132 



NATURE STUDY REVIEW 



[9 :5— May, 1913 



above and almost met the possum as it came from the water. 

 The possum promptly climbed a whip of willow, barely strong 

 enough to support his weight. Bobby jumped for him and both 

 fell into the water. By considerable coaxing Bobby carried the 

 possum over to our side of the creek. 



The possum when close pressed by a dog will invariably 

 climb a small tree if there is one to be found. In this respect he 

 differs radically from the coon who is a good judge of timber and 



picks the large 

 ones. He seems 

 also to prefer a 

 leaning one and 

 very brushy, or a 

 grapevine, which 

 he c 1 i m b s with 

 great ease, using his 

 specially adapted 

 tail to cling to 

 branches as a meas- 

 ure of safety. Very 

 often instead of 

 climbing a tree, he 

 goes into a hollow 

 log or stump. ]\Iore 

 or less timorous at 

 other times this is 

 the place where he 

 asserts himself for 

 he is a scrapper in 

 his own right when 

 a dog can approach 

 him only from the 

 front. 



A hollow log, 

 tree, or stump, is 

 the usual den of a possum, but they are not over particular as 

 to their quarters as they use them mostly to sleep in and often 

 make their bed in a brush pile, and more rarely in a corn shock 

 or take possession of a squirrels' nest of leaves in a tree. If a 

 den is in a tree the hollow is usually near the base, or in the large 

 roots. Occasionally it is high up in the tree, but in this case the 

 tree is usually a leaning one, making it easy to climb. One morn- 

 ing, after a light snow in the night, I tracked a possum into a 



