Mellow Marsupial

As usual, Alex was up at O-Dark-Hundred, so he was very ready for his soft food by the usual rising time of 5 am.  Next in his ritual is a trip outside, although this morning I stood at the back door and watched since it was wet and misty...and, of course, very dark.  I thought he might want in soon.  I had the patio light on and the motion-activated light in the driveway came on, but most of the backyard was still very dark.

Much to my surprise, Alex did not want in immediately and went wandering off down the driveway.  Then to my panic, a very large opossum came ambling out of the backyard, walked directly over the stepping stone, and made a path directly towards the backdoor.  I was nearly panicked.  I was worried Alex would reappear and make a beeline for the backdoor, which would have surely resulted in an altercation with this very large and primitive looking thing.  In any case, I could not open the door with the opossum only a few feet away and closing.

Sure enough, Alex came back down the driveway, then stopped when he saw the opossum on the patio. He stood frozen and the opossum kept coming.  The opossum then made a 90 degree turn and ambled off under the bushes along the back of the fireplace wall.

With the opossum retreating, Alex felt brave and started charging.  I opened the door and called him. Fortunately Alex is a coward at heart and immediately ducked into the house.

I don't know if the opossum saw me through the door or not, but if he did he was unconcerned.   After doing a bit of research, I am so glad he was not scared.  This is from the Wikipedia:

When threatened or harmed, they will "play possum", mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. This physiological response is involuntary (like fainting), rather than a conscious act. In the case of baby opossums, however, the brain does not always react this way at the appropriate moment, and therefore they often fail to "play dead" when threatened. When an opossum is "playing possum", the animal's lips are drawn back, the teeth are bared, saliva foams around the mouth, the eyes close or half-close, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands. The stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away without reaction. The animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of between 40 minutes and 4 hours, a process that begins with slight twitching of the ears.

I am so glad this was a more mellow marsupial and chose not to lie "dead" at our backdoor for four hours.  The cats have brought mice and baby rabbits home to share, but a very large, adult opossum is more than I could cope with.