I saw a 'possum!
By ElicBxn
@ElicBxn (64169)
United States
June 27, 2010 6:31am CST
I was stepping outside Thursday night and I saw a movement up the tree in my front yard.
Now, I see pretty good for someone in my mid-50's and I realized right off that I was seeing an opossum.
I used to have one that lived in the back yard, that was before we got Zoe, not that she killed it, but when we got her, she probably annoyed it and it left.
I later once saw one in my trash can, sleeping. Actually, the kids across the street told us about it - tho how they found out about it I have NO idea, but I guessed it had fallen out of the tree into the dumper. I took a broken mop and put it in the can so that the little guy would have something to climb out on and told the kids to leave him alone, he wasn't hurting anything. After it got dark, the critter was gone.
I even once trapped one when we were trying to trap Star after she got out once, first time the roomie ever got to see one that close in person (tho we once spent most of an hour watching one in the back yard eating scraps - again, this was before she got Zoe. I let it go after we had gotten a good look at the ugly thing.
Still, this is the first time I've seen a 'possum around here in quite some time. I'm glad they are still around, I like seeing wild life, makes me feel like I'm still part of the natural world despite living in the 15th largest city in the U.S.
Of course, having a open field just a block or so away from the house probably doesn't hurt any either...
So, have you seen wild life in your back yard? How about front yard?
5 people like this
25 responses
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
27 Jun 10
Well, I realize a good portion of the world doesn't have these things, that's why I said wildlife! 
We had ducks when I was growing up in the creek behind our house, but we never feed them, we had enough trouble with them coming up in the yard as it was!
Shoal Creek almost always had water in it but the... well, can't call them creeks, drainages? around here are dry except when we've had a recent rain fall... Tho just about a mile away there is a creek, Little Walnut, that generally has some water in it - not LAST summer, I think most of the creeks were dry last summer!
Still, makes it a bit difficult for critters who can't fly to get by unless someone puts out water for them...
We had ducks when I was growing up in the creek behind our house, but we never feed them, we had enough trouble with them coming up in the yard as it was!
Shoal Creek almost always had water in it but the... well, can't call them creeks, drainages? around here are dry except when we've had a recent rain fall... Tho just about a mile away there is a creek, Little Walnut, that generally has some water in it - not LAST summer, I think most of the creeks were dry last summer!
Still, makes it a bit difficult for critters who can't fly to get by unless someone puts out water for them...1 person likes this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
27 Jun 10
been awhile but one day a hawk swooped down and grabed a bird think it was a dove out of my yard. It was so fast Thought I was seeing things but my neighbor saw it too . So then I knew I wasnt losing it lol.
And for years we had a family of lizards was so fun to watch them walk the back wall it looked like they were doing push ups as they went along.
Havent seen them for a couple of years dont know what happened to them but I do miss them they were fun to watch.
2 people like this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
27 Jun 10
I haven't seen anything in awhile but don't care that i haven't , lol. I think opossoms are soooo ugly. The wildest thing i have seen at my house lately is a bunch of ants on my carport, I want them to stay outside. Don't like 'vanmits' in my house. Happy sunday to u.
2 people like this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
27 Jun 10
Any kind of bug is the worst! I don't consider bugs creatures, but pestilence! 
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Jun 10
Yep, all the time. Front and back and side. Opossum, deer, groundhog, snake, chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, geese, ducks and a turtle. I liked the turtle the best. 
I didn't SEE it but I certainly did SMELL a skunk once. 
I love seeing them but don't like the fact that they're usually after my veggie garden or fruit trees (the ones that produce fruit now, anyway). I try to encourage them to stay near but far enough away from my veggies/fruits that they don't get it into their heads to have a feast.
I didn't SEE it but I certainly did SMELL a skunk once.
I love seeing them but don't like the fact that they're usually after my veggie garden or fruit trees (the ones that produce fruit now, anyway). I try to encourage them to stay near but far enough away from my veggies/fruits that they don't get it into their heads to have a feast.@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
27 Jun 10
We don't have chipmunks around here, and no water fowl, since we have no water to speak of.
I'm sure there were skunks when we had more fields around when I first moved in, but I haven't smelled one in ages. We also don't have enough space (or cover) for deer, and I've never seen a wild rabbit, but snakes, lizards, squirrels (the cats LIKE the squirrels) and the 'possum I have seen.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Jun 10
When I lived in Baltimore, I was shopping in a business district and almost hit two deer who were running across the road I was on. I'm SOOOO glad I had good brakes! (I did hit a deer once before... not something I want to repeat!) You just don't expect deer to be in a heavily populated area. I have no idea where they came from, either. I guess they were scared from wherever they did live and ended up where they didn't belong.
