Kelly - I'm glad I'm not the only sucker out there ;-) The Opossum
Society told me that their intelligence rates higher than dogs -- it's up
there with pigs. Of course, they don't have very good street
smarts. The NOP has a bumper sticker out there with a darling possum
drawing that says 'Give 'em a brake -
www.opossum.org. (stuck it on one of
the boss' door -- he HATES them :0) (I have a lot of work stories)
You have to mind the teeth though -- they have 50 sharp ones and you
don't want to stress them to the point they feel inclined to use them.
Treat an opossum bite as seriously as you would a cat bit. In my
experience though - they've been very friendly. The mama possum
(Pauline) brings her babies to dine (Pierre and Pinkerton). The lady I
talked to gives her possums baths and gives them vaccines. I'm not ready
to do something like that -- I have my hands full with kitties.
A lot of people don't know this -- but when they finish their banana (or
dinner) -- they wash their faces with their little paws just like kitties
do. They are such dear creatures - and totally innocuous. They
love overly ripe fruits and veggies. Nature's little sanitation
engineers.
One winter -- when Mama Kitty was still staying outside....I opened the
door and frightened one of the possums. He jumped right into the kitty
bed with Mama Kitty. She didn't mind in the slightest - they were sweet
to each other. Vet tech told me today they would tear each other up
-- but I think that because of the environment - they understood the
circumstance and didn't feel a need for violence. I didn't tell her
otherwise though. It's all about caring for each other here :0)
elizabeth
In a message dated 11/6/2006 8:59:07 P.M. Central Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
At
06:44 PM 11/6/2006, you wrote:
I feed my possums on the front porch
also, They called me from my husbands work when they found a cute little
baby oppossum in the coke machine, they were all afraid of this cure little
thing. One day when my Siamese Sammy was a feral I thought it was him in the
the front porch til I got a closer look.
As marsupials they have a lower
body temp so rabies is not a worry, They are so harmless and keep
neighborhoods
clean,
Kelly