Okay, if you looked for even a few seconds at our last puzzler, you probably could see that it is from a Virginia opossum. I don’t know why some people don’t like this mammal, especially since they do a lot of good, including eating ticks and other garden pests. Sadly, they are often killed by cars when they are trying to cross the road, maybe because as soon as they become afraid, they often play dead–then when the car hits them, they really become dead. When I’m out driving after dark, especially on my little winding two-lane road, I drive slowly, not wanting to hit these and other animals.
There are a lot of interesting facts about opossums, including that they are North America’s only marsupial– meaning they have a pouch where the female raises her babies. You can check out a past post I wrote some years ago called 10 Things You May Not Know about Opossums, or try to find the myth among the two truths about opossums.
I learned a few years ago by watching footage from my trail cameras that opossums will use their tails to grab and carry leaves that they use for their dens. You can see the footage from my instagram–here.
On a night recently before it became dark, when I was sitting in our “forest chair,” waiting for the blue ghosts, when a single opossum came scurrying down the hillside and obviously could smell me, but couldn’t see me. You can see that video here.
There is so much to learn about all of the animals that share our Earth with us! Maybe we can start to give some of these unliked or feared animals a chance, starting with being open-minded enough to learn what makes them special.