OPOSSUM. 



{Didelphys virginiana.) 



SHAW. 



THE opossum is the only member 

 of its order, the Marstipialia, 

 which inhabits North America, 

 says Mr. Chas. Hallock, one of the 

 leading naturalists in the United 

 States. It is confined to the southern 

 portion, its range not reaching much 

 north of the Ohio River on the west, 

 or New Jersey on the east. It is 

 probably never found east of the Hud- 

 son River. 



This animal is about twenty inches 

 long to the root of the tail, which ap- 

 pendage is fifteen inches in length. 

 The color is pale grayish, the hair be- 

 ing nearly white with brown tips. The 

 tail is nearly naked, and is prehensile; 

 and the general aspect of the creature 

 is rat-like. 



" It is with a certain feeling of sadness 

 that we chronicle the dying out, one by 

 one, of old customs and habits. Each 

 year old usages give place to new, 

 and the change certainly in very many 

 cases is not for the better. 



" The opossum can hardly be classed 

 among the game animals of America, 

 yet its pursuit in the South in old plan- 

 tation days used to afford the staple 

 amusement for the dusky toilers of the 

 cotton states. It was the custom in 

 ante-bellum times, as often as the re- 

 volving year brought round the late 

 fall days with their ripened fruit and 

 golden grain, for the dark population 

 of the plantation, occasionally accom- 

 panied by young ' massa,' to have a 

 grand 'possum hunt a la mode. This 

 custom, through desuetude, and change 

 of circumstances, has been well-nigh 

 consigned to oblivion. 



" Its food, upon which it becomes fat 

 and toothsome to the dusky palate, is 

 persimmons and wild grapes, together 

 with the various berries and fruits that 

 abound in the Southern states. After 

 the first hoarfrost haswhitened the hills 

 the 'possum is most eagerly sought for 

 by Caesar, Pluto and Mars. At night 

 the darkies start forth en masse, armed 

 to the teeth with every available weap- 



on, and accompanied by a number of 

 nondescript dogs, generally well trained 

 for 'possum or coon hunting. 



" These dogs have some hound blood 

 in their composition, and understand 

 the requirements of the occasion per- 

 fectly. Some ancient shade of Dis 

 with snowy hair is selected as leader, 

 and he controls the dogs and manipu- 

 lates the horn. The favorite haunts of 

 the "varmint " are familiar to the ne- 

 groes, and the " meet " is generally 

 held on the borders of the swamp, 

 where persimmons abound, or, if the 

 moon shine too brightly for the game 

 to venture far from cover, in the darker 

 vales where the the luscious grapes run 

 wild and plenty. 



" The dogs range far from the party, 

 and the moment one of them strikes 

 the " trail ob an ole 'possum " he gives 

 the signal note to the expectant party 

 by a short yelp. This sets the sable 

 hunters wild with excitement; they lis- 

 ten for the second sound, sure to come, 

 which will betoken that the varmint 

 is treed. They are not long kept in 

 suspense, for faint, away down in the 

 valley, comes the joyful bay, and at the 

 signal the whole party stampede, spite 

 of all ' ole uncle Caesar's ' attempts 

 to restrain them, and rush pellmell 

 through bush and brake in the direc- 

 tion of the sound. They arrive pant- 

 ing and breathless from the wild race, 

 in twos and threes, and are soon all as- 

 sembled at the foot of a a small sap- 

 ling, in the branches of which the 'pos- 

 sum has taken temporary refuge from 

 his pursuers. 



" Soon a nimble young buck shins the 

 tree, and the marsupial is shaken off 

 after some difficulty, for he clings with 

 the utmost tenacity to the limb, using 

 the tail not the least in this battle for 

 freedom. The anxious dogs below 

 await his fall, and his death is com- 

 passed in less time than it takes to tell 

 it. This is the only method employed 

 in the capture of the opossum, and 

 this is rapidly becoming traditional." 



