COURTESY OF THE WAYNE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY WHERE I RENT BOOKS FROM.
ONE OF MANY STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION OF STORIES IN THE BOOK "STORIES YOU WON'T BELIEVE" BY: LONNIE E. BROWN, A NATIVE KENTUCKIAN, THIS ONE IS TITLED - "THE "OPOSSUM WALKER"".
THE OPOSSUM WALKER
AFTER CHURCH ON SUNDAY, WE WOULD HAVE SUNDAY DINNER AND THEN WE WERE FREE TO INDULGE IN OUR OWN PURSUITS. OFTEN NEIGHBORS WOULD DROP BY OR RELATIVES WOULD COME TO VISIT. ON HOT DAYS, THE OLDER FOLKS WOULD MOVE TO A SHADY SPOT ON THE FRONT PORCH OR UNDER A TREE, WHILE THE CHILDREN READ, PLAYED GAMES, OR WENT FISHING.
MY FAVORITE PASTIME ON SUNDAY AFTERNOONS WAS TO SLIP AWAY FROM THE OTHERS AND ROAM THROUGH THE FIELDS AND WOODS AND SEE WHAT I COULD FIND. MY FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX AND THINK BY MYSELF WAS THE WOODED AREA DOWN THE ROAD BEHIND OUR HOUSE. I OBSERVED ALL KINDS OF INTERESTING THINGS IN NATURE IN DIFFERENT SEASONS.
ONE SUNDAY, SOME NEIGHBORS DROPPED BY TO VISIT, AND MOM SEND DAD TO THE COUNTRY STORE DOWN THE ROAD TO GET SOME THINGS SHE NEEDED TO COOK SUPPER. SINCE THE OWNER LIVED BESIDE THE STORE, HE OPENED IT ANYTIME SOMEONE CAME TO BUY SOMETHING. I SAW THIS AS A GOOD TIME TO GO FOR A WALK.
I THOUGHT I MIGHT FIND WHERE SOME QUAILS WERE NESTING.
I CAME UPON A THICKET BY A LITTLE BRANCH BECAUSE THEY OFTEN MAKE THEIR DENS THERE, BUT IT WAS UNUSUAL TO SEE THE OPOSSUM IN THE AFTERNOON. OPOSSUMS ARE NOCTURNAL, SPENDING MOST OF THE DAY IN THEIR DENS AND COMING OUT AT NIGHT TO LOOK FOR FOOD. OPOSSUMS EAT JUST ABOUT ANYTHING -- ROOTS, SNAILS, INSECTS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, ETC. -- AND THIS ONE LOOKED LIKE HE HAD FOUND PLENTY TO SATISFY HIS DIET.
OF COURSE, WHAT THE OPOSSUMS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN AWARE OF WAS THAT OPOSSUMS WERE A VERY SATISFYING PART OF HUMAN DIETS IN THE COUNTRY. HE DIDN'T SEEMS TO REGARD ME AS AN ENEMY, THOUGH. THE OPOSSUM'S FIRST DEFENSE WHEN IT FEELS THREATENED IS TO "SULL UP" OR "PLAY DEAD." WE SOMETIMES CALL ACTS LIKE THIS PLAYING OPOSSUM. THE ANIMAL'S BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM REACT TO FEAR BY AUTOMATICALLY SENDING THE OPOSSUM INTO A CATATONIC STATE, WHICH LOWERS THE HEARTBEAT AND RESPIRATION. IF CONCERNED, IT ALSO RESPONDS BY GROWLING, HISSING, AND BARING ITS 50 SHARP TEETH. THIS OPOSSUM'S SYSTEM MUST HAVE BEEN OUT OF WHACK BECAUSE IT DID NONE OF THESE THINGS. IT JUST LOOKED AT ME AND WENT ABOUT ITS BUSINESS OF SNIFFING AND CHECKING OUT THINGS.
I WAS INTRIGUED BY THIS BEHAVIOR. I PICKED UP A LONG, STURDY STICK AND GENTLY NUDGED THE POSSUM, THINKING IT WOULD HISS OR SULL. IT DID NEITHER. IT JUST MOVED IN THE DIRECTION I INDICATED. THAT GAVE ME AN IDEA. SINCE WE HAD COMPANY, I THOUGHT MOM MIGHT LIKE TO HAVE A BIG, FAT OPOSSUM FOR SUPPER. SINCE IT WAS BEING SO COOPERATIVE. I FIGURED I'D JUST WALK MR. OPOSSUM HOME FOR SUPPER. I NUDGED HIM AGAIN AND OFF WE WENT. NOW AND THEN HE WOULD STOP TO CHECK SOMETHING OUT WITH A SNIFF, AND THEN HE WAS ONCE AGAIN ON COURSE.
WE CAME OUT OF THE WOODS, CROSSED THE FIELD, AND HEADED DOWN THE MAIN ROAD. CARS BEGAN TO STOP WHILE PEOPLE STUCK THEIR HEADS OUT THE WINDOW TO LOOK. A BOY WALKING DOWN THE ROAD WITH A 'POSSUM TROTTING ALONG BESIDE HIM WAS NOT AN ORDINARY SIGHT. THEIR EXPRESSIONS OF AMAZEMENT FELL ON DEAF EARS AS FAR AS THE OPOSSUM WAS CONCERNED, AND WE CONTINUED ON TO MY HOUSE.
OUR NEIGHBOR, MORELAND, SAW US COMING FIRST.
"LOOK AT THAT!"HE SAID. "WHAT WILL THAT BOY DO NEXT?"
MOM WASN'T AS ENTHUSIASTICAS I THOUGHT SHE'D BE.
"THERE MUST BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT IF IT'S NOT SULLING. I'M NOT COOKING THAT THING!"
DAD RETURNED FROM THE STORE ABOUT THAT TIME, AND HE WAS MORE IMPRESSED. MOM STOOD FIRM, HOWEVER.
I PUT THE OPOSSUM UNDER A WASHTUB, WITH A SIDE PROPPED UP WITH A SMALL ROCK TO GIVE THE OPOSSUM SOME AIR. I BROUGHT IT FOOD AND WATER FOR ABOUT THREE DAYS, HOPING MY MOM WOULD CHANGE HER MIND ABOUT COOKING MY CATCH. THE OPOSSUM ATE AND DRANK AND SEEMED PERFECTLY CONTENT, BUT MOM INSISTED THAT I SHOULD LET IT GO. SHE OUTLASTED ME, AND I FINALLY RAISED THE TUB AND GAVE THE OPOSSUM HIS FREEDOM.
HE SEEMED A LITTLE CONFUSED AT FIRST, SO I NUDGED HIM IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND HE TOOK OFF BACK TO THE THICKET BY THE BRANCH. MY FIRST ATTEMPT TO BRING HOME FOOD FOR THE TABLE ENDED. I DID NOT BECOME KNOWN AS A GREAT HUNTER. PEOPLE JUST CALLED ME "POSSUM WALKER."
WRITTEN BY: LONNIE E. BROWN
FROM HIS BOOK - "STORIES YOU WON'T BELIEVE"
THIS ONE TITLED 'THE "OPOSSUM WALKER"'
COURTESY OF THE LOCAL LIBRARY
02/16/2022
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