Possum Catch #5

This past weekend, when I was letting Cyprus out a final time for the night after returning from the Tift Merritt show at Ziggy's, she seemed to be very interested in something up under the truck. (I had parked it in the backyard to open up more space in the parking area for guests at last Saturday's baby shower.)

I took a glance up under the chassis to see what Cyprus was so interested in, and got a glimpse of this:

Cyprus was sniffingly interested but not particularly agitated. I tried to get a better look:

And I thought: Huh! A dead poss-- Oh, waitaminute. Of course he's not really dead. He's just...well, you know...

And he continued to play dead even while I awkwardly scooped him into the Havahart® trap.

Since it was so late at night, I just had to secure that cage so that I'd be able to take him off and relocate him the next morning. The unfortunate downside of having to wait those several hours is that he worked very hard to get himself out of that cage and he wasn't looking so good the following morning.

Possums are some hideous-looking critters. Nonetheless, this poor rascal has now been released out by the river and I hope he has a good life in the wilds.

I mentioned that Cyprus did not get all that agitated by this creature, as he lay there in the grass last night playing dead and pooping himself. But she sure could smell him the next morning in that cage up in the back of the truck: