O' Possum

Have you ever seen a real live Possum?
I usually see them all bloody & mangled up on the side of the road. Rarely, if at all have I seen them alive. Well, today I did. I was on my way to work and sure enough, there was a possum sniffing around someone's yard. I couldn't believe it. I almost ran my roller skate of a car right off the road. I wanted to go back and just stare at it. It has to be in the rat family. Looks like one big hugh rat with a long pointy nose. They have kind of been like a snipe to me. Everyone talks about it but no one has seen a live one.
When I was little my Grandpa used to say "Poss -immm" in a high pitched voice and I guess I would laugh at that. Funny what Grandpas do to get us kids to laugh.
All this talk about possums make me want to find out more about them. Just a sec... Just found this on the internet:

The opossum doesn't have a permanent "nest" because it is nocturnal and transient.  It will spend and average of 2-3 days in the same hideout, then move on.  Some weeks later it may return to your place, depending on your hospitality.

Opossums have soft, rounded opposable thumbs with no fingernails, on their hindfeet.

Opossums do not dig holes, as their paws are very soft and tender, much like a human hand.

Opossums may drool, growl and show their 50 teeth when frightened, but in reality are placid and prefer to avoid any confrontation.

They are slow-moving with very sensitive hearing and smell, opossums are not territorial and will adapt to any environment where food, water and  and shelter exist.

Besides their natural predators in the wild, humans, cars and cats are the demise for this docile creature.  Very few survive to adulthood , and usually live only 1-2 years if they do.

I figured as much!

"Playing Possum" is one of the most effective ways the opossums defends itself.  When unable to flee, extreme fear places the opossum into an involuntary coma.  They become stiff and their mouths will gape open.  This condition will last 40 minutes to 4 hours.  Most predators will abandon their attack, once the opossum is thought to be dead.

You can find some interesting stuff on the ol' internet. All of this was off of www.possumrescue.com. Can you believe they have a site for rescuing these ugly suckers?
~Hosh~