A POCKET FULL OF BABIES 
“Oh, Uncle Jack! Look, over there among the trees! 
What is that walking on the ground?” Marylee cried. 
“I see it,” said Fred. “It looks like a big gray cat. But 
it is not a cat; it has a long nose.” 
“Look at those things on its back,” exclaimed Bess. “It 
is coming this way. Let's hide behind some brush; so 
we can see it better.” 
They all hid. 
“Oh!” whispered Bess. “I see what it is. It's Mother 
Opossum, with her babies on her back.” 
“I see six of them on one side,” counted Marylee. 
“And there are five or six on the other side,” said 
Buddy. “They are holding on to her hair with their feet 
and mouths, and their heads are in a row along her 
back.” 
“Mother Opossum is taking her babies out for a ride 
while she hunts for her dinner,” said Uncle Jack, very 
quietly. “She does not often go hunting in the daytime. 
She likes to hunt at night; for she can see in the dark 
as well as a cat.” 
Mother Opossum stopped to smell the ground. She 
scratched under some dead leaves, and grabbed some¬ 
thing with her foot. Then she put it to her mouth and 
ate it. 
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