Jan. 13, ‘10-It’s been the usual lively days @ Welcome Home Farm. Tom carefully set two cage  traps to catch the opossum that was after the poultry. He baited it with Greg’s Great Coon Bait. Tom was successful and captured the animal. Let’s just say he didn’t get over to get the animal out of the cage quick enough for me.

Trudging through the freshly fallen snow, I’m carrying the beloved scrap dish. Piles of over cooked carrots sit on the mound of mash. I walk over to the opossum and it does the fierce look and wrinkles it’s nose. Giggling now I’m impressed with it’s long teeth and large jaws. I’m hissing back practicing my best opossum stare and flare.

Now Uncle Kenny Salwey has such an appreciation for a scrunched up nose-the Salwey scrunch is over taking our photo albums. I’ve come up with a new pose that will put the Salwey scrunch to shame..too tame.

I’m feeling sorry for the captured opossum that had just been looking @ the poultry with hopes of fine dining dancing in it’s head.  The geese are honking their awareness of the extra commotion. I drop orange carrot cuts cautiously into the cage and this really aggravates the critter. Tom was reminded again to be Trapper Man before I tried to get a water dish inside the cage trap with a snarling opossum snapping jagged teeth @ me.

Being a fan of the Red Green Show-I love the name of their lodge..Opossum Lodge. Just remember if women don’t find ya handsome-they’ll find ya handy. You’re all in it together. Greg taught Hawken the chant of,  “I’m a MAN. I love bacon and guns!!”  Priceless to watch the reaction of Grandpa Gerald andGrandma Sharon when the 3 year old lad greeted them with those words.

Opossums also tend to conjure up thoughts of just a few years back. Tom and I seriously considered buying Opossum Van. The van was just quirky enough to be appreciated by us.  Farmers off the vet route-Baecker’s out by upper Waumandee- had a hired milker Devin that was in high school. He was a trapper and great outdoors person. He took a gray van and  mounted a stuffed opossum on it’s roof.  Tom and I would loiter and just joke about taking that van for a spin. Devin let us know it was For Sale. We decided to pass on the prospect of vetting in a too cool Opossum Van. I don’t know if it’s still patroling the backroads of Western WI.

Have you seen Opossum Van or a treasure similar in character cruising the roads of your region??

Sue Roskos