MY NEIGHBORS PAID ME A VISIT

The Gray fox family that lives in my woods must be expecting… she is visiting my compost area a little before dark every night. Isn’t she beautiful?

And then there were these 2 love birds…

Normally possums are solitary animals… Obviously they get together every once in a while… The romance is short, but I understand it is intense. I hope the mama brings her little ones around in a couple of months.

‘POSSUMS AND LYMES!

Opossums: Where Lyme disease goes to die

John Ferro, Poughkeepsie Journal 11:32 a.m. EDT March 16, 2015

American marsupial consumes a large percentage of ticks

Because opossums consume ticks in great numbers, they are among the best natural defenses against Lyme disease. (Photo: Gannett News Service file)

They come out at night.

They have scary teeth.

They have a weird name with an extra vowel most people don't pronounce.

And they are where Lyme disease goes to die.

Say hello to the opossum, the American marsupial with a pointy nose and prehensile tail that dines on ticks like a vacuum dines on dust.

(Most people drop the first vowel when speaking of 'possums, but possums actually belong to a different species native to Australia.)

With the weather warming — and recent news of trails coming to Dover, Highland and New Paltz whetting the wanderlust — folks are fixing to plant their feet in something other than a snow bank.

And that means being aware of the threat of Lyme disease.

The tiny adolescent ticks that carry Lyme disease bacteria are most active during the late spring months, typically May and even as early as April during warmer years.

But whereas these ticks can be found in large numbers on mice, shrews and chipmunks, they are eaten in large numbers by opossum.

Opossum are among the most voracious consumers of ticks, according to research conducted by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. (Photo: Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

Research led by scientists based at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook placed different species into cages, covered them with ticks and waited for the biting arachnids to jump off.

The scientists then counted how many survived.

Opossums can eat or remove as much as 96 percent of the ticks that land on them.

Research also suggests the immune system of opossums is fairly effective at fighting off the disease.

So even the ticks that do survive a visit to an opossum are less likely to acquire the disease.

Cary scientists are continuing to examine the correlation between the frequency of different types of mammals, and the infection rates of ticks found in the same area.

The initial thought? Where foxes thrive, Lyme doesn't.

That's because foxes are good hunters of the small mammals that serve as the most effective reservoirs of the Lyme pathogen.

I'm told the data are still being analyzed and that findings may be presented later this year.

The ongoing research is also looking at the role opossums play.

All of this points to why Lyme is a particularly inscrutable disease.

There are so many complex interactions that govern its prevalence — from human land-use development, to shifting climate patterns, to the abundance (or lack) of certain mammals.

And that doesn't even address how the disease behaves once it is in the body. (The Lyme bacterium is apparently one of the only things on earth that doesn't need iron to survive.)

One thing is certain, however.

Opossums are your friend and mine in the fight against Lyme.

"Out There" appears every other week in My Valley. Reach John Ferro at 845-437-4816; jferro@poughkeepsiejournal.com; Twitter: @PoJoEnviro

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Possums are excellent friends! If you have one hanging around, please don’t chase him (or her) away.

They love to eat copperheads – tell me that’s not a good thing… and they DO NOT GET RABIES! They will not fight with your pets. My cats just watch them, but do not fight them… even when one comes up and finishes his food, or warms his little toes on the heated cat bed outside. Spook just sits and waits or moseys off to another bed.

Our wet possum coming in for a snack  and toe warming in Spook’s heated box during the last snow. Be kind to these babies, they will repay you 10 fold!

HAPPY YULE TIDE

Rusty wishes you a very Happy Holiday, whatever your belief. See? He is bringing you some Yule Tide camellias.

    

 

AND THE POSSUM!

A PILE OF POSSUMS

A PILE OF POSSUMS and other surprises Life throws at ya… That sums up the past 2 weeks.

I know, I have been out of touch for many of you. If I owe you an email, I am sorry, but life has gotten rather chaotic. I seem to be running a kitty hospice here with the oldest cat, Punkin, in renal failure, and the youngest, Rascal (alias the Rat) suffering from a build-up of fluid in his chest cavity… pathology reports were inconclusive, so, the best we can do is take him once a week to get it drained off, rehydrate him, and keep him happy. All this is going on, shuttling cats back and forth to the vet, researching kitty problems, buying and preparing special foods… and trying not to neglect my other geriatric cat, Hadji, who is diabetic – but has been off insulin for over 2 years thru very careful feeding – and lots of spoiling.

