A rainy day in the back yard. A good time to forage.
Ever get that feeling you are being watched? Maybe by someone with a camera?
There it is again, that funny noise!
Who are you, and why are you here? Can't a possum get a minute of foraging time alone?
Whatever!
Just leave me some breathing room, 'kay?
Too crowded! I'm leaving.
Both are about half grown, which is why they still get along. The adults fight like - well, 'coons and 'possums!
(20 Aug 2009. Lumix FZ 28)
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Comments: 19
About 15 years ago a mother possum lived for a while under the shed in our back yard. We got to see baby possums. I think they're great. Some people think possums are creepy. I dunno.
The house we live in now isn't as interesting, especially as more houses have been built around us. We still see jackrabbits on the hill behind us every now and then. There's construction on the top of the hill that'll probably mean the end of that. The first couple of years in this house--it's in a monster housing tract that's just starting to fill in--we saw a lot of local wildlife. There was a great ground squirrel colony on the hill side till the HOA exterminated them.
I can always tell which of the animals got to the fruit trees first. The raccoons break the smaller branches and abscond with the fruit. The possums leave the tree intact, eat the peaches at the base of the tree, leaving me a neat little pyramid of peach pits. I never get any actual peaches from my own trees.
I know some people find possum teeth creepy.
I like raccoons but I know enough to keep a safe distance. A full grown raccoon is not someone I want to have mad at me. They're stronger, faster, and probably smarter than I am.
I have a "raccoon latch" on my back porch door. The raccoons could climb up on the railing, push in the door latch, then pull back on the handle far enough to jump inside before the door closed. I found that a short bungee cord hooked to the inside door handle and a hook on the wall kept them out. They are smart and they have hands, but I'm bigger and stronger. I can open the door with the bungee cord lock, but they can't. They never give up trying, though.
The big mama possum loved to dig up all of the planter boxes on my front yard an porch, usually killing all of the plants in the process. I finally moved all of the smaller pots out of reach, then put down chicken wire in the big planters. I used a wire cutter to clip the edges of the chicken wire and the openings around the plant, then pointed the clipped wires upward. A sharp jab to the nose is a good deterrent!
As for the 'coons - there's at least 8 of them, and they are a pain in the neck. This winter I plan to put a new fence, complete with solar-powered electric wire topper, around my veggie garden. The I'll see how long it takes them to learn how to flip the on/off switch when they want into the garden.
Even if they are pests, I kind of like the 'possums.
=)