Playing possum on State Street
Oh, hello -- I'm just checking to see if my package arrived.
Jennifer emailed this pic to us:
I was walking down State St. [in Albany] to work this morning at about 8am, and I saw a POSSUM on the front stoop of 257 State St! Unfortunately I only had my camera phone, but you can see him pretty clearly sitting on the bucket. I used to have a possum that lived in the backyard of my building, who would eat my garbage at night, but I never thought I would see one a). in broad daylight*; and b). on the street.
Incidentally, this happens to be my landlord's house, so after snapping some photos I called him so he was aware of his visitor.
*If you can call this cloudy, overcast, nasty weather "daylight."
We also recently spotted one of these things. It was crossing a street in uptown Albany and it was huge -- like as big as a well-fed house cat.
Earlier on AOA: Foxes and fishers and bears, oh my!
(Thanks, Jennifer!)
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Comments
So that's where I saw Pedro Espada this morning!
... said Chuck Miller on Jul 21, 2009 at 11:26 AM | link
We've seen a lot of possoms this year. Two weeks ago, the hammock in our backyard broke and my dad fell through it and onto a baby (wah) possum (very sad, but also bizarrely hilarious). It was hiding in some brush, some ivy and stuff, but weird that it was out.
Then last week I saw another baby one climbing its way through some large bushes outside out door. Very odd. They are so ugly and creepy! They're okay when small, but when they get full sized I get so freaked out.
... said kater on Jul 21, 2009 at 11:28 AM | link
It's all fun and games until you find out that two possums are looking at you while you are in your bathroom, right in Center Square. Or they were raccoons; in any case I was traumatized. Pervs.
... said -S on Jul 21, 2009 at 11:41 AM | link
There is a possum family living in a tree in my backyard. If I let my dogs out very early in the morning, we surprise the ugly furry babies that seem to like sitting on the back stoop.
... said Madeline on Jul 21, 2009 at 11:48 AM | link
A raccoon ate my pond koi last summer, also right in Center Square. My husband shot him with a pellet gun and he didn't even flinch. Maybe it was a zombie raccoon.
... said Summer on Jul 21, 2009 at 11:58 AM | link
I saw a porcupine a couple weeks back in Washington Park and was shocked.
... said MattW on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:03 PM | link
Just a word of caution. Possums are nocturnal. Sometimes nocturnal animals with rabies (racoons also) show up in the daytime hours. Possums have an acute sense of smell and cloves of garlic can be a natural deterrent.
... said TM on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:15 PM | link
I thought possums weren't supposed to be out during the day? I remember a very scary talk from Elementary School about staying away from possums and raccoons and reporting to an adult if you saw one because they might have rabies...
... said Cassie on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:24 PM | link
I'm kind of a possum expert. And I can say with absolute certainty that it did NOT have rabies.
... said Mandy on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:31 PM | link
People, we live a stone's throw away from Washington Park, a 90-acre habitat for possum, skunks, porcupines, racoons, and other critters. I saw a blue heron fly overhead the other day! Here's the plan -- when you see an animal, don'f flip out. Don't try to pet it, don't poke it with a stick, don't shoot it (unless it's with a digital camera.) Let it do its thing, and you do yours. Now go listen to "In Our Backyard" on WAMC.
... said Colleen on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:32 PM | link
I was riding down the road one day...
... said Go Phish on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:44 PM | link
Just be thankful you don't live near the Pine Bush...
You could have this guy visiting your house for food...
... said Chuck Miller on Jul 21, 2009 at 1:09 PM | link
Not to be mean, but this possum looks like one of the rats from Muppets Take Manhattan.
... said Mel on Jul 21, 2009 at 1:36 PM | link
your end is the road.....
... said miles on Jul 21, 2009 at 8:15 PM | link
(Submitter here)
I had one living in my backyard, eating my garbage, for a while. We actually didn't know what it was at first, until my boyfriend happened to look out the open window late one night and found himself staring straight at the possum! (Or, "opossum," which is apparently the correct spelling - the "possum" is the down-under version, different species, though my understanding is "possum" is a commonly-accepted vernacular for the North American variety.)
Colleen hit the nail on the head. I called my landlord to let him know it was there, so he wouldn't spook it (and, also, so he would not be spooked) when he left his house. I didn't think it was rabid, either, but it is still a wild animal, and I didn't want to get much closer than I did to it. Though, he DID appear to be hamming it up when I was taking his picture. :)
... said irisira on Jul 22, 2009 at 6:44 AM | link
Maybe it's one of them thar zombie possums!
... said komradebob on Jul 22, 2009 at 10:59 AM | link
We live in the melrose area and one night last summer, we let our dog out into our front yard and she immediately began sniffing this furry thing on the ground. I caught a whiff and it smelled terrible - like death. I shooed the dog away and saw it was a possum, likely dead...hence the smell. "Poor thing" I thought.
I called my husband outside and asked him what we should do with it. He said he didn't know, and after some discussion about why this animal chose our front lawn to expire, we went inside our front porch (I can't convey how bad the smell was), all the while watching the critter from our window. We both turned away for a moment and poof! The possum was gone. We both went outside to look for it, but no sign (except for some leftover stench).
I turned to him and said, "huh. I guess that's why they call it 'playing possum'!"
We can only guess that the dog scared the heck out of it and as soon as it felt safe, it made a run for it. In any case, we got a big laugh out of it.
... said Dax on Jul 23, 2009 at 12:13 PM | link