So in the midst of all this kitty care, preparing for our Train Station’s Plant Sale next week-end, and preparing my own garden (peas are up, onions are up, and potatoes are in their potato bags), cutting grass, pulling weeds, mulching, and trying to keep a handle on the house work (OYE!) I get a phone call from fellow blogger, Grenville, http://thefrogandpenguinn.blogspot.com/, down the street, “Help! I’ve got a possum emergency!” And, indeed he did. So, I dropped everything, I mean, who needs clean laundry anyway, right? Clean floors? HA! and jumped back in the van and headed down to his house where he handed me a little box of the cutest baby possums… My guess is they are about 2 months old (2nd birth) and I could see they were a bit hungry. I did not restock any possum formula after the last baby, so I had to get them to another rehabber pretty fast. I transferred them to a deeper box, one they could not climb out of, made a phone call, and headed south for another possum transfer. Isn’t life fascinating? Good thing I am usually a pretty flexible person.

  

Anyway, for those of you who have not heard from me, I have been (and am) very busy, mostly baby-sitting my own sick babies – do you know how hard it is to type with a kitty on your lap? Or I might be transporting possums down the road to someone who is probably as rushed as I am. Fortunately, the folks at her day job don’t seem to mind her having a couple cages of baby animals on a table near her while she is at work. Could you do that? So go visit the Frog and PenguInn and see what he has to say. And may you have a restful calm day!

AN IMPOSSUMBLY LONG WINTER

Where is Spring, you say! Here we have daffodils, pansies, even the forsythia is opening… the late camellias are starting and I swear I saw a little color on a couple early azaleas. I did! But if you listened to that dumb groundhog up in Philadelphia, well, I am sure you must be disappointed. You can see a picture of this liar on this blog: http://thefrogandpenguinn.blogspot.com/2013/03/dont-shoot-piano-player.html.

Very possumly Phil should be retired – a suggestion that he can’t refuse, kind of retirement… I, the Onley Proud member of the Possum Prognosticator’s Club, President of Possum Patrol (always on the lookout for lying muskrats), and possumly the most accurate Predictor of a Pussumly early spring… I got laughed at, guffawed at even, when I said Spring would indeed be late this year. HA! But who gets the last chortle? MOI! As I curl up all warm and toasty in my heated nest down the street from those nasty muskrats, snug but not smug… Oh, no, not me… I remember the disbelief when I saw MY shadow and ran for dear life back into my snugness on the carport Pledging not to come back out until spring really arrives… or some delicious cat food gets placed in the dish a couple feet outside my door. Whichever comes first. We possums may get blinded easily by headlights but we’re not fools! My human CO (Can Opener) still has her snow shovel out just a few feet on the other side of the heated water dish. She even has a de-icer in the ground level birdbath, yes indeedy.

But I digress… Just how accurate is that dumb groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil? According to StormFax Weather Almanac, Phil has been right 39 percent of the time since 1887. It is amazing that he still has a job. I, on the other hand can never be replaced. Not only is my Prediction record Perfect, but where else can you find an animal this cute who eats copperheads for snacks, catches mice and rats and all sorts of buglies and does NOT ever get rabies? Can you beat that with a stick? Impossumble. 

In spite of all the wet weather we have had here, and I do mean wet – I mean, look at the yard! In the summertime this is where grass gets cut! We would need pontoons on the mower to get thru here! Or, maybe we could sell it to some unsuspecting Yankee as waterfront property, huh? No?

My human will tell you, “It always snows on the daffodils.” I bet you can check back to March of each year and find a picture of some bright yellow beauties bowed over with a layer of snow. My human also says, “Count your Cards,” to see how long winter will last. Translation: the more Cardinals at your feeders, the longer the winter. Unh huh, check it out. I taught her all these things. I did. She is not as impossumble as most humans. I am right Proud of her. Pay attention to Nature I told her. The more berries, the colder the winter.  Then there is the nutty predictor – the more nuts, the worse the winter will be, or the thicker shells, or the fatter… you name it.  Whatever. They are talking about edible nuts, aren’t they? Not humans… most of them are nuts, it seems. The point is, it is 4 days after the vernal equinox, and if you look real hard, it is snowing. Either that or these trees got dandruff!

(If you were a possum you would find that hairlarious!)

OK, so it is only 5 snowflakes an hour right now. Hang on. Just wait! You’ll see!

PLAYING POSSUM?

