116 
VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM. 
the fat feast that succeeded on the following evening, prolonged beyond 
the hour of midnight, the boisterous laugh and the merry song, we leave 
to be detailed by others, although we confess we have not been uninter- 
ested spectators of such scenes. 
** Let not ambition mock their useful toil, 
“ Theii’ homely joys and destiny obscure, 
“ Kor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile, 
“ The simple pleasures of the humble poor.” 
The habit of feigning death to deceive an enemy is common to several 
species of quadrupeds, and we on several occasions witnessed it in our com- 
mon red fox (F. Fulms). But it is more strikingly exhibited in the Opos- 
sum than in any other animal with which we are acquainted. When it 
is shaken from a tree and falls among grass and shubbery, or when detect- 
ed in such situations, it doubles itself into a heap and feigns death so 
artfully, that we have known some schoolboys carrying home I'or a quarter 
of a mile an individual of this species, stating that when they fir.st saw it, 
it was running on the ground, and they could not tell what had killed it. 
We would not, however, advise that the hand should on such occasions be 
suffered to come too familiarly in contact with the mouth, lest the too 
curious meddler should on a sudden be startled with an unexpected and 
unwelcome gripe. 
This species has scarcely any note of recognition, and is remarkably 
silent ; when molested, it utters a low growl ; at other times its voice re- 
sembles the hissing of a cat. The Opossum displays no cunning in 
avoiding traps set to capture it, entering almost any kind of trap, very 
commonly being taken in a log trap called a dead fall. 
From its very prolific nature it can afford to have many enemies. In 
addition to the incessant war waged against it by men and dogs, we have 
ascertained that its chief enemy among rapacious birds is the Virginian 
owl, {Strix Virginiana,) which flying abroad at the same hour in which the 
Opossum is on foot, pounces on it, and kills it with great ease. We have 
heard of an instance in which it was seen in the talons of the white-headed 
eagle, {Habietus leucocephalus^ and of two or three in which the great hen- 
hawk {F. Borealis) was observed feeding upon it. We recollect no instance 
of its having been killed by the wild cat or the fox. The wolf, it is said, 
seizes on every Opossum it can find, and we have heard of two instances 
where half-grown animals of this species were found to have been 
swallowed by the rattlesnake. 
Although the dog hunts it so eagerly, yet we have never been able to 
ascertain that it ever feeds upon its flesh ; indeed, we have witnessed the 
