{"id":1517,"date":"2018-08-28T11:18:56","date_gmt":"2018-08-28T15:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1517"},"modified":"2018-10-28T13:46:51","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T17:46:51","slug":"alive-something-is-alive-in-there-opossum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1517","title":{"rendered":"ALIVE! SOMETHING IS ALIVE IN THERE! (opossum)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SOMETHING ALIVE IS IN THERE! \u00a0YUCK!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Oposums are here \u00a0to stay\u2026Climate Change)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
alan Skeoch<\/div>\n
august 2018<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cYikes, there\u2019s something alive in the watering can.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNever!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI touched fur\u2026and \u00a0it moved.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhatever \u00a0it is, looks dead to me\u2026curled \u00a0up ball of yucky fur.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Watering can looked \u00a0fine\u2026needed \u00a0it as \u00a0we began summer \u00a0clean-up. \u00a0we \u00a0had \u00a0not touched the watering \u00a0can \u00a0all summer until this moment.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an \u00a0opossum, playing dead\u2026hoping we \u00a0will \u00a0go \u00a0away. \u00a0They do that.”<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n
\u201cNot playing dead \u00a0now\u2026looking \u00a0right at us.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCute\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCute! \u00a0Never\u2026ugly is better\u2026looks like \u00a0big rat with a bit of \u00a0mange. \u00a0Long stiletto nose with 50 sharp teeth\u2026more teeth than \u00a0any<\/div>\n
other mammal.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDoes it bite?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot unless my finger got in its \u00a0mouth\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNearly did when you picked \u00a0up the can by the lid.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTouhed with my \u00a0fingers\u2026hair like \u00a0a paint brush\u2026long and sort of \u00a0stiff.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cPossums are a \u00a0Sure \u00a0sign \u00a0of \u00a0global warming.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cClimate change?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPossums have been moving into Ontario for a couple of decades now. \u00a0Lots of them \u00a0around but not seen \u00a0much as<\/div>\n
they prowl around at night looking \u00a0for food. \u00a0They \u00a0eat just about anything\u2026dead \u00a0animals, toads, rotten fruit, garbage, even snakes\u2026but mostly<\/div>\n
vegetarian diet.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cShe \u00a0might have liked \u00a0your finger.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cReckon so. \u00a0How \u00a0do you know that is female.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLooks \u00a0like preparing for a birth\u2026or two\u2026or five\u2026or more.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cDid \u00a0you \u00a0know that Opossums \u00a0(Possums) are the only marsupials in \u00a0the Americas?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDo you mean she \u00a0has babies in a pouch?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYep, feeds them there\u2026nipples in the pouch.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI read they carry youngsters on their \u00a0backs \u00a0when moving \u00a0around.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTrue\u2026five or six of them holing on\u2026that\u2019s \u00a0after they leave the pouch of course.”<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/div>\n
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\u201c103 different kinds of opossums\u2026but those coming to Canada are the Virginia type.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere did \u00a0they evolve?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cEvolve? \u00a0You must believe in evolution.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI do\u2026ever \u00a0since \u00a0reading Charles \u00a0Darwin\u2019s book, \u00a0Origin of Species\u2026<\/div>\n
\u201ci bet he was startled when HMS Beagle beached in South America\u2026he wandered through the jungles \u2026he must have met Opossums\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThey evolved \u00a0in South America then moved north to North America when the continents \u00a0jointed.<\/div>\n
\u201cBiologists \u00a0think Opossums were around when the dinosaurs roamed the earth\u2026they are survivors\u2026when \u00a0the asteroid \u00a0hit the Gulf<\/div>\n
of \u00a0Mexico 65 million years ago, possums \u00a0must have fed \u00a0on dead dinosaurs\u2026eat just<\/div>\n
about anything\u2026tolerate some weather extremes too.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYour guessing about that.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cnot reallly\u2026mammals like you and me evolved from survivors of that horrific \u00a0detonation\u2026had \u00a0to eat something.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI \u00a0found \u00a0an \u00a0Opossum in the fencerow last winter on a cold blustery day\u2026alive\u2026but odd to be \u00a0wandering about in winter\u2026maybe had rabies.<\/div>\n
\u201cNot likely\u2026Opossums are resistant to rabies\u2026one of the few mammals \u00a0like \u00a0that.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhat a weird \u00a0name \u2018Opossum\u2019\u2026what does it mean?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cName was first \u00a0recorded by John Smith and William \u00a0Strachey way back \u00a0around 1607 in the Jamestown colony.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOpossum sounds like a native North America word\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIt is\u2026derives \u00a0from \u00a0Algonquin language meaning \u00a0\u201cwhite dog\u201d \u00a0or \u201cdog \u00a0like beast\u201d\u2026Take your pick.<\/div>\n
\u201cI like the word \u2018beast\u2019 best. \u00a0 Ugly as an old rubber boot with wet socks as \u00a0a \u00a0liner.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNow \u00a0there\u2019s an \u00a0image that stretches the \u00a0imagination.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThe \u00a0name Possum was picked up by Australians\u2026lots \u00a0of \u00a0marsupials there\u2026distantly related to kangaroos.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cSo what will we do \u00a0with her?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t stay here\u2026dogs will go \u00a0wild.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2018Get a \u00a0sack\u2026big one.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2018You \u00a0hold the sack, I\u2019ll try to shake \u00a0her out.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot falling…Only leaves coming\u2026she\u2019s holding on to something.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPossums are good at that\u2026can \u00a0hang on with legs, arms<\/div>\n
and \u00a0tail.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cShake the can\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI am\u2026let me \u00a0hit it with a hammer\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cthe possum?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo, \u00a0the watering \u00a0can\u2026that will make \u00a0her \u00a0let go\u2026There\u2026she\u2019s in the \u00a0sack.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cnow what?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLet her go somewhere\u2026maybe a \u00a0park down by the lake.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDo possums like parks?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOnly if there are dead trees with holes.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cParks are quite \u00a0clean\u2026few \u00a0dead \u00a0trees. Where will she go?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI suspect she will \u00a0find \u00a0someone \u00a0else\u2019s watering can.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMaybe she\u2019ll come \u00a0back here\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
alan \u00a0skeoch<\/div>\n
august 2018<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
P.S> POSSUM TALK: \u00a0USE CLICKS TO COMMUNICATE \u00a0\u201cclick\u2026clickers click\u2026click,click, click\u2026clikety click\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean \u00a0Alan?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cFortunately I took a minor course at the U. of \u00a0T. in Possum language\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPossum is saying \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m coming home tonight, turn watering can on its \u00a0side.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Sent from my iPhone<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOMETHING ALIVE IS IN THERE! \u00a0YUCK! (Oposums are here \u00a0to stay\u2026Climate Change) alan Skeoch august 2018 \u201cYikes, there\u2019s something alive in the watering can.\u201d \u201cNever!\u201d \u201cI touched fur\u2026and \u00a0it moved.\u201d \u201cWhatever \u00a0it is, looks dead to me\u2026curled \u00a0up ball of yucky fur.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1620,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517\/revisions\/1620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}