Possum in the Hen House

[gunhilda]

The poor hennie pennies are all clustered together for support this chill autumn morning because a possum got into the hen house last night. We spent the day in south east Oklahoma, and we didn't get back until 10pm or so, well after dark. I went to close the door on the hen house and noticed that one of our roosters was still out in the pen.

Comments

[rhiannonredwulf]

Well that enlivened my morning. Thanks for the laughter. :-)
And indeed, I'm sorry there was no photo of the possum, or of Kate hunched over chasing chickens.

My experience is that once they start playing dead, they go all stiff like a real corpse and they aren't aggressive. One can just pick them up by the tail and haul them off. (Although doubtless, I'd have gone and gotten gloves too.)

[gunhilda]

This little one was limp, rather than stiff, but, indeed, it was very docile.

[radclyff]

I *love* the henhouse tales!

[gunhilda]

I'm glad! :)

[meganwaters2004]

Well, I know I was horrified last night when Kate texted me about it! Glad there were no real deaths involved. Bet traumatized is the look of the day.

[gunhilda]

Everyone seems to have recovered today.

[jafacakes]

hehehe, I love your chicken stories even though I don't like chickens, you make them such characters. I googled for a possum picture and it comes up as native to Australia and new guinea so now I'm confused, the picture looked very cute though.

[gunhilda]

Ah, they're technically called "opossums," but you typically hear them called possums around here. Here's a link with a picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum

[jafacakes]

Thank you for that, even more cute looking than the Australian version thanks to the fluffy fur, shame about the sharp teeth.

[gunhilda]

They look a bit scruffy in person, most of the time. Opossums are scavengers, and they frequently look like they've been rummaging through garbage cans. But they're pretty harmless, and they eat things like roaches and slugs, so I like having them around.

[scifithinker]

Who knew chickens have such rough lives. *grins*

[gunhilda]

Ah, chickens are an endless source of entertainment.