We had a 9:00 am appointment with Amy and her eye doctor, so we had to be up at 6:30 am to get ready and head to Newport Beach. As soon as we arose, we headed to the kitchen to see if the cat trap worked! It did! But unless our cat had radical surgery, had its ears reshaped, and gotten some more teeth, it was not Grace!
The little stinker likes cat food, I guess. We, of course, let him go since they take care of a lot of critters. Did you know:
- Opossums are North America’s only native marsupials.
- A baby opossum is called a joey, just like a baby kangaroo.
- They have pouches where their young continue developing after birth.
- “Playing possum” is real: when extremely scared, they can involuntarily faint and appear dead.
- They have 50 teeth — more than any other land mammal in North America.
- Opossums are excellent climbers and have opposable “thumbs” on their back feet.
- Their tails are prehensile, meaning they can help grip branches, though adults don’t hang by them like cartoons suggest.
- They are surprisingly resistant to rabies because their body temperature is relatively low.
- Opossums eat lots of pests, including insects, slugs, snails, and carrion.
- They’re usually solitary and nocturnal.
- Despite their rat-like appearance, they’re more closely related to kangaroos than rodents.
- The Virginia opossum is the species most commonly found in the United States and Canada.
We took a closer look!
You shouldn’t harm an opossum because it’s generally a harmless, useful animal, and hurting them can create more problems than it solves.
• They help control pests: Opossums eat insects, slugs, snails, rodents, and carrion.
• They’re not aggressive: If threatened, they usually hiss, freeze, run away, or “play dead” rather than attack.
• Rabies is rare in opossums: Their lower body temperature makes rabies much less common than in many mammals.
• They clean up the environment: By eating dead animals and fallen fruit, they reduce rot and scavenger problems.
• They may be protected by local laws: In many places, harming wildlife can be illegal or require permits.
• It’s safer for you: Trying to hurt or handle one could lead to bites, scratches, or exposure to parasites.
• There are humane options: If one is in your yard, secure trash, bring pet food inside, block access to crawlspaces, and let it move on.
If it’s injured or trapped, contact a local wildlife rehabilitator or animal control.
Most opossums are just passing through and will leave on their own if they don’t find food or shelter.
This required a closer look-see:
By 8:00 am, we were heading south to Newport Beach in the Silver Fox, reaching speeds in excess of 35 mph! Mary, of course, ran to the nearest phone booth and changed into her Indy 500 racing costume, so prepare for the trip!
We zipped down to Newport in a little under an hour, and Mary met Amry there for the appointment. From there, we returned home because I needed to pick up the laptop and use it at lunchtime at the Elks. Bob had some edits on his Sunday birthday party web pages. We finished the edits in just a few minutes. You can see the site right here!
The Elks Girls’ Night Out lunch was a success. We all departed full of food and joy in our hearts! Bob joined us today and told us about his recent adventure in Europe and his time floating down various rivers.
Mary and I just enjoyed the banter, plus we are taking reservations for Halloween, which is coming up real soon! So far, twelve of us are going!
After Girls’ Night Out, we headed home, where we knew it was going to be cool. We stayed inside and worked in the office; it is our place for laughing! On the way, I told Mary about a time there was a King who was only 12 inches tall. He was a terrible king, but he made a great ruler.
We decided that next week we would come to lunch in costume!
Robin dropped by on her way home, and we shared a Lebanese dinner with her. From all of our tasting activities, we had bags of leftovers. Mary and Robin went through the reservations for our next adventure, making sure I had a wheelchair arranged for the trip. Running from gate to gate is no longer an option for this old body! We are headed to the East Coast next month to visit daughter Colleen and her family! Robin is going with us, YEAH!!
After dinner, we all jumped in the pool and floated around for a solid hour, admiring the moon like philosophers and howling at it like unpaid werewolves.
Robin departed at 8:30 pm, and we went to the TV Room and watched a silly comedy called Delta Farce. Three clueless Army reservists are mistakenly dropped into a small Mexican village instead of being deployed to Iraq. They think they are behind enemy lines and try to free the village from bandits.
At 10:00 pm, it was time for bed, so off we went for a good night’s sleep! I told Mary about my trip to the jungle a few years back.
I was walking in the jungle and saw a lizard with its hind legs telling jokes. I turned to a local tribal leader and said, “That lizard is really funny!” The leader replied, “That’s not a lizard. He’s a stand-up chameleon.”