The chipmunks are the cutest little things. I have to keep in mind that they ARE rodents, though, and do love to destroy vegetable gardens. 
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Jun 10
I just read the comment below mine and it reminded me that we have a blue heron living nearby. I see it quite often either standing in our lake or up in a tree overlooking the lake. I have a photographer neighbor who said he's been trying to get a photo of it and I said I'd try myself for him but I never seem to have the camera nearby when I see the heron and, by the time I get the camera, the bird is gone. 
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
27 Jun 10
I'm in the U.S. and they are NOT nearly extinct... they are marsupials, so they aren't common in the old world, the opossum is the only marsupial in the Americas and the only one in the U.S. is called the Virginia Opossum...
http://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/mammals/Didelphimorphia/Didelphidae/Didelphis/Didelphis-virginiana.html
to see any marsupial in your part of the world, you'd have to go to Australia...
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
27 Jun 10
We don't have 'possums (or dingoes or anything like that) wild here. We can see them in zoos, however. We do have hedgehogs and foxes and muntjac deer occasionally, however (perhaps you have to go to a zoo where you are to see those!)
I remember the excitement and awe of my first face to face encounter with a raccoon in a quiet, very built up area in LA. He was much bigger than I thought they were (the size of quite a large dog, rather than the size of a cat). He looked at me and I looked at him (I was glad that there was a balcony rail between us). Eventually we mutually decided that neither of us was a threat to the other and he snorted and went on his way looking for snails and bugs and other things among the bushes.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
27 Jun 10
In the same place I saw a coyote trotting down the middle of the street at midnight as cool as anything. I don't know where 'home' was but he was headed for the hills, clearly knew his way and was well used to and not scared of humans!
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
27 Jun 10
Yeah, those guys are get pretty big! I was driving over to my mom's place one night and I spotted a couple of raccoons looking out of a drain at the car - they must of been babies, because that drain wasn't very big.
Now, this is an area that has been built up for over 60 years, probably closer to 70 now, and while there is a large green area nearby in the form of a National Guard base, it is across a major freeway in town!
Also, just probably less than a mile away is a major creek (well, less than a mile as the crow flies anyway...)
I was once stopping by a gal's place and she pointed out a gray fox in the field next to her house - it was a little bit of wild area in the middle of Austin...
We do have a good big of wild life here in town, I once spotted a large dog like creature, think it might've been a coyote and that was again, in town, but in an area not built up yet...
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51819)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
27 Jun 10
Besides the daily birds and squirrels and mousies, I've seen raccoons in the yard, and once, a possum. (Yes, they're ugly.) A few years back, I saw what must have been a coyote going down the street early one morning. Either that or the mangiest dog alive.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51819)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
27 Jun 10
This one looked like ol' Wiley after one of his schemes backfired...
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
20 Jul 10
we had a 'possum female give birth to a few litters in our garage-she wasn't harming anything,so we let her be.
i was shocked when i first spotted her trucking by the window with her kids on board-i had thought opossums had disappeared from the area a long time ago.
1 person likes this
@ellie333 (21016)
•
27 Jun 10
Hi Elic,No possums in the UK that I am aware, the last wild animal I saw nearby was a fox out during the day so he was probably injured, a neighbour called the RSPCA and yes he had an injured leg, Ilove waking up tothe birds singing toughas we have plenty of those nearby. Lovely that you have a possum though and in such a built up area. Huggles. Ellie:D
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
27 Jun 10
yeah, you guys in the old world don't have 'possums, the only ones left in the new world are these guys, the only other place to find them is in Australia... They have a lot because it became isolated before the more "advanced" mammals came along...
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
27 Jun 10
I live in a small city, less than a mile from downtown, but we still have wildlife around. Squirrels, of course, and I've seen both possums and raccoons. They drive Cookie nuts, she really wants to snuff them out and eat them! She is so fast that she used to catch jackrabbits when we lived in the Southwest and I have no doubt she could catch these critters if not for the fence.
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
27 Jun 10
I would worry about her scraping with a raccoon, they are big, they are smart and they are really mean!
