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dsrmouseyStill writing seven days into surgery!
One night I heard all this commotion outside of my backdoor. Thinking one of my dogs had escaped, I stepped out looking around, and then I spied this poor grey critter, with red eyes and pink nose, backing up into my freshly raked leaf pile. It had a ratty tail, razor teeth, and was hissing at me, then suddenly it plopped over on its side.
It was an opossum! North America's only marsupial. They play dead as a natural defense to scare off predators.
Everyone asked if I was afraid, and I said no, chuckling, it was more afraid of me, than I it, and if I had one in my yard, I wanted to keep it there! I knew exactly how beneficial opossums were, and I was a huge fan of these harmless super heroes!
And it truly should be wearing a super hero costume too! Although with its prehensile tail allowing it to swing, and grab onto things like a monkey, and it's white head marked with a grey arrow, it already seemed to have one!
Now opossums may seem scary, but if you have one in your yard, consider yourself lucky. They're omnivores, nocturnal, and are opportunistic.
Oposssums eat all kinds of pests, including cockroaches, rats, snakes, and mosquitoes, mice, dead animals, frogs, and eggs, and of course, garbage.
I decided the next day I was going to make my new 'buddy' it's own burrow. It would have plenty of space to roam on (I had nearly an acre) and it would it keep my vegetable garden free of pests. I'd call that a win/win wouldn't you?
Now this required a trip to my favorite plant nursery (always a plus), for a hollowed out log, some nice greenery, and a fresh water source. We had a brook right behind our property in case 'Bandit' wanted to roam, but we also had foxes, hawks and coyotes too, and I didn't want the predators making off with my opossum friend.
So we made a cozy space in the South West corner of our yard, and there Bandit lived happily chomping on bugs for about three years!
Oh, and we found out our Bandit was a girl when we caught sight of little teeny opossums one night chasing after mama.
So if you you ever see an opossum trying scare you by acting fierce, remember all these things I told you, and be kind! You'll be be doing the environment a favor!
Thanks for listening!
One night I heard all this commotion outside of my backdoor. Thinking one of my dogs had escaped, I stepped out looking around, and then I spied this poor grey critter, with red eyes and pink nose, backing up into my freshly raked leaf pile. It had a ratty tail, razor teeth, and was hissing at me, then suddenly it plopped over on its side.
It was an opossum! North America's only marsupial. They play dead as a natural defense to scare off predators.
Everyone asked if I was afraid, and I said no, chuckling, it was more afraid of me, than I it, and if I had one in my yard, I wanted to keep it there! I knew exactly how beneficial opossums were, and I was a huge fan of these harmless super heroes!
And it truly should be wearing a super hero costume too! Although with its prehensile tail allowing it to swing, and grab onto things like a monkey, and it's white head marked with a grey arrow, it already seemed to have one!
Now opossums may seem scary, but if you have one in your yard, consider yourself lucky. They're omnivores, nocturnal, and are opportunistic.
Oposssums eat all kinds of pests, including cockroaches, rats, snakes, and mosquitoes, mice, dead animals, frogs, and eggs, and of course, garbage.
I decided the next day I was going to make my new 'buddy' it's own burrow. It would have plenty of space to roam on (I had nearly an acre) and it would it keep my vegetable garden free of pests. I'd call that a win/win wouldn't you?
Now this required a trip to my favorite plant nursery (always a plus), for a hollowed out log, some nice greenery, and a fresh water source. We had a brook right behind our property in case 'Bandit' wanted to roam, but we also had foxes, hawks and coyotes too, and I didn't want the predators making off with my opossum friend.
So we made a cozy space in the South West corner of our yard, and there Bandit lived happily chomping on bugs for about three years!
Oh, and we found out our Bandit was a girl when we caught sight of little teeny opossums one night chasing after mama.
So if you you ever see an opossum trying scare you by acting fierce, remember all these things I told you, and be kind! You'll be be doing the environment a favor!
Thanks for listening!
