"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:43:19 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:34:40 -0500, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

Larry Jaques wrote:
Hehehe. That's one little guy you don't want to rile. A
friend and I
cornered one at a park and watched it bite a broom handle IN
HALF.

Hmmmm, sure about that?
Was the broom all rotted or something?

i don't recall that it was rotted. It was a cheap broom which
came
with a dustpan which had been left in the park. Those guys
have really
large and nasty teeth. Do NOT rile them! They could take your
finger
off in one quick chomp.

http://www.aaanimalcontrol.com/blog/opossumteeth.jpg


Yes, their teeth are comically frightening, but as wild animals
go they
actually have a relatively weak bite and certainly couldn't bite
clean
through a broom handle, nor adult finger.

As I said, it was a smaller diameter than your average broom,
prolly
5/8" of the softest SPF known to man. It was also a larger
possum
(larger than most house cats) and we had taunted it to no end.
Believe
what you will.


You also eluded to them possibly be rabid if seen during the
day, which

No, I alluded to that. Animal Control people often warn folks
about
nocturnal animals if they're seen in the daylilght. I also said
it
was possible that someone ousted it from its resting place.
That's
called "advice", and you can take or leave it; Your choice.


is also very improbable. An opossum's body temperature is too
low to
host most viruses, including rabies.

OK, I'll give you that one. Rabies is improbable in possums.


They're not aggressive either,
hence the saying "playing opossum." That hissing they do with
the big
open mouth is really all show and no go.

Go kick/shove one a dozen times with your foot and then stick
your
finger in their mouth. It'll show you "go", son. Foo!


Raccoons, on the other hand.... :-)

Are not to be tangled with, either.

---
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at
midnight
very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in
our hands.
It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.
--John Wayne (1907 -
1979)

Long, long ago, I was going out the driveway (wooded area) and a
tiny possum ran across in front of the pickup. It was small
enough that it probably was riding on its Momma hours earlier. It
was most likely weaned and off on its own first adventure. I
caught it and it went through all the possum antics: First, it
was so fierce that it threatened to rip my body to shreds. Then,
it was foaming at the mouth and obviously "too sick" for me to
pick up. Finally, it "died" right there and obviously I'd not
want to eat a dead possum: particularly one that had "died" of
being so "sick."

About that time, my daughter's school bus let her off in front of
the drive, so I handed her the "dead" baby possum and told her she
had a new pet. She took it to the house and gave it a bath,
combed and powdered it. That night, I asked her where her little
possum was and she said, "Daddy, I put it out in the back yard.
It was just too ugly to be a pet."

--
Nonny

Have you ever wondered if the bills
in your wallet were ever in a stripper's butt crack?
Have a nice day ..