marsupial?), how she “plays possum,” and find out how much she loves persimmons. Persimmons, huh? I’ll have to toss a few to Mags.
Speaking of tossing, when Margaret first came, she had a boyfriend (“David” – I have no explanation for that). He was a pretty big guy and a little bolder than most possums. He’d sit under my husband’s car and I could put food on the ground nearby. He’d waddle out and eat it, then go back under the car like, “Now what’cha got?” One night, I had leftover breadsticks from a Spaghetti supper. I saw him under the car, looking toward the door. When I opened it, he came out a few inches. I went out and tossed the breadstick his way and he caught the thing in his mouth! I could’ve made him a YouTube star if I had a few more hands.
Sadly, David died last winter – I think he was really, really old. When I found him on our patio, I hoped he was just doing a remarkable job of “playing possum,” but unfortunately he wasn’t.
Possums have a reputation for being mean which is something else I’ve never witnessed. Margaret sometimes has company over – some nights I look out and there are three or four possums. Any time I’ve ever encountered one, they either freeze in fear or scurry off. They don’t seem to want a confrontation of any sort, ever.
Learn more about this misunderstood and adorable animal on August 26th at The Nature Station.
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