Wildlife in the neighborhood

Hello,

I went out to put out the recycle items. I stuck my hand down into the garbage can we use for plastics, glass and cans. All of those are separated into their own plastic bag. I was reaching for the bag when I realized that things were a mess in there. "Did that Leroy just throw things in here willy-nilly?" I wondered.

Then I saw this black and white animal lying down there. "Whose cat is this?" I thought as I started running through the possibilities in my mind. Suddenly I noticed a long naked tail attached to the body.

"Wow!" I realized, "This is a possum."

I called Leroy right away. "Just roll the can over and let it out," he suggested.

"Don’t you want to see it?" I asked, "I can wait until you come home at noon."

At noon Leroy took the can out by the bushes and tipped it over. I took pictures that I hope are good enough for you to see this animal. I was quite impressed with its cute ear.

I feel a little sad because I think this poor creature has been in the can for two days. We heard a noise outside the other night and did not know what it was. The possum appeared to be sleeping when I first looked at it so I think it just kept quiet if we were around. "Playing possum" you know. After it was free I tried to get a good frontal picture and it bared its teeth hissing a little before running away.

I think we have done our good deed for the day.

Paula