Possum Play Dates

I can only think of two of God's living creatures I could kill without blinking an eye. One's a roach and the other's a mosquito. Rats, mice, moles, snakes and spiders (excepting, of course, black widows and brown recluses) fall under the heading of "things I would rather not cohabit with, and I'll be glad to escort them from the premises rather than kill them". Sometimes they have to be escorted with a great deal of finese. I coax spiders onto a piece of paper and throw them out. I grab daddy-long-legs by one leg and toss them out. Rats . . . well, I've never had the pleasure. I'm not sure how I'd handle it.

But that's just me. And I'm aware that there aren't too many like me. When I mention having raised possums, I get a lot of "eew"s. Especially from women.

I had two ladies drop in to visit me one day. While we sat and talked a spider crawled up the wall behind me. One lady screamed. My husband ran to the rescue, took off his shoe and did the poor creature in. (I held a memorial for it that evening . . . kidding.) The other lady excused herself to go to the bathroom. She screamed and came running back out, pointing toward the door. "A frog! A frog!"

We live in the country, so sometimes we see creatures in the house that city folk don't. But I swear, this is the first time, in all of my life, I've found a frog inside my house. There sat a little brown tree frog on the toilet seat, just as happy as a dead hog in the sunshine. I scooped it up in my hand and took it to the back door. As I passed through the living room, the ladies were collecting their purses and heading for the front door.

I put the little fellow outside on a tree, came back in, washed my hands, and walked outside to say good-bye. They were already in the car with the doors shut and windows up. I motioned for one to roll her window down, and she mouthed the words, "Where's the frog?"

Golly Gee! They haven't been back.

I said all that to say this. I wonder what would have happened had Soupy decided to take a stroll through the living room about that time?

Soupy had a friend. I met a lady who, like me, loves possums. She had one named Opie. He had to have been the most spoiled possum ever to live. He had a cage I think must have been designed for a tiger. She kept it at her place of business, so he could accompany her to work every day.  He traveled to and from work with her in a back-pack. He went on vacations. Been to Vegas among other places. Definitely more well-traveled than Soupy (or me).

I took Soupy by to visit a time or two. And I got Amy's permission to publish her picture with Opie. (See the bottom of the page.) Remember I promised to prove to you that all possums do not look alike. Notice that Opie and Soupy have very different features. I promise you, to this day, I could pick Soupy out of a passel of possums. And I'm sure Amy could do the same with Opie.

I heard that "Eewww!" Knock it off.