The Opossum 17 



the painted autumnal woods the opossum finds spread 

 for him by the lavish hand of Nature this sumptuous 

 banquet of golden fruit. From twilight until the 

 approach of day, the greedy little creature feeds upon 

 the persimmons. 



O, heedless opossum! Could you but see into the 

 future you would not feed thus recklessly upon the 

 the fruit, which in a few weeks must render you so 

 temptingly fat ! " 'Simmon " time brings in " 'possum " 

 time, and from many a cabin the melodious negro 

 voices, accompanied by banjo, accordion, or harmoni- 

 con, are heard singing: 



" 'Possum am a cunnin' thing, 

 He rambles in de dark, 

 Nothin' 'tall disturb his min' 

 But to hyah my bulldog bark. " 



The hunting of the opossum in the South is usually 

 done at night, the one important feature of the hunt 

 being a good opossum dog. The opossum will take 

 to a tree at the approach of the dog, and the dog 

 should remain barking until the arrival of the hunting 

 party. If the tree is not difficult to climb the opos- 

 sum is soon captured, otherwise the tree must be 

 felled or the game shot. The colored people enter 

 into the sport with the greatest zest, and these hunting 

 parties have merry times. 