PLAYING POSSUM? OR DEALING WITH THE HEAT? Have you seen that new commercial out where the kids have a "pet" possum... it is on the ground looking dead... the kids whine to their father that their possum is dead... he says, "No, its just playing possum, leave him alone." And then it pops up and hisses at them. I have NO idea what the commercial is trying to sell, I just watch the possum and wait for him to roll over and hiss. The weather has been horrible lately, as I am sure you are aware. Hot does not even begin to describe the 100 degree plus temps many of us have been experiencing. So if you can't jump in the pool to cool off, how does a tiny animal cool off? Possum Pics are from friend Bobbie... Its all in the posture...
AND, Seems possums aren't the only ones!
Seems my guys cool off the same way. Hadji... the Rascal... Punkin... Spook...
How do you cool off???????

SNOWBOARDING POSSUM

the LAND OF CAMELLIAS, KITTY CATS, AND POSSUMS

I started this post several days ago... did not get to finish it as the 'puter was in the 'puter-pital for a few days. Now, so thoroughly cleaned that I have to reload everything (and have lost tons of stuff - sigh) it is back. If you have not heard from me - that is why. I will do better after I retrieve your info and a lot of other things.

From last week: I just had a phone call from someone who was complaining about the fog this morning, the frost, the noise the VDOT men were making out on the road, the cat demanding his breakfast, the dog underfoot needing to go out for a pee… We live within 2 miles of each other so I am sharing the same fog, same frost, and even though I do not have a dog, I do have 2 outside cats I have to go out and feed, so I cannot escape the elements this morning. I headed for the door, can in hand, but, instead, rather than taking out a can of food, I turned around and came back for my camera. The sunrise was beautiful thru the fog. OK, not one of those brilliant bright awesomely colored sunrises but it was not all just a lessening of the gray sky, either. If you are a sunrise watcher, you know how quickly the colors change, and indeed the red brilliance had started to soften when I took the time to come back inside and get the camera. In the space of only a few shots, the red was gone and an orange glow took its place. For a couple seconds I was reminded of a forest fire in the distance. Instead, it was sunrise over the ocean. I stood beside the van on the carport – I was still in my slippers – and took these shots while a little cat wound around my ankles telling me he loved me dearly and especially admired my ability to open cans. Please open one. LOL! The other cat lounged sleepily in the heated box and waited, no beggar he! Soon the camellias will be busy with honeybees… Yes, honey bees love my yard, especially in the winter when it warms up enough for them to fly. There are usually a hundred or more camellias in bloom loaded with pollen, a mile from their bee boxes at my neighbor’s to the east. See the frost on the edge of the leaves? It will not hurt the camellias. The winter camellias can survive even a nice snowfall. They do not like a prolonged period of cold like we have had for the past 2 years. I stood there in the chilly morning air, petting the little cat that had jumped up on a shelf, all the better to be petted, looked at the camellias in January, and thought how lucky I was to live in such a place. Sure, I have a bigger house up in the mountains, beautiful scenery, a river with white water 1000 feet from my house… but no camellias. And there it is seriously cold this morning, and a light snow is falling. I am not into driving on icy mountain roads. Lazy, I guess… no longer adventurous enough. Or, maybe I have that wonderful elusive thing so many folks search their whole lives for, move from pillar to post looking for – contentment… happy to be living in the land of camellias, where kitty cats drink out of the bird bath, and possums hang out on the carport.

The end!

A POSSUM FOR THANKSGIVING

NO, we did not EAT him, he just paid us a visit, much to Punkin's dislike, not that Punkin dislikes possums, but he was not feeling like sharing. Punk went over and took a sniff, turned around and got back on the steps to wait until the slow poke finished and "mommy" brought out fresh food. I did not recognize this possum. I guess he was visiting for Thanksgiving. He sure was a big fella, and hungry. Or maybe he just liked the fixin's here. The big crockery DOG dish is heavy. Raccoons can't steal it, the wind can't blow it away. The plastic keeps the food dry in a windy rain, and keeps leaves out of their food. More camellias are in bloom. I am never sure which is more impressive, the masses of flowers, or the individual ones. Even tho we have had temps below freezing, the camellias are quite happy. If you follow this blog, you might remember pics of snow on the camellias from last winter... one of my favorite sights. They get "burned" when the sun shines on the ice on the petals, so some folks cover their plants. Camellias are hardy, to a point. They will not take repeated freezing temps like in the teens. These leaves are from last week. The wind from Wednesday stripped the bush of all but its berries.
I hope you had a happy Turkey Day. Be safe over the holidays!