Joey

We arrived back from The Woodlands late last night. I tried to get Mabel to go outside to go to the restroom before we went to bed, but she refused to go down the porch stairs in fear of being locked out of the house for the rest of the night. So, I went out onto the deck so she could see me and she went down to the grass and did her business. Then, she started running and kind of scooting around something. It was really dark out there, but I could kind of see her since she is white. I thought I heard something make a noise and I thought I saw her trying to sniff something/play with something. I was afraid it was a snake! I ran inside to get our super power flashlight, where I could shine it from the deck and still see what was down there. Well, I couldn't tell what it was but it was small and its eyes caught the light and reflected 2 little eyes. I went running into the house yelling for Brad...."Brad, there's something out there....it's little....and it has eyes!" I know, great description, but that's all I knew and that's all I could think of at the moment of crisis. He went down there and found this.....

Did you know male and female opossums are called Jacks and Jills? Cute! And did you know that a baby opossum is a joey? Well, Joey stared at us for a long time and finally wandered over to the nearest tree and climbed up. I was wondering if he was going to go climb up there and sleep upside down by his tail. Brad says this is a myth. Why do they do it in cartoons then?

(*I found various websites with contradicting information. Some say true, some say myth.)

After it went away and everyone (as in Me, Brad, Mabel, and Joey) were safe, I started picturing a mean momma opossum coming out of the tree to get us. So I ran back inside.

Please, little Joey, do not use your opposable thumbs to climb into my backyard anymore.