Random Marsupial
So I'm out doing my usual meander by the chicken pen, encouraging stragglers back in for the night, I'm on the phone, trying to focus on the news my friend was giving me when I see a fist-sized ball of grey fuzz next to the feeder, it's got white bits sticking out of it. At first I had a flash of horror thinking something had fallen off one of the birds, then I saw the tail: RAT. Despite my noisy conversation and standing not six feet from the thing, it continued to munch on grain. Then I saw it's little white face, and what I thought were feathers were actually tiny white ears. Baby possum.
A rat I would have at least attempted to kill, but I don't feel that way about native wildlife. Possums and chickens don't mix: They eat their eggs if nothing else, though this particular specimen was less of the threat than say, the sheep.
I popped into the pen to close the side door and keep the goats out and it disappeared. Huh. I finished my conversation, hung up the phone, and herded the ducks in. It was back, hiding under the ramp to the coop. I figured it wasn't going anywhere, so returned to the house to tell Mike & the guys about it.
I asked Ludo if he wanted a pet possum. "HELL YEAH!" He goes inside and returned, disappointed. "Bobbie said no. But can see it?"
For the sake of the eggs and the birds, who were a bit nervous of the thing, I had to at least relocate it. I grabbed a rag, put my leather gloves on and Mike followed me out. After a thorough search of the chicken pen, I didn't see it, until one of the turkeys knocked the hanging feeder, and I saw a tail. I draped the rag around one side, took the feed pitcher in one hand, and grabbed it's tail in the other.
The beast was disturbingly complacent. We weren't able to wrap it in the rag very well, but it fit in the feed pitcher just fine. It looked angry, stuck it's nose out past my hand, but never once tried to bite, and didn't even make an effort to escape.
Everyone had a look at it, then Jerry drove it down the road and let it go on the other side of the river.
Huh. Hope the little thing has a good life, just not involving our livestock. Now I'm just concerned as to where its Mom is with the rest of the brood.
A rat I would have at least attempted to kill, but I don't feel that way about native wildlife. Possums and chickens don't mix: They eat their eggs if nothing else, though this particular specimen was less of the threat than say, the sheep.
I popped into the pen to close the side door and keep the goats out and it disappeared. Huh. I finished my conversation, hung up the phone, and herded the ducks in. It was back, hiding under the ramp to the coop. I figured it wasn't going anywhere, so returned to the house to tell Mike & the guys about it.
I asked Ludo if he wanted a pet possum. "HELL YEAH!" He goes inside and returned, disappointed. "Bobbie said no. But can see it?"
For the sake of the eggs and the birds, who were a bit nervous of the thing, I had to at least relocate it. I grabbed a rag, put my leather gloves on and Mike followed me out. After a thorough search of the chicken pen, I didn't see it, until one of the turkeys knocked the hanging feeder, and I saw a tail. I draped the rag around one side, took the feed pitcher in one hand, and grabbed it's tail in the other.
The beast was disturbingly complacent. We weren't able to wrap it in the rag very well, but it fit in the feed pitcher just fine. It looked angry, stuck it's nose out past my hand, but never once tried to bite, and didn't even make an effort to escape.
Everyone had a look at it, then Jerry drove it down the road and let it go on the other side of the river.
Huh. Hope the little thing has a good life, just not involving our livestock. Now I'm just concerned as to where its Mom is with the rest of the brood.