It’s been a quiet week around the osprey nest. They’re hunkered down and sitting on the eggs. It’s a good week to share another one of our locals. I ran into this youngster out behind the log decks. I can never guess what animals I may bump into around the mill. Wildlife will exploit habitat wherever they find it.
If you like opossums and you want a great children’s book about an opossum I highly recommend Oh No! Baby-O. Written and illustrated by Mary A Livingston.
THE FORESTER ARTIST 
I’ll have to check this one out, my toddler loves wildlife. Something new for her vocabulary besides Bob cats and cougars lol
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She’ll like it. It’s very cute, but is true to opossum character.
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They always look to me like they’re about to go bald!
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I guess no opossum fur coat for Alli! 😆
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Nope. I would probably be much happier in raccoon…My only issue with opossums is that they can carry the protozoa for EPM (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis) which affects the central nervous system of horses. Left untreated, it can result in irreversible damage to the nervous system. As long as the little critters stay out of the barn, I’m just fine with them. Raccoons, on the other hand…make very fine fur coats! Or Davy Crockett hats…
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I didn’t know that about opossums. Raccoons on the other hand I would be happy to donate to your coat🧥!
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Are they usually active in the daytime? Ours are nocturnal.
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They’re usually nocturnal. Often when we see the nocturnal critters out during the day they’re sick. This one looked healthy to me, but it was a young one. Maybe something spooked it.
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Yes we had an adult out when we were having lunch at the botanical gardens a few weeks ago. I think it was just being opportunistic. 😄
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They are weird looking animals. We had a mama with babies in a tree hallow. She did not enjoy the endless parade of people viewing her and finally left.
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How fun to be able to watch them. It’s not unusual for a lot of animal to change there dens while raising their young.
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Once, when John and I were moving some firewood to an upper deck, I uncovered 2 possums overwintering underneath the cover. Needless to say, we were all surprised, although, I moved faster away than they did, One was huge and somewhat aggravated at me for daring to disturb his rest. we left the wood uncovered for the rest of the winter so they had to find some other cozy place to hide.
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Good plan! One of our loggers kept a choker setter on over the winter to do some cleanup around the shop. He was using a fork lift to move a large tank out of a hole. When he picked it up there was a opossum underneath it and it started running in circles. He jumped off the lift and into the hole to catch the opossum. While trying to catch it the tank rolled off the forks and landed on him. It broke his leg. I never heard how things went for the opossum, but it probably escaped. Hmmm…I wonder how this may have been prevented. 🤔
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