Possom... It's Whats For Dinner?

                                   

When I was younger, one of my favorite shows to watch on T.V. was of course, the Beverly Hillbillies.  Who could not help but fall in love with Granny.  She was always on the show in her fancy kitchen preparing pots and pots of steaming stews, including her very famous, Possum! 

 

Like, Granny, my mother was always in the kitchen cooking something for the family broad.  I of course liked to tease her and shout outside the kitchen window, exclaiming in my most best rendition of a hillbilly accent:

 

"Hey, Ma...  Wats for dinner?  Can we have mo' Possum tonight?" 

 

Of course, my mother didn't appreciate me saying that loudly in the backyard for all the neighbors to hear, but I always got a kick out of it. 

 

I ran across the following in my emails, and I thought I would share it with you:  

 

 

"An opossum got in my house through the back door. How do I remove it?

If there is no time to call animal control, you may be able to coax
it out with a broom. Try to avoid hurting the animal, but simply
attempt just to urge him along. Sometimes they can become quite
stubborn and hide under a table or couch, looking very fearsome by
baring their 50 teeth.  If possible, leave the door open awhile, perhaps with some cat food just outside the threshold,
and wait to see if he leaves on his own. If it is cold out, you may
have a long wait. An animal control officer is your best bet if you
are anxious for him to depart.

Do opossums make good pets?

Generally speaking, no. But there are exceptions. Animals are like
people in that no two are alike. Some people have kept opossums as
pets and enjoyed their company very much. Usually the best pets are
those rescued when very young. A full-grown opossum will rarely adapt
well to captivity.

Where can I buy an opossum?

The only place I know of that sells pet opossums is Brighten Farms of
Marshall, Indiana.  I know of no one who sells opossum meat, but believe

 it or not, I once had a meat wholesaler from the Orient write to ask me where he could buy
quantities of opossum to import to his country! I could not find a
legal source for opossum meat in the U.S.

What are the natural predators of opossums?

Many animals happily ignore the gentle opossum, and there have been
many reports of pet cats making friends with neighborhood opossums.
Their natural enemies, though, are foxes, coyotes, dogs, bobcats, and
owls. But even more than these natural predators, their greatest
enemy in the modern world is the automobile.

Did opossums really write the poetry on your poetry page?

Of course not. These poems are presented merely as a form of
lighthearted entertainment, though perhaps if they really could write
they would compose poetry similar to that found there.

Do you have any recipes for cooking opossum?

If I did, I wouldn't give them to you. Although some people do eat
opossum (it is said to taste a lot like pork), I simply don't
subscribe to the idea. One word of caution, however, to those who
insist on trying to make a meal of the critter: Opossums should not
simply be killed and eaten because they do sometimes consume carrion.
Instead, they should be captured and fed table scraps and other clean
food until the carrion is out of their system. Also bear in mind that
a small cadre of renegade opossums has been known to have sought out
people who have eaten their compatriots and lay siege to their
dwelling. Armed with crude but efficient crossbows, they may shoot
arrows into the car tires or capture and hold hostage the pets of the
offending citizens."

For questions not addressed here, or for comments and corrections of
the above, contact Possum Pop.

 

http://opossum.craton.net/faqs.htm

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Copyright © 1998-2007 by John Craton.
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