BUTCH THE OPOSSUM EATS MORE APPLE PIE AND WHAT ABOUT THAT RABIES MYTH ?

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It is raining and has been raining heavily all day and into the night.  Temperature has been in the low 40's.  Butch is quite soaked.  Ordinarily the long hairs of his coat catch the rain and keep it from soaking the fur close to his body but even this adaptation isn't working in this constant heavy cold rain.

2:28 AM  Just as I discovered Butch's visit, he was pulling today's piece of apple pie off the window ledge.  He is now eating it.  Somewhat out of sight unfortunately.

Butch the Opossum Goes For Apple Pie

11/23  
10:23PM  I'd put a piece of homemade apple pie on the window sill and then went about my business.  Butch hadn't been arriving until the wee hours of the morning.  But evidentally Butch smelled pie and he arrived early.  

Butch keeps eating but he has changed to a binoc eye focus just in case I try something shady.

I evidentally have passed the possible shady test and Butch goes back to a focus on eating.
Other options for food are a tangerine, shredded carrots and apple peels.  Pie wins.

Note Butch's inciser.

Butch mines the crack between the window and the sill.  I decide as he may be becoming more shy about appearing at the feeding station that I will exit and give him some privacy.

In the meantime, here is a crop of Butch the opposum's toes.  They appear almost as if they have scales.  

The claws are curved and as opossums don't do much in the way of heavy digging as in burrow excavation, I am positing that they evolved at least in part for tree climbing and traction.

I wonder what tomorrow may bring.

Donegal Browne

Cooper's Hawk vs the House Sparrows and Butch the Opossum Steals the Peanut Butter Jar

There is a Cooper's Hawk in the trees right of center.  I wouldn't have known either but I saw her fly into the trees from the feeder area carrying a House Sparrow.

Nature taking it's course but I'm just as happy as a flock of approximately 73 House Sparrows has taken over the feeder area on this side of the house and they have run off all of the native birds.

I've never had that happen before.  In my previous experience the House Sparrows and native birds coexist at the feeders.  Not this group.

The Cooper's eats her snack.

She checks me out.

Then she's back watching the feeding area.

She hides her face behind the orange leaf and peers at the feeding area.

Cooper's preens her chest.

Then she's back staring at the sparrows.

Next up-Butch the opossum

Butch arrived tonight circa 2:15 AM in the rain.  He was just finishing lapping up the sugar water in the shredded carrot bowl when I discovered him.  He then chewed a strip of sweetened carrot.

Note how the longer coarse hairs of his coat catch and hold the rain drops.

He then lifted his nose and headed for the peanut butter jar. While we're thinking about it, look at his nose.  As Opossum's have out of the usual mammal characteristics so goes their noses.  Their noses are open on the sides.

Butch took one lick of the peanut butter...

...grabbed the jar by the rim and walked off right.  Just as he disappeared into the dark I heard the cracking of plastic.  Butch was off for a tasty peanut butter treat.

Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne