POSSUM OH POSSUM

What does this look like to you??

Last year, on a quiet Saturday at work my coworker informed me a possum gained access to her home. I struggled to think about what a possum looked like and since when did they immigrate to Canadia? I thought possums were from Australia or some desert like place...

My coworker and I discussed possums at great length. Firstly we discussed the difference between possum and opossum:

Wiki Answers said:

"The "possum" of North America is just a shorter name for an opossum, but true possums are different from opossums, and not related at all, except by virtue of both animals being marsupials.

• Possums belong to the order Diprotodontia and the suborder Phalangeriformes, while opossums belong to the order Didelphimorphia and the family Didelphidae.
• Opossums are found only in North America, although there is a "water possum", also known as the yapok, which is found in central and South America.
• True possums are found in New Guinea, Australia (including Tasmania), Sulawesi (Indonesia) and a few other small islands in the Pacific region. Although not native to New Zealand, the brush-tailed possum was introduced into that country over a century ago and has subsequently become a pest.
• The North American Opossum has a bare tail. All varieties of Australian possums have furry tails.
• There are many varieties of possums in Australia (and New Guinea), including Gliders and the Cuscus. There are more limited species of the opossum.
• Captain Cook's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, named the Australian animal "Possum", referring to it as "an animal of the Opossum tribe" because he believed there was a physical resemblance.
• Opossums were named by Captain John Smith in 1612. He took the name from an Algonquian (North American Indian) word."

 So now that we had that cleared up....
 
I found out other things. Like: people have these giant rat like things for pets, there are many different types, they like people's homes apparently, they can be quite large and lastly, I decided I was petrified of them. 

 Luckily, my coworker's husband trapped this demon spawn and brought it over to show us- that is him above in all his glory (possum not husband). He was mean (again possum not husband). They hiss. It hissed the closer we got to it and if you touched his tail he did not like that. I did not participate in the tail stroking.

Possums are a weird rodent like animal. We looked at several pictures and informational websites to learn more... 

 photo credit: www.acuteaday.com

Ok so these baby possums aren't so bad...but then.... 

LOOOOOOKKKK

 

photo credit: www.neatorama.com

This apparently is a Cuscus- the largest type of possum on earth... This looks like a monkey. A very ugly monkey. 

Then we looked at realistic pictures of possums, the one's that come into your home and try to attack your animals. Here is a a video to demonstrate:

That possum is nearly as large as the cat. Imagine waking up on a Sunday morning to see this happening in your backyard. I'm not so worried about this cat- this ginge looks like he can hold his own.

I really didn't know that possums were drinkers either...maybe we could get along.

   photo credit: www.nithyananda-cult.blogspot.com 

 After I saw this one, I no longer had the urge to look at them...NIGHTMARES:

 photo credit: www.flickr.com

Never say never though because I saw this picture and enlarged it. I discovered they have molars...Molars. 

 photo credit: www.giantbomb.com

Take a gander at their "hands" they have five "fingers"... 

Wiki How talks about how to get rid of these molar havin', five fingered, black eared wearin' sickos. It can be found here: http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Possums

I posted the wiki how page out of genuine concern for anyone who has to deal with possums. I didn't even know they existed here until last year and saw one with my own eyes. If I saw one in or around my house I can't say what would happen to me. I read the wiki how thoroughly to prepare myself.  

Prepare yourselves not for a zombie apocalypse but a possum apocalypse!!!!   

  photo credit: www.zombiepossum.tumblr.com