Thursday, February 22, 2007

Bait? We Don't Need No Stinking Bait!

Riddle:
What animal is just dumb enough to walk into a trap before you've had a chance to add the bait?
Come on, now.
Think.
(He was released by the way ... I really haven't tried that "Possum and Taters" recipe in the "Seasonal Florida" cookbook.)Posted by Picasa

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

they have to be the dumbest creature on the planet,they get on the rr tracks and try to outrun the train,running on the rail until they get a splitting headache

Anonymous said...

I think they are pretty smart. Once our dogs treed one in the middle of the night. They were making such a racket that my husband went out to investigate. By that time, the possom had fallen out of the tree and was playing dead. My husband was so tired and didn't want to deal with this "dead" animal, so he picked it up in a shovel, walked down to the dock and threw it in the bay. The possum swam so fast, it beat him back to shore! They may not be able to run, but they sure can swim!

pissed off patricia said...

Ah, come on. I raised one of these little creatures for the wildlife hospital here. We took her out to schools and such as an educational animal. She was as gentle as a puppy and sweet as can be. She changed a lot of people's opinions of her species. Kids went crazy for her. When she was here at the house she and the cats had a grand time. She would wonder around the house and all three cats would be in a line right behind her watching her tail. She lived for two years which is about the average natural life span for opossums.

robin andrea said...

Look how easy he made your job for you. He's thinking, "A cage? For me? Oh you shouldn't have. But thank you very much, don't mind if I do."

Anonymous said...

I have always felt kind of sorry for possums. They are like rubes who don't really know their way around the modern world, although some of them are quite insightful. Take the famous quote "We have met the enemy and he is us," from the late, great possum philosopher Pogo.

They have been pretty successful. I read that they are extending their range into Canada.

Alan said...

Possums are one of the dumbest animals on this Earth.

I don't have much problem with them around here though. Coons on the other hand...

.....Alan.

SophieMae said...

Before the picture loaded... and before I read the small print... I thought for sure it was an armadillo. You don't need bait to trap a diller. Just funnel a path into the trap and he'll walk right in. Then again, this is more bad eyesight than faulty brain function. Dillers can get awful cranky, BTW.

Anonymous said...

Poor little possum. Gotta feel pitiful for 'em.

Anonymous said...

I think just a few of us are forgetting the "O".
By the way, that thar is a nice female Opossum.

Anonymous said...

So I'm guess the answer to today's quiz is opposum?

I've read that these things don't really "play" dead. They are not consciously trying to look dead. They simply pass out. Don't know if that is true though.

threecollie said...

Wait until Paints see that! She has a horror of them born of the night one ran over her bare foot out on the back porch. We catch 'em by accident in the Havahart too, as well as wood chucks and barn cats. Wonder why they go into an unbaited trap...

SophieMae said...

Re 'playing possum'... here's a pretty good article on thanatosis:
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?archiveDate=02-01-05&storyID=20653

swamp4me said...

I love the crazy critters and make no apologies ;) Did you know there is an Opossum Society?

Anonymous said...

I wish I had started counting when my dog started killing. You would be hard pressed (as am I) to believe how many possums have been brought into my yard for my (not so) viewing pleasure. Winter, summer, spring, fall. Some with babies strewn about. How can there be more? I have no idea how many miles she must have to go to find them now. I just know that she continues to clear my part of the world. And really? That bothers me less than when she decides to kill skunks and bring them to my door. Just one more reason to be grateful to be retired. When I was leaving for work in the dark and didn't see them when I left I could usually smell them when I got home. Yep! Life in the country. (Was that too graphic?)

Thunder said...

Hmmm, there's fried possum, boiled possum, possum stew, possum gumbo,............

LauraHinNJ said...

Glad to hear you never actually tried that recipe!

We seem to always catch opossums when we want to get the groundhogs that raid the garden. They are not very loveable looking - and they smell really funny! They're deserving of kindness though, as I agree they seem ill-equiped to deal with the modern world.

Deb said...

Possums are an indicator of global climate change here in Minnesota. Until about 20 years ago you never saw them, at least north of The Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul and its associated megasprawl). I have not run across one here at Sand Creek, but just twenty miles south you see an occaional roadkill.

Paintsmh said...

AHHHH POSSUMM!!! EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!


Or better yet, everybody stay here with it, while I run for MY life.

R.Powers said...

Rick,
I remember one at Guana that played dead until we tossed it into the intracoastal.

Cathy S,
Somewhere in my archives is a tale of a paintball possum that was raiding my chickens. I had a similar play dead until placed in water experience as a kid.

POP,
Babies are cute. I need to hear that kind of story to balance the chicken killing, hissing POOppossums I encounter.

Robin,
If he's doing me a favor, I would like him to stop digging into my chicken tractor.

Betsy,
I wouldn't hurt him.

Sophie,
I've caught dillos by hand but never in a trap.

Mock,
We're bviusly cnfused abut the imprtance f o's.

Pablo,
Me neither, but Sophie found something.

ThreeCollie,
O'phobia eh?
I think this possum's clever nose smelled the chicken bait scent from over a week ago. I caught the neighbor's carwalking, bird killing, lizard killing, trash can raiding cat that time.
I didn't hurt it, but I did give it a nice shower before I let it go.
Cats really don't like water...who knew.

Swampy,
Didn't you have one in your kitchen?


RBWolves,
What kind of dog is she?
I know she's busy, but I mean what breed?


ThunderD,
Lets cook something else next time we're cooking a feast.


Laurahinnj,
Smell funny ?
You are too kind.
Pretty stinky.
And yes, you are right, they do deserve kind treatment. I usually take them to my nearby piney woods, but this one I just let go where she was.


Deb,
Wait til you get gators in Sand Creek.


Painstmh,
They are kind of rat-like.

Thunder said...

Man, I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't pick up on the "Forest Gump" bit! ;-)