Coming from a large family and two-time recipient of our Playing Possum award, I can attest to the fact that the animal is noted for appearing "sickly unto death" (to quote a scripture) in order to fool a predator. Human's have adapted this same technique with the additions of audible groans and rolling eyes (moistened with alligator tears), which add a schmear of dramatic pathos that is effective on Scout masters, arresting police officers, judges and skeptical mothers. The animal with its limited knowledge of high culture can only aspire to such heights of heart-string-tugging fakery.
Joe On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 12:24 AM, Richard Conrad <[email protected]>wrote: > Possums often look sick unto death when they actually are doing just > fine... aka (as Bill Sanderson said) playing possum. > > If you see one there is a good chance it is nesting near you, which can be > problematic r/t communicable health issues and also sometimes property > damages. They are very prolific critters too, so when there is one adult > discovered - there may later be many more. > > I'd see if you can at least eventually get some professional assistance. > > > On May 12, 2013, at 11:17 PM, Bill Sanderson wrote: > > a few years ago, some helpful neighbors saw a possum on the areaway beside > my house, and thought it looked sick, so they trapped it under a basket or > box of some kind and brought it to my front steps... > > I called animal control, and they came out pretty quickly--this was > sometime between 7 and 9 at night. They looked at the critter and said, > yeah--that's a possum all right--looks ok to us--and said they would take > it and release it in cobbs creek park. > > I felt that was a pretty sensible response, although I'd rather the > neighbors had just left the critter alone... > > (a few years before that, our beagle was spending a long time under a > holly tree at the back of our next door neighbors yard, so I finally went > out to see what she was doing in there. I found a possum stuck halfway > over an iron fence--the kind about 3 feet tall with spikes that extend > above the top rail... The critter had made it half way through but was too > big to fit the rest of the way. Judging by the pile of droppings beneath > it and the dogs behavior, it had been there for several days. I got a long > 2x4, shoved it under the possums hind quarters, lifted it, and eventually > angled it over the fence and down onto the other side. It did not look in > the least bit grateful....) > > Do remember that "playing possum" is named after the actual behavior of > these critters... > > > Bill > > *From:* missthin > *Sent:* Sunday, May 12, 2013 10:43 PM > *To:* Brian Siano > *Cc:* UCNeighbors, univcity > > Hi Brian > > AFAIK from past experience, unless things have changed, Animal Control > won't do anything. They'll tell you to trap the possum and then they'll > come out. When they'd come is another question. But I'd try giving them a > call, can't hurt! > > Good luck > > Wendy > > > On Sun, May 12, 2013 at 10:05 PM, [email protected] < > [email protected]>wrote: > >> Got an injured possum in the back yard. Any suggestions for,animal >> control or rescue at this hour? >> >> >> Sent from my Virgin Mobile Android-Powered Device >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "UCNeighbors" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "UCNeighbors" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > -- "How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?" -- Oscar Wilde <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3565.Oscar_Wilde>
