Driving this evening, I saw three dead possums in the road. Another one scooted across the road right in front of me as I was driving up my street.
How is this possible, I wonder? How many critters are crossing a given stretch of moderately to lightly traveled road? I’m tempted to grab my lawn chair and a pair of night vision goggles and just sit and see how many members of the rodent family cross the road in a given period of time.
What’s on your mind?
Open thread.
Tags: Chris MC · Open thread
Don’t know what neighborhood you were in, but the number of animals wandering around, particularly at night, is amazing. I recently saw a good size deer, in the middle of the day, in a yard on France St, not far from the Post rd. Racoons are everywhere including at some local marinas, hardly out in the country. There have been a lot of deer seen out on the Islands, especially Sheffield. If you had a good night vision camera and the patience, you would get some fantastic pictures almost anywhere in Norwalk. Obviuosly, the chances of seeing wildlife are better in the less congested neighborhoods, but anywhere there is food available there are animals. You need to be very careful on the Merritt Parkway around dawn because of all the deer grazing at the side of the road. Even in NY City, there are lots of animals wandering around.
Hey, I’m waiting for punch line to “So, 3 dead possums walk into a Norwalk bar………..”
Anyway, a quickie Wiki (hey, I rhymed!) reveals their name is Opossum vs possum, which are Australian. (Ours might be the O’possums, from County Rhodekil)
It looks like the much maligned little guy is really a marsupial, and not in the rodent family. Happy hunting- I think Ted Nugent may have some opossum recipes in his “Kill It and Grill It” cookbook, so enjoy!!
(I’m not sure which frightens me more- a band of possums roaming the streets of the city menacing our fine citizens and forcing all indoors at night, or TG owning night-goggle visions- yikes)
Call in Sarah Palin - better to shoot and field dress them than have them dying painfully being run over by cars.
“Hey, I’m waiting for punch line to “So, 3 dead possums walk into a Norwalk bar………..”
Look at each other and say to Hal Alvord “HEY SOMETHING STINKS AROUND HERE”
And the punch line winner so far is Dead #4
LOL LOL LOL LOL ROFL ROFL ROFLMAO ROFLMAO
Not sure I would eat possum. In my younger days, we would hunt squirrel and slow cook them with barbeque sauce and they were pretty good. Adding a little vinegar to them before cooking would make them very tender. I have had to shoot a few woodchucks and skunks in my back yard lately. They tend tpo wreak havoc on my garden. A CO2 pellet rifle will do the job on possum, woodchucks, and skunks without disturbing the neighbors too much.
I dislike those little critters. Yikes! The only good possum is a dead possum.
Although possums(opossums?) are even uglier than a rat, they are marsupials, not rodents. Things would have to get real bad before I’d even think about cookin’ up possum stew. Yecccch!
>>I dislike those little critters. Yikes! The only good possum is a dead possum.
Nice.
The poor critters have less brain power per-pound than any other warm blooded being on the planet.
Unlike their close relatives, Democratic Legislators; they bother no one - leave the poor things alone for heavens sakes.
For a good time see:
http://www.smartblonde.net/Wholesale-Eat-More-Possum-License-Plates-Tags-p/lp-374.htm
BTW, “driving up my street?” Were they heading for higher ground?
The delicate Pinot Grigio with a hint of acorn and berry with your possum? Excellent choice, sir!
Anon #6 - you shot animals in your garden?! Shame on you. One of these days some larger creature than us, higher on the food chain, is gonna show up, and I hope it gobbles your ass up first.
(meaning before the rest of us, not before your other bodily parts!)
Who is Chris MC anyway? I made reference to TG and her night-vision goggles, but realize now it is some masquerader who posted the open thread possum. I’ve not been paying attention again, haven’t I?
(old punch line: “am i driving?” - if you know the first part of the joke, you’ll win a prize*)
*braggin’ rights on yourct
Well, folks, the big bad Hanna seems to be just a lot of clouds and gloom. So, after 2 days of prepping for potential high winds and flooding, and after the cancellation of the Oyster Festival, I pose an open thread question of the day:
To nap, or not to nap………….Let’s hear some pros and cons.
Cons: drool on sofa pillows and pillow head hair for the rest of the day……..
Pros: dreamin’ about lobster, oysters, dogs, pizza frita…..now for Sunday
Diane C: Hey, while I don’t own night vision goggles, my handy video camera does night vision recording. I may join Chris on a Wild Kingdom type o’ field trip, coming to a youtube near you.
