Before I begin, I’d like to thank those of you who expressed concern over my absence over the past couple weeks. I do realize that I’ve been on one track lately in terms of the subject matter in this space but I will not apologize for such at this time or ever, really.
However, this is my anniversary with the Community News (14 years) so I felt that I should at least jump on here and pen something of an uplifting nature, just to show how the most simple things in life can bring happiness, even in these horrendous days in which we find ourselves.
I’m doing a swell job thus far when it comes to cheery material, aren’t I?
Moving along to the actual subject of this piece, the strangest thing happened here (other than the usual antics of Mother, Perpetual, “The Child,” Katie, etc.,) about five weeks ago; I’m here to give you total details and speak of a lesson I learned in the process.
I was on my porch in the evening drying the tears of my depression from my face when suddenly, something caught my eye as it zoomed (more like quickly waddled) right past me. (The part about drying tears of depression isn’t really true for that particular night. I’m just jazzing this up a bit. This is not to say that I haven’t spent a good chunk of some days in such a state but just not on THAT evening. I think this might be a digression.)
To make a long story longer, as is my nature, it turned out to be a baby possum. I had a flashlight handy and was aiming it his way but he continued along with his foraging for birdseed on the ground. I got closer and closer and kept saying, “UH BABY POSSUM! ARE YOU HEARING ME?” and things like that.
He then made his way up this tree in our front area off the porch which I call “The Healing Tree.” This has to do with Todd the Cat who, back in the day, would bring us LIVING “dinner” IN the house. He’d drop chipmunks and birds on the floor and proudly seek approval from us. After Perpetual and I would zoom around and rescue them, I’d bring them to said tree. About 98% of the time, they lived. Hence, the title of Healing Tree was born. (Now that I ponder, the survival rate for the critters in the tree was a touch less than that of those who “catch” the “Thang.” That survival rate is around 99.6, the last time I checked. Oh, sorry to veer off on to that pesky subject again.)
Eventually this drew the attention of The Child and Katie, who are now permanently stuck here in this area of booming opportunities, all due to an over-reaction to something that has almost no chance of harming healthy people.
We all gathered around the tree and watched this little fella in total amazement. He let us get really close to him too but we hadn’t seen anything yet, as the saying goes.
I had never really been “fond” of possums as I had heard horror stories about them over the years. “They bite! They have rabies! They will dig things up around the house!” I hadn’t taken the time to look things up myself but had just gone along with what I had heard. You see, I too have been guilty of judging something before researching it, ladies and gents.
I was explaining to someone in a private message about this possum and in doing so was using talk-to-text. Somehow the word “possum” ended up as “Thomas,” and that is why his name is officially Thomas the Possum or Thomas the Adolescent Possum or just Thomas. (When I learned that he was indeed a male, it was great news!)
The family, (including Brother Blaine who visited here for two months because his work was canceled as well, due to the “you know what”) began to cross the yard nightly to take in the antics of Thomas. Even Mother got in on the action but for some reason couldn’t see him when he was right in front of her. Spencer (The Child) had to practically place her IN the Healing Tree to see him. In the end, Mother got to meet him and was rather impressed.
Thomas began to eat out of my hand too. I was (and am) always mindful though because he’s a wild animal and possums have FIFTY teeth, which get sharper each week, it seems. They have excellent hearing but their sense of smell is nothing short of amazing, which is a word I rarely use; it’s very fitting in this case though.
I learned as much as I could about these wonderful and useful creatures. They are basically Mother Nature’s little sewage system, for lack of a better description. They will eat all sorts of rotten and rather grotesque items. (We’ve been cleaning out the fridge and so has Mother.) Something interesting though is how they remember if they ate or came into contact with something harmful or poisonous and will avoid it the next time. They also are almost totally immune to rabies due to their body temps being a bit lower than the average animal. Venomous snakes don’t seem to bother them either and they will EAT them as well.
A big selling point for these delightful white-faced animals is that they have been known to eat up to 5,000 ticks in a season. They “gather them” due to their body being close to the ground, etc., and then will groom wildly, hence removing said ticks. They live for slugs too. (Possums are very much into grooming. Thomas takes breaks in between eating this or that to groom like a mad man! They are VERY clean.)
Possums or Virginia Possums are the only marsupial in North America too and carry the young in their pouches. They are called Joeys, like their relatives in the Land Down Under. (Not sure if Joey needs to be capitalized but what the heck, I did it.)
There are all sorts of interesting possum facts but the saddest is the life span of these fine creatures, which is anywhere between 1 and 5 years, with 4 really being rather unusual. (A guy who has caught baby possums his whole life and made them into pets kept one in captivity for ten years but this is very unusual.)
The first year is the most difficult for them too. Since they are attracted to road kill and other delicacies (?) the vehicle is their major enemy, as is man. Some people are pretty dumb and think they are terrible and atrocious animals who are out to murder the whole family so, they kill them for sport. Also tossing an apple core out the window and other biodegradable foodstuffs can lead to the death of our fine friends for obvious reasons. Possums are pretty bad at crossing the road and could take a lesson from the chickens in our lives. Get it? OK I’m TRYING for uplifting. Cut me some slack.
Thomas now has a galvanized round tray in the tree in which he gets his nightly dose of hideous food that humans wouldn’t dig too much but for which he lives. Some ancient cheese that was left in the meat drawer, meat from July, bananas, and other items are placed in the Healing Tree nightly.
To date, his absolute favorite food is tortilla chips but he also adores the above-mentioned meat and cheese. He can take or leave strawberries but when he decides to partake, he holds it in his “hands” and takes bites out of it as he goes. Yes, I confess, I’ve been scratching Thomas’ ears and head and stroking his back gently and effectively. (Hey I know it’s wrong but I simply don’t care!)
The most interesting part of him is his tail, which I pat nightly too. It’s almost like another leg or something and they use it for balance. They gather leaves and twigs and “whatnot” for nests by using that tail too. However, a person should NOT pick a possum up BY the tail, EVER! It can cause harm to the animal. I think when they are very small it might be OK but I still wouldn’t do it.
The other night, Thomas was late getting here. When he arrived he looked a bit bewildered for some reason. Here, he brought a little friend along with him! I called it a she but am not sure. They are the same size. He did all of the eating whilst she remained in the same position in the Healing Tree and didn’t move at all. They both left after HE had eaten everything in sight. Thomas is a tad spoiled, in other words.
There is a lot more I could bloviate about when it comes to Thomas and all possums but I shall now release you from bondage right after I say something else. I learned that the old adage of judging a book by its cover is wrong. I learned that even an animal that is considered by society to be rather unattractive, is beautiful in its own way. I also learned how much joy a young possum can bring this over-the-hill gal, during these troubled times.
THOMAS THE POSSUM performs for the camera on the “Houserman Compound.” He’s a bit diffificult to capture with a still shot because he’s always moving or chewing.
I’m not certain what the future holds. I might not be a weekly columnist any longer but wanted to at least say this much to you. I so appreciate all of you. Just knowing that I’ve helped someone to see something in a different manner is all I really need for my mission to be complete here. I thank you and send you my deepest love, appreciation and most of all, GOOD VIBES.
THE END (Nothing changes, EVER! “War is a Racket” by General Smedley Butler, “Where did the Towers Go?” by Dr. Judy Wood, RESEARCH outside of the mainstream PLEASE! Throw the TV out the window! Question EVERYTHING! That’s all!)
PS - I’d like to thank David for giving me this opportunity for the past 14 years. Also a hat is tipping toward Maine where Judith M. Villeneuve has gone over my pieces prior to publication for the past 5 years. XO.
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