Mr. Tough Guy here, is probably more chicken than bear. When we release him in the backyard, he checks it out with feigned bravado. Trotting at first, he pretends he's a canine Chuck Norris. If the wind rustles the leaves, he charges with a growl that turns into barking. BUT... if it turns out that the imagined adversary is a real animal any larger than, say... a ladybug, he gets all oh-my-gosh startled and lets out a series of scared yelps that sounds like he's being torn to pieces. That is what happened the other night. I called Bear back inside, and took a flashlight to check it out. The frightening monsters turned out to be a couple of cute little opossum babies who had been separated from their mother. One of them hid under hostas, while another tried to seek shelter through the open garage door. The kids and I grabbed flashlights to investigate.
Bear was not the only one destined to get scared that night. Track with me here... The garage door is cracked open, and someone says that one of the little guys is inside there. So you carefully push the door open into a dark garage, and reach across to flip up the light switches, and... HE'S RIGHT THERE!! Oh man, that startled me!! I still feel the chills running up my spine.
The kids were convinced that these babies would die without their momma and tried to take care of them. One of the possums ate and drank, but the other wouldn't. Possums are supposed to play dead, but these guys haven't learned how to do that. They kind-of hiss, and then don't move. They're not even mostly dead. We dropped them off at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center. I hope they do better there.
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12 comments:
cute puppy! thats awesome what you did for those baby possums, though im not very fond of possums. the babies look cute though.
Wow Craver! That's a great story bro. Thanks for sharing that. Mostly dead. What do you do if they are all dead?
Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuNihdGBu8k&list=PL139A69A037F3A12D&index=1&feature=plpp_video
Great tails-tales here my friend.
Hope those poor critters live to tell their own tail - tales too.
Oh cute possums! Hope they will be fine!!!
To be perfectly honest Mr. Dave, it was not my idea or inclination to interfere with the natural circumstances of those possum pups. The main reason I went to the wildlife center was for my daughter.
Well Sandman, if they're all dead, there's only one thing you can do... go through their pockets and search for loose change. I like that Geico opossum commercial. I had never seen it before.
Tail tales this time, and maybe tall tales another time, Imac --like the hamster rockets.
Chris, I comforted my children with the news that since their mother was gone, the wildlife center was their best chance for survival. I hope I was right.
I saw an opossum in my driveway at my former house, I had never seen one before. They are not native to this part of N America, but they are slowly moving north. I don't now how they survive the cold weather here in Canada as they are really a southern animal. The one I saw was definitely NOT cute.
your pup is a cutie!
oh cute little guys, hope they'll be fine.
wish you a great memorial day weekend!
OK... I'm TOTALLY with Bear on this one!
Nope. No way would I have approached those possums...I don't care how "little" they are. They are disgusting-looking to me.
I know...I know...that sounds horribly cruel of me, doesn't it?
I'm just sayin'.
I would have looked after them from a distance....calling their Mama/Papa (after looking up on the internet how to call a possum's parents)....and wouldn't have approached those hissing critters at all.
Bear... You and I are buds. You are 'da Man...and you know exactly what you were doing when you ran from them. Give that dog a bone!
I think the baby opossums are very cute but when they're grown, they look like large rats on steroids! Baby barn owls are not cute at all but they're beautiful as adult owls!! Funny how we view animals...
But y'no...all are God's creation no matter how we feel about them!
- mrs. craver
Having seen these even in my very urban home in Chicago, I never realized that they did not venture that far North, Shammy. As far as I know, they are harmless, but the adults are hideous in their appearance.
Our 13 pound pup seems tiny to me Betty. This weekend, we got to babysit a relative's dog that weighs only 3 pounds. It made Bear seem so big! Yes, this Memorial Day weekend was special.
Doing a Google search on how to call possum parents, Jackie? That is so funny!! Don't worry; the whole family has now been relocated, and Bear is safe and sound.
My lovely Mrs. Craver, I had no idea how nasty a baby barn owl looked, so I conducted an image search... Crikey! Those things are NOT pretty!! I wonder what baby owls looked like before the Fall. Maybe they looked pretty similar, but man's perspective had not been tainted. Or maybe they started cute & their appearance changed after a few generations.
glad you got them to the nature center. they'll be equipped there. funny little bear. he at least is a good alert system!
LOL your second paragraph is so funny, poor little Bear, I can picture him in my head running after leaves then yelping the way you described it, haha!
The possums are some cute too!! I hope these little guys turned out to be ok :)
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