HABITS OF THE OPOSSUM 
overtax my space. Let me better quote a summary by a keen 
old observer, Dr. Lincecum of Texas, and then pass on to a 
brief notice of that peculiar behavior which has given our lan- 
guage the expressive verb to play ‘“’possum” : — 
“They dwell in hollow logs, stumps, and in holes at the root of trees,” ° 
writes Lincecum in The American Naturalist for September, 1872. 
“They do not burrow or prepare dens for themselves, but find such as 
are ready made. I have seen them carrying into their holes at the approach 
of cold weather considerable bundles of dry leaves rolled up in their tail [like 
rat kangaroos, — see page 499]; they understand the signs of the coming 
spells of bad weather, and they prepare for it by making themselves a good 
warm bed. They do not hibernate, but are found out hunting in frosty 
weather. They possess but little caution. Hence they are often found 
in the poultry houses, chicken coops, smokehouses, and even in our dining 
rooms, rattling about in search of something to eat. I have often seen 
their tracks in the roads and paths, where they had traveled three or four 
miles to a farmyard, to which they had no doubt been directed by the crow- 
ing of the roosters. They will catch a grown hen and drag her off, squall- 
ing at the top of her voice, and will not abandon her until the dogs which 
have been aroused by the uproar have overtaken and begun cracking 
their bones. They will eat bacon, dry beef, carrion, any kind of fowl, 
rabbits, any sort of small game, and fruits of every variety. They vora- 
ciously devour the muskmelon, and several species of mushrooms; in 
short, they are nearly omnivorous. ... During their rutting season the 
males are very rampant and belligerent. Numbers will collect around 
a female and fight like dogs.’’ 
Often when this animal, or any of its tropical relatives, finds 
itself cornered or attacked, it will suddenly fall limp and dead; 
‘Cand when the opossum plays ’possum he invariably playing 
draws back the gums from his glittering white teeth eee 
until he looks as if he might have been dead a month.” You 
may roll him about with your foot, or pick him up and carry 
him away by the tail or offer him any indignity you please and 
he will “keep on sayin’ nuffin”; but don’t turn your back on 
him or his little black shoe-button eyes will steal open and he 
will suddenly spring up and away; and don’t let your hand get 
517 
