Project 358: Day 16

Walking up to my parents' front door yesterday, something to the left of me caught my eye: a little round ball of gray fur nestled in a pile of dry leaves. Its face was hidden, so I couldn't immediately tell what it was. A cat? Well, that certainly wouldn't be a surprise, but no, its fur looked too course to be a cat. Oh god, whatever it is, please tell me it's not dead, I thought, noticing a couple of flies buzzing around in the vicinity. No, it's breathing, still alive. But what is it? Moving closer to get a better look, my feet crunched some leaves, startling the animal into moving its head. Aha! It's a possum!

Day 16: Suburban Wildlife 

My previous encounters with possums involved them drawing back their pointy little faces, baring their sharp fangs, and hissing in an attempt to scare me off. As a result, I've never really been a fan. But here, the possum is actually kind of cute, all quiet and vulnerable in a nest of leaves, its creepy, prehensile tail hidden among the foliage.

*Side note: At first, I was going to caption this photo "Rodent, Retired" but before doing so, I wanted to make sure that possums are, in fact, rodents. A quick Google search led me to the discovery that, no, they are not rodents as I had always assumed (Who wouldn't? They look like giant rats!). Rather, they are marsupials, an order they share with kangaroos, koalas, and wombats, among others. This particular possum is a Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana), the only marsupial found in North America north of Mexico. Learn something new every day!