I KILLED AN INNOCENT OPOSSUM
BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted September 23, 2004)
I couldn't avoid it.... really.
Heading home along White Bridge Road, there was a car to my left, and the curb to my right.
All of a sudden, it appeared. There was a slight sound, and I felt fairly certain I had hit it.
With a heaviness in my chest, I circled the block to come back and have a look.
Sure enough, there it was, dead in the road.
The whole scenario hung on my mind. I told my wife I felt just awful.
As a tribute to the dead possum (as we call them here in the south), I did a little research.
First, they may look dumb, but they're not. In fact, tests run on learning and discrimination rank the opossum above dogs, and more on the level of pigs. (Although I'm pretty sure this doesn't apply to crossing the street in traffic - they're really bad at that.)
Possums look like some sort of rat, but - in fact - they're North America's only marsupial mammal. The female carries and nurses her young until they are two or three months old, then they are carried on her back another 1 or 2 months.
(That's comforting.... at least there were no little critters on the victim's back!)
Did you know opossums lived during the age of dinosaurs? Fossil remains have been found from 70 million years ago.
And imagine this..... they can have a "honeymoon" (so to speak), and 13 days later give birth.
And they'll eat almost anything.... snails, slugs, cat food, dog food, people food, even other opossums who have become "one with the road".
They're very gentle, and even though they might growl when frightened, they prefer to avoid all confrontation and wish to be left alone.
Oh, and they rarely live longer than a year in our environment, especially along White Bridge Road.
If you find an injured opossum, or you find abandoned babies, there are some things you can do.
I encourage you to visit the website of The Opossum Society of the United States.
( www.opossumsocietyus.org )
Tell them Dan sent you.
You can become a member for only $25 a year. And they have a wonderful Gift catalog where you can order beautiful T-shirts for only $16.
I'm beginning to feel much better.
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