OPOSSUMS AND OTHER SMALL ANIMALS 317 



opossums and can say that when they are properly 

 cooked, they are not only a good, but a delicious, 

 article of food. The fat is very fine and oily and 

 is so mild to the taste that one is in great danger 

 of eating too much before becoming aware of its 

 exceeding richness. I made this mistake myself 

 with my first roasted opossum, and ate so heartily 

 of the rich food that it was a long time before I 

 could bear the thought of trying it again. Of late 

 years the opossum seems to be migrating north. 

 When I first came to Long Island, in 1878, the 

 opossum was unknown to the hunters and farmers 

 on the Island, and the one I received from Charles- 

 ton was looked upon as a great curiosity in Flush- 

 ing, but since then they have invaded not 

 only the farms, but also the villages, and I 

 have seen them captured in the street in the Bor- 

 ough of Queens, New York City. When I first 

 went to Pike County, Pennsylvania, the natives 

 there 



HAD NEVER SEEN ONE, 



but this summer, 1907, I heard of several having 

 been captured in that township. According to the 

 Savannah News, a Mr. Thomas Chancey has 

 awakened to the possibilities. of the opossum as a 

 food animal, and gone into the business of opossum 

 raising on an extensive scale. His opossum ranch 

 is enclosed with a wire fence, to keep out the 

 'possum hunters. This novel farm is said to be 

 located about a mile from Hawkinsville. Accord- 



