I'm very familiar with them from living in the south for 12 years, but I'm
pretty sure that they don't exist in the wild anywhere in the intermountain
west. I think their range extends from the east coast to somewhere a bit
west of the Mississippi, and then there's a long possum-less gap until west
of the cascades.
Anyway, here's an old joke from the South:

Why did the chicken cross the road?



To show the possum it could be done........

"Pam - gardengal" wrote in message
news:jUiGb.190313$_M.864609@attbi_s54...

"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
Cat was watching the porch with great attention when I came downstairs
this morning. Is there such a thing as a Christmas Possum? Is this a
good omen or bad? This is a long built-up suburban neighborhood, and
this is the first neighborhood possum I've ever seen. It's raining
now, but "unseasonably" warm -- right around 60F.

What is the real meaning of possum?

The opossum is the only North American species of marsupial. "O"possum is
the correct name, and distinguishes American (both North and South)
possums
from those native to Australia, but the "O" has been dropped in common
usage. Their range is pretty much anywhere in the US and lower Canada and
you will find them in cities, the suburbs and of course the countryside.
They are remarkably resourcesful creatures and will adopt any type of
discarded nest or den for their own, often bunking in with other creatures
who apparently don't mind thier presence. They feed on fruit, berries,
vegetables, garbage, cat and dog food and are excellent ratters and
mousers.

They tend to be non-aggressive unless cornered but can put up a good fight
with extremely sharp teeth when provoked. Recent medical research has
piqued
a lot of interest into possum pathology - they apparently have a
remarkable
self-healing capacity and recover rapidly from injuries such as broken
bones. The fabled "playing dead" manuever is apparently a self-induced
epileptic seizure and unfortunately these furry little creatures are the
subject of medical and scientific investigations and experiments to
attempt
to discover how this siezure mechanism can be of benefit to humans
suffering
from epilepsy and other similar neurological disorders.

From my own experience, possoms tend to be not very visible urban
wildlife.
They are mostly nocturnal and their slow gait certainly puts them at a
disadvantage in our busy world. But it is easy to see evidence of their
presence - furry dead bodies by the side of the road. They are certainly
well adapted to city life - where there are squirrels, there are most
likely
possums as well (they love used squirrel nests) and the presence of pets
being fed outside, garbage, vegetable gardens, and rats provides a full
spectrum of food sources. In colder areas they do hiberate - not really a
true hibernation but more of a winter sleep, much the same as bears. In
areas where the temperature never goes much below freezing they are active
year round.

btw, I say my first neighborhood 'coon siting two nights ago and I also
live in a well established, dense suburban area. These creatures walk
among
us.

pam - gardengal
(& possum fan)