Blur of Possum

Blur of Possum
Originally uploaded by umlud

In an attempt to catch the clutch of feral cats, U-M pest management set some humane traps in the barn. However, last night - regardless of the fact that it started raining at some point overnight - none of the cats entered the cages. We did catch a possum, though.

Apparently, though, we weren't enough of a perceived threat to it for it to play dead. Instead, it was looking at us through the cage as it was carried outside, and a few seconds after the cage door was opened, it rushed out of the gate.

I've never seen a possum run, but it is not a very gainly animal. It moves more at something that approximates a very fast walk; even a groundhog can run at a sort of gallop, body flexing up and down as it runs (as opposed to side to side while walking). This guy, though, ran with a side-to-side body movement. If this actually is how possums run, then it is not surprising why they are relatively easy for other animals to catch on the ground.

Anyway, the attempts continue to catch the cats.