Monday, March 28, 2016

The Animal House "creature" has been Identified!

A very unexpected and surprising thing happened the other evening.  Just as it began to get dark, I heard a sound.  A sound that seemed to be the feral cat who comes through the garden from time to time for water out of the bowl that I keep filled for cats, butterflies or whatever.

Sitting by the downstairs' door out to the patio, I hear a lapping sound just like a cat makes when it drinks.
Aha, but this was NOT a cat.

I turned to see if it  was the feral cat who has also decided that reclining on the chaise for the night is the place to be.  But WOWZA, it was not the feral cat.  It was a multi-colored opossum!  It  drank and then walked over to the farthest chaise and disappeared in the greenery behind it.  To say I was stunned would
be an understatement.

Back on September 30th in the blog "Scary, Scary Night", a feeble attempt was made to describe the hissing and thumping sound that the "creature" was making right outside the window of the bedroom in the middle of
the night.  Velcro, the cat, was still alive so it was conjecture as to what the hissing creature was at that time.
At some point I thought it could be a large lizard and Velcro sparring with each other.

Then in "Animal House" on October 8th, the subject was discussed further.  Jennifer, a fellow blogger,
said she thought it was a opossum as her dog enjoys capturing opossums for various and sundry reasons.
She was so correct.

Now, today, I"m hoping that the opossum finds the two Easter eggs that were hidden in the garden and remain unfound.  Yes, at about 6:30AM yesterday morning, I hid almost two dozen eggs, but two were
never found by Matilda, Sebastian, or their dad and I'll be darned if I can find them.........hopefully the opossum or the feral cat will before they begin to smell up the garden.

The only saving grace is that when I turned around to see what was lapping up water the other evening, it was not the neighborhood skunk.  Cause I sure as heck would not have wanted to surprise or upset that
guy.

It's amazing that I live only a ten minute walk to the jardin or five minutes to the major mercado, but up here on the hill, it is as if I live in the middle of nowhere.

Ain't life grand? Life sure can be an ADVENTURE without even leaving home.

9 comments:

Billie Mercer said...

Velcro has crossed the rainbow bridge? Oh, no. I must have missed a blog. Maybe you could borrow Jennifer's dog for a night or two. I'm sure she could take care of your problem.
Billie

Geoff Braun said...

Opossums are great scavengers and tick-killers! (http://www.caryinstitute.org/newsroom/opossums-killers-ticks) Just don't scare one or it'll do its best to scare you back.

Babs said...

Yes, Billie! Velcro is in the Great Cat Heaven in the sky! She was 1/2 her weight when the vet put her "to sleep". I believe it was in November.......


Geoff, thanks for commenting. I read about opossums yesterday! The one fact that stuck in my addled brain was that they have 50 teeth! And, in the photo, they were BIG..... I don't know if we have ticks here in San Miguel, but my hope would be that opossums love scorpions as a steady diet! ha........

I have no intention of meeting up with the opossum in the middle of the night. I have heard it hiss, but there is a wall of windows between it and me, thankfully.
Thanks for commenting and giving me the website!

Anonymous said...

Hola Barbara!

This story reminds me of one of my own (many) encounters with an opossum. Some time in 1998 or thereabouts, my ex and I were enjoying dinner in our dining room in Boston. Suddenly, we heard this scrambling, scratching sound on the window a/c of the dining room. When my ex turned around to look, there was a large opossum perched atop the a/c looking in the window. My ex screamed and nearly hit the ceiling, while all I could do was struggle to not burst into complete paroxysms of laughter. As soon as the opossum heard my ex and saw him leap up, he was gone in a flash. But I'll never forget the moment.

As for you possibly meeting an opossum in the garden, don't worry. They are very shy animals and generally harmless.

Saludos,

Kim G
CDMX, México
Where there are few wild animals around, save for birds and rats.

Babs said...

Funny, funny story Kim..........actually hilarious.

In my situation, the oposuum finished drinking the water and
then sauntered off. Certainly did not seem to be concerned
about me watching him! After reading they have 50 teeth, I
can now understand why it was not concerned.........

BTW, there are enough two legged wild animals in CDMX. One need
not worry about any more!

jennifer rose said...

It's not the teeth that make possums dangerous; it's those claws. One of Morgen's predecessors ended up with a foot-long gash that required stitches.

I don't care how harmless these creatures are. They are ugliest, nasty vermin in my book. Morgen would be glad to hunt on your property, but they'll just keep on coming back.

Babs said...

Yikes, Jennifer. I guess I'm lucky that this is the first possum! It appeared very docile the other night, but, of course, I did not approach it - stood INSIDE the door and watched it.

Upteen years ago, a mama possum had babies in our trash can in Texas. We left her alone and eventually she and her brood left. Never saw another one until this one now! Thankfully.........

I think Morgen has enough work in Morelia! I'll pass at this point. Thanks for the offer.

Unknown said...

SMA is certainly an interesting place! And here it is the end of my sojourn already. The month flew by. I'm so sorry I never got to contact you. My weekdays have been filled with volunteer work at Casa de Los Angeles, and weekends evaporated. I will be back!

Babs said...

Angeline - I'm glad it has been a busy, productive time for you!
And, I'll wait to hear from you when you return. Thanks for taking
time to catch me up on your activities.

Safe travels.