| | The thing I love most about opossums is that my Dad pronounces the "o". It is a throwback to milder, gentler days when one simply pulled out a rifle and shot the thing (or laid out some rat poison in hopes the cat didn't get to it first) rather than calling Animal Control.
The dogs were yelping in the beagle cry that meant they'd found something worth mentioning -- usually reserved for rabbits munching on the garden just out of reach. Just when I'd written it off as nothing, something wandered out of the shadows of the garage. Leaning into each step, it zig-zagged out into the light of the yard and straight toward where I sat on the back end of the pickup truck. 20 feet away. 10 feet. The thing was huge for a possum (I hold out my hands like a fisherman to describe) and nearly white, looking more beat up than the favorite teddy bear of a five year old. At 5 feet, it stopped at the edge of the driveway and squatted to take a dump even as I described the whole thing to Aniket on the phone. It must have been near blind as well as deaf because it didn't hesitate as I jumped off the back of the truck to within feet from it. It was close enough that, when it ate a bug, I could hear it's lips smacking. Three smacks, then swallow. Not a glance to where I sat.
Opossums are legendary for mean. If they're scared, they'll play dead. But, if they're really scared, they'll bite. And I'd really hate to ruin my 30 year streak of being rabies-shot free just to be bitten by a huge rat. But as I followed it across the yard trying to take a picture with my cell phone camera, I willed it to turn around with a vicious snarl and baring of teeth. Instead, it simply walked through the flowers and onto the steps of the porch. I was suddenly glad the front door was closed, having a strange feeling that it might otherwise have simply walked inside and climbed up on the couch with a cup of hot tea.
There is nothing more annoying than trying to make a mangy old opossum spitting mad only to have it walk past you to climb up under the porch for a jolly old nap. Hmmph.
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| | Posted 5/13/2009 8:45 AM - 1 View - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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