First I poo-poo Hanna and it beging pouring, and now I may need to see the remake of Mutual of Omaha at my house with you in safari hat, whispering “and here we have the endangered species, commitous notimus, the loneliest of all creatures that refuses to join a pack or a party…..”
I think it’s time for my medication, TG. I’m even scaring myself a little now! LOL LOL
Diane C: Fedora and whip if you please 
The episode would be Raiders of the Lost Possum. 
Last week on my way home from Black Rock we spotted 7 deer, 1 huge raccoon, 1 possum, 1 bat, and a fox.
Have you ever heard of “suicide squirrels”? Suicide squirrels are those almost-freshkilled ones on the sides of the road everywhere one drives. In the same way that lemmings will fling themselves over a cliff when there are an overabundance of their kind, I believe that when the squirrel population begins to overburden the food supply, certain squirrels take it upon themselves to launch themselves under the wheels of oncoming traffic, thus sacrificing themselves for the cause of greater squirrel good and ensuring a larger food supply for their young over the winter.
Hey, it’s only a theory, but it makes sense to me.
I just came from Westport after attending my grandson’s soccer game and there were so many dead animals on the roads that it was horrible. Also saw alot of deer walking just off the side of the roads on North Ave and also S. Turkey Hill. I feel bad because theres really nowhere for them to go. Just when I thought it was safe I hopped on 18 and moreded animals and a family of young deer. Hopefully they go back into the wooded area before the storm comes.
Hey Diane, if it comes to my lettuce and peas or woodchucks and skunks, guess who is going to win.
Joanne: Hiya. There’s just too many deer in Fairfield County and no natural predator to keep the population under control.
#19 - I think it is survival of the fittest, and your gun is not fair play….. I have motion detector “scarecrow” sprinklers set up, so any creatures that wonder into garden get squirted and a loud sprinkler noise.
Do I lose tomatoes, eggplant, cukes, and squash to the animals? - yup. But I just couldn’t bear to kill one of them.
If they can dodge the noise and the sprinkler, mangia! Just try not to eat my grandmother’s heirloom oxheart tomatoes!
Great TG, now I’ll be humming the dummmm da da dummmmm, dum da dummm from Raiders all night!
I hope it won’t be during a raiders of the wet vac night!
It is survival of the fittest, and man is fittest because his brain developed instruments like my pellet gun to become more fit. All is fair in love and vegetables. Besides, you are wasting water and electricity with your little motion trap.
Go green and shoot the bastards. Their blood is natures fertilizer and also keeps their kinfolk away.
#23 - the water that sprinklers also waters my cukes and tomatoes, so no waste, and they run on 9v batteries.
If you live in rowayton ( SOUTH south norwalk ) , you can call Bob Duff and once he extracts his lips off of your asses he will complain to the state DOT and make it a no possum zone so you and your families won’t have to look at that nasty roadkill ever again and you will all live happily ever after.
Diane - what a very humane way to keep the little critters away. Glad you didn’t get any damage from the storm.
Thanks Register Voter - hope you fared as well!
I’d say we dodged a bullet having had 5.5 inches of rain - but glad the weather guys were wrong on the winds as I have some killer big oaks in my yard! I’d have to yell “timmmmmmmberrrrrrr” to give the possums and their buddies a chance to take cover!
I noticed it started raining right after my snippy little Hanna Schmanna remark above, so I don’t think I’ll be tempting the fates next time!
My son bought a night vision motion camera that records the wildlife in his yard at night. It is amazing what he has caught on film. A herd of deer, foxes, racoons, a yet unidentified sleek brown animal - all in his backyard very close to the center of town and bordering on the Norwalk River. Just amazing.
The “sleek brown animal” may just have been a coyote. They seem to be endemic to the town. Just ask Kevin Poruban, one of them ate his poodle a few years back, right out of his own back yard.
“Unlike their close relatives, Democratic Legislators; they bother no one - leave the poor things alone for heavens sakes.”
Classic!
More like a chupacabra (”goat sucker” in Spanish), a species that’s evolved as a GOP operative that Junior brought with him from Texas since getting elected.
My condo complex is having a huge problem with racoons. Two people were nearly attacked by three racoons last night. These racoons…up to six of them are out every night. My condo board president refuses to do anything to help the situation and continues to feed them. I called animal control and they offered no help.
Call an extermination business and then send the bill to the condo board.
