Possum's Seldom Win

This morning while drinking my first cup of coffee, I watched nature portray a mini movie about the cycle of life.

One of my best friends, Sabella, my German shepherd drop off, was in the midst of terrifying a possum. I watched the game from Sabella's point of view and also from the possum's.


It was no game to the possum, he was fighting for his life.

Sabella carried the possum to the front yard and laid it down in front of our living room window. Then backed off about 10 feet, laid down with her nose to the ground and watched as the possum pretended to be dead.

The possum was full grown and not nearly as cute as the picture above. To me, possums are one of the ugliest mammals in Missouri.

There is nothing a possum won't eat!  It can never cross the same road twice without getting killed. I put it in the same class as a buzzard----necessary but not nice.

However, they have the patience of Job.  When in danger, they play dead, unless absolutely forced to fight. They have huge mouths with lots of sharp teeth, but very small brains. They seldom use either effectively.

 Today the possum was on his "A Game". I could tell by the way he looked, that he and Sabella had been at this game for quite awhile.  He was looking haggard to say the least.

I went for my second cup of coffee and sat down to see how far this game would go.  The possum was still for ten minutes. I thought it was dead, but Tommy assured me it was alive and plotting. 


Sabella heard some crows caw, diverting her attention away from the possum for about five minutes.

It was long enough for the possum to feel safe.  Slowly, the possum raised up on his feet, and began to actually walk in slow motion---one foot at a time toward my flower bed. He made it to the bed, only to have Sabella pounce on him.

She slung the possum around for a few seconds, pawed it a time or two and then threw it down. She went back over to her part of the yard, layed down and began her vigil again.

I thought the possum was dead this time. Tommy laughed and said, "That possum is fine, it is just playing dead so Sabella will leave it alone."

Hmmmm, he looked dead to me. I decided to feed the dogs and give the possum a chance to escape.  It worked, when I returned to the house, the possum was gone.


I asked Tommy if he saw it get away.  He said, "Well sort of, it made it out of the yard but not passed the school bus!!!"

Sometimes it is just not your day, today was one of those days for the possum!!

This is what I like about living in the country, you never know what nature will do.  Let's face it, you will never see this scene play out in Starbucks!! 


On the other hand, why would you want to?