I don't think we have enough water nearby for raccoons, but I'm sure they are down by the nearby creek, just the "nearby" is relative...
For being the 15th largest city in the U.S., Austin still has a good bit of open areas around, there is one behind the grocery store that is partially flood plain for the Little Walnut creek, I saw a for sale sign there for a while, then we had a flood and it went away (maybe down stream for all I know )
)1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
27 Jun 10
You mean besides the occasional feral kitty? The only wild life I ever see in my complex is the wild partiers who get out in the parking lot & whoop it up from dusk to dawn all weekend...'til Sunday evening. The ones who work Mondays, anyway...
Hmmm...spell check doesn't like the word "partiers." Imagine that!
Maggiepie
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." ~ William Pitt
Hmmm...spell check doesn't like the word "partiers." Imagine that!
Maggiepie
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." ~ William Pitt1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
28 Jun 10
Well, the waspies are history, & flies don't come that often...but GNATS! MAN do I have gnats! 
From where are they coming (& please don't tell me mommy & daddy gnats...)? How can I get rid of them!? They're making me GNUTS!!!
Maggiepie
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." ~ William Pitt
From where are they coming (& please don't tell me mommy & daddy gnats...)? How can I get rid of them!? They're making me GNUTS!!!
Maggiepie
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." ~ William Pitt1 person likes this
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
28 Jun 10
In the years that we've lived in this house, we've had a variety of wildlife try to take up residence under our storage shed. We've had rabbits, skunks, possums, stray cats,snakes and even a fox. The people in the houses across the street used to see deer frequently. However, since houses have been built in what used to be an open field behind the houses across the street, we have seen no wildlife except snakes and geckos. My husband screened the openings under the shed to keep out the stray cats.
@dio123 (1788)
• India
27 Jun 10
it is a memorable experiance for you I guess. Really it feels very good when we find ourself close to the nature. I am also eagerly waiting for the time when I will be with the nature again for a holiday or a short trip may also good for me. let us hope for the best in near future.
1 person likes this
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
28 Jun 10
I don’t see any wildlife in my suburban backyard although one day I spotted an owl sitting on a roof beam in our carport. It was so cute and it just sat there staring at my daughter and I. We got quite close to it and it didn’t fly away for ages until I decided to go and get my camera; as soon as I returned it looked at me and took off to a nearby tree so I didn’t even get the chance to get ready to take a photo; it seemed as if it knew what I was about to do and said , “No you don’t!” and flew away although it stayed in the tree for most of the day.
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
28 Jun 10
I have rabbits out the ying yang here. Big rabbits too. I haven't seen a possum in a couple of years but they are lurking around I'm sure. My neighbor called my b/f to come over and get a garter snake out of her basement...it was stuck to one of those sticky traps. He released it in the field behind my house.
1 person likes this
@blue65packer (11826)
• United States
29 Jun 10
I don't see wildlife,except for birds,where I live. I do see alot of wildlife at the stable I work at! I have seen deer,wild turkey,sandhill cranes,red-tail hawks,a red fox,racoons and even 'possums! The racoons are only seen at night and if they become a problem they are traped and then released far away! That has happen with a 'possum or two in the past,also! None of 'possums and racoons have harmed any of the horses or cats. They mostly eat the cat food and will get into the cat food bags if the bags are left out! The "possum's feces can carry somethibg in them and can get into hay which a horse can eat and get very ill. I can't think of it right now! It isn't a good think and a horse can die from the illness or take months to get over it but never be 100% again! it is never dull at the stable!
@tinym8 (423)
• United States
28 Jun 10
The only time I've seen a possum was when I was driving home from my brother's house one night (when I lived in MA) and one was crossing the road in front of me. I stopped the car and waited for him to cross. He was VERY slow about it! lol
I've seen a lot of wildlife around my house including deer (the fawns are so cute), squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, wild turkeys, and all sorts of other birds.
My husband and son saw bald eagles twice, but I haven't seen them yet, unfortunately.
I love to see wildlife too. I like to watch them go about their food hunting and playing.
@GreatAttractor100 (246)
• United States
28 Jun 10
I have seen rabbits, opossums, racoons, armadillos, squirrelies, and some more I think. I like all those mammals I mentioned but havent much opossums and armadillos much lately. There is a couple of squirrelies living in our attic for a while and they were'nt tearing or ruining anything so we left them alone. I really really love seeing the cute rabbits best. :)
1 person likes this
