I just saw a HUGE opossum by the dumpster in my complex.

[maveric]

I was out for a smoke and thought that a big cat was prancing by the dumpster when I realized it was a BIG ASS OPOSSUM! Ugly and mean looking. I yelled at it several times and it just looked at me, somewhat annoyed, then pranced off.
EEWWWWW!!

[sasquatch]

1. So what, I've got one that's almost as big as my 50lb. dog

[RebelOne]

16. The one that was in my back yard was at eye level

with my 100-pound Rottweiler.

[Book Lover]

2. Well, you were

between it and dinner... No wonder it threw you a dirty look ;-)

[maveric]

3. Scared the shit out of me! I thought it was going to charge me!

Ahhh, you gotta love SoCal wildlife!

[jdj]

4. yes, they don't run away.

they just look at you. I don't think they see very well at all.

they just play dead if they get scared.

damn, what an approach to life. No fear, just rollover. I should try that.

[Az]

14. They run if playind dead doesn't work

And yes their eyesite is bad. Had one run right into a wall when I was chasing it. Man I felt guilty.

[Runcible Spoon]

5. i saw an albino squirrel the other day

wierdest fucking thing ever

[pinniped]

6. I saw one sleeping on the road earlier.

Someone can pick it up and make some stew.

[hfojvt]

10. "If Shania was mine, she'd have to agree

cain't no one cook roadkill better than me ..."

[KitchenWitch]

7. You sure it wasn't a badger?

:silly:

[maveric]

8. No. We dont got no stinking badgers!

[KitchenWitch]

9. LOL

[Spinzonner]

11. I dont think I've ever seen a 'mean-looking' Opossum

[AngryAmish]

23. Opossums are evil looking

They are barely mammals. I hate to look at them. Snakes, spiders - no problem. Opossums scare the shit out of me.

[RebelOne]

12. I have a possum family living somewhere in my back yard.

I was out one night in the back yard with my dog and she made a lunge for something. I shined my flashlight to see what it was and my dog was nose to nose with a huge possum. I know there are more of them and I think they are living under my house.

[Az]

13. Mean? Those critters are not mean

They are little cowards.

We used to have a family of them come by our house. We even built a little blind using the basement window to watch them. They got a bad rep.

[lukasahero]

15. No kidding

Why would anyone "yell" at one? What ever happened to the Dems being the tree-hugging crowd?

Last night my husband and I were out in the yard trying to get a better look at the raccoon that was visiting us. He was so cute, peaking out at us from around the trunk of the tree. I was charmed.

I've also stepped out my front door nearly ON to an opossum who was wandering my front steps. Scared the crap out of me because I was surprised, but then I couldn't get to the window fast enough to watch him for a while. Nature is amazing and any opportunity I get to spy a glimpse of it's secret side, I feel privileged.

[jukes]

18. apsitively

'stotally unfair. though i've had them hiss at me when released from my feralcat trap.

BTW, also rarely have rabies. guess their proto-mammalian biology isn't a well-suited host.

[Mutley]

17. A few years ago

my SO looked out of our bedroom window and screamed like a little girl! So I ran over to see what was wrong and he said 'there's a rat the size of a cat out there!!!' So I looked and it was an opossum. What a big baby he is!

[Atlas Mugged]

19. They have more teeth than any other mammal

I used to freak when I encountered them, too. Now, they're just part of what comes with moving into the country. I had one that kept getting into my compost bucket at the back door and it was turning into a major ordeal. One day I walked out the door, the possum was IN the bucket, gleefully eating a whole mouthful of potato skins. I said, "Hello, Petunia" and went about my business. After naming he/she/it the whole pet thing started and I would leave special scraps out for Petunia. Petunia finally disappeared; possums don't have a long lifespan, even if they do survive crossing the road.

Another, horrific, episode happened when a mother possum led her entire litter into my garage when the door was open overnight. About 5 nearly grown babies, and they were fighting each other for some reason and there was blood all over the place. I put a very loud radio in the garage and finally drove them off.

