Enter Sid, the Vicious

Last night I heard noises. There was stuff being moved on the veranda. Then I heard the most blood chilling howl and got up. Being startled awake and in a drug induced stupor, legal pain meds for back, it all seemed surreal and then I became more concerned with deciding if I had awoken or was in dream state. The next scream proved I was awake.

As I peeped out the window to my surprise there was an overgrown marsupial flailing the devil out of Hateful, the neighborhood cat. Now Hateful is a pretty good cat, he's just constantly mad as hell. Can't blame the cat, he's been hit twice by cars. Not very smart either. Still, poor thing has to eat. So people around here feed him. There's even been an occasional visit to Pet Smart to buy him food.

When I opened the door it startled all fauna and Hateful made a blurry retreat up the huge Magnolia. The huge possum looked around somewhat bewildered. Then he did something that made me realize he was definitely a descendant of Arnold's. He made a middle finger gesture at me with his possum paw and then waddled off and scurried up the Oak tree. I saw his ancestor do this many times.

Knowing Arnold all those years and watching his antics was great fun. Hopefully, Sid will be the same. Yes, that's his name, Sid. Since he made a lewd gesture I decided to name him after Craig Ferguson's cussing rabbit on late night TV. Now we've got to see if he despises all the other neighborhood animals and loves bar-b-que grill tipping. If I hear of any old Ford Escort station wagons being turned over then it's for sure the genes of Arnold strongly survived.

You have to be cautious around Possums. They'll bite and scratch like crazy if provoked. They have been known to be rabies carriers. So don't mess with them in the wild. Occasionally people do raise them and they can be docile. Needless to say Sid won't ever be qualified to enter the ranks of a petting zoo.

Now I have to put the broom back on the veranda and reattach the water hose. Hey, simple tools of the trade when doing late night possum watching. Well...you need these things if you want the other animals to survive. Now it'll be fun to see if he has a "mom" tattoo on his arm like Arnold. Ahhhh nature, always full of surprises.

"The assumption that animals are without rights and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality."
~Arthur Schopenhauer