Moxie went to ground in this one-eyed root sette. She drove out a possum, which Misto grabbed before I broke him off it, and then the possum retreated back underground. I leashed up Misto and waited, taking this picture of my walking stick leaning against the tree while things got sorted out underground. I had no tools, as I was not expecting to dig (though they were in the car if it got to that).
After about 15 minutes, I approached the hole, saw a bit of the possum’s tail, and tailed him out alive and unharmed after a little bit of pressure persuasion. I released him up a tree unharmed.
Possums are our only marsupial, have more teeth than any other mammal, and have a body temperature so low that they can self-eliminate rabies. They can transmit a brain worm to horses, but otherwise are fairly beneficial, eating a lot of ticks and providing a lot of food for owls, fox, coyotes, bobcat, and the occasional hawk.
Great photos! I love to see the possum here, not often but they have gotten here from the east, even crossing over the bridge to the island.
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