Then...there's the pet skunks.....

[Zuni]

20. when I was a kid, a rare Maryland Tornado uprooted a huge tree

in my backyard. The next day I was cleaning up debris and I saw like 30 possums, blind as hell, climbing out of the hole in the ground where the tree had been. They are creepy as hell.

[Zuni]

21. probably rabid if it is out in daytime

One of those terrorized my family like Cujo when i was little, but I don't remember it.

[jukes]

24. 'possums RARELY contract rabies

rarely almost to the point of never. ck w/ your vet.

they're marsupials, most primitive of mammals. their biochem isn't suitable for rabies.

[Zuni]

29. really?

I remember my mom telling me a story where a rabid possum, out during the day wandered into the yard and was foamy and shit. She called Animal Control (damn liberals and their big government) and they took away the possum. Said it was rabid.

[hunter]

22. Opossums are very focused, or not too bright. I can't decide.

They have adapted spectacularly to man's intrusions.

Once 'possums decide they want something, such as the food your cats are eating, they simply go for it. They are entirely oblivious to all the social gestures cats use; the gestures cats use to say, "this is MY food, get away!"

Big 'possums will simply shove cats aside and take whatever abuse the cats can dish out. This is very different from what racoons do. Racoons will use various "I'm bigger than you, get out of my way!" sorts of postures while approaching a food dish, and the cats will either get out of the way, or do their "Oh no, you're not," sorts of gestures, and one side will eventually back down without any bloodshed. 'Possums don't seem to mind much if they get scratched up by cats.

Opossums also eat rattlesnakes. They simply walk up to them ignoring the rattle, and eat them. They are not entirely immune to the venom, but on balance it seems they would rather be snakebitten than hungry.

[radwriter0555]

25. Why did you yell at him? He was just getting a meal... they're harmless,

sweet, wretchedly stupid, blind as can be, slow moving, smell bad and the only mammal in North America with prehensile tail and that pouches their babies.

They're great moms, are beneficial to the environment and very timid and shy.

If one comes a-visiting and becomes a nuisance, just shoo him away gently with a broom. He might rise up, wave his lil arms and bare his little teeth, but he is completely harmless. His teeth are barely strong enough to eat the snails and grubs he's foraging for.

They're fascinating creatures and really leave well enough alone.

[lukasahero]

26. Great post

Love the "wretchedly stupid" though it's painfully accurate. ;-)

I think they're really cute.

Oh yeah, and thanks for mentioning the "grubs he's foraging for" - a reminder that these might be good little guys to have in the yard if you're having grub trouble.

[radwriter0555]

27. I rescued 13 babies from a dead mom a few years back. The mom

wound up dead in a bucket somehow and was brought to me with all the babies on her, in her pouch and in the bucket. She was dead, her babies were all alive and the carcass starting to putrify. There was never a worse smell I've encountered in my entire life. Ever.

Ever.

So I donned thick haz-mat gloves and a fumes mask and went at it, going through the corpse and pouch, getting the babies out. They were a few weeks old, had just started to get their fur and were amiable and active.

It was like herding goldfish and one of the funniest afternoons I've ever had. It took a few hours to get in touch with and coordinate with the wondeful possum rescuer, but at 10:30 at night she and her hubby showed up to wisk them away to foster and release.

It was a happy ending for everyone... and I'll never forget it.

[hunter]

30. Not stupid, they just don't care.

They've been around 80 million years, and they've seen it all.

I look at them like I look at sharks. That sparky placental mammalian intelligence humans possess may be overrated -- it is in fact causing a period of mass extinction.

It's possible opossums will still be around long after humans are gone.

[Catherine Vincent]

28. Those are some of the ugliest animals on the face of this earth.

I always heard about possums and had never seen one, but the day I did see one by a dumpster, I knew exactly what that was.

Ewwwww!!!