As regular readers know, my Queen Cat Serena does most of the things that inspire the animal interview posts at this web site. She is a remarkable cat in every way, and tends to keep her daughters, Silver and Pastel, in the background. But recently Silver took an opportunity to show her stuff.
Silver is a slim, pretty cat, mostly white with only silver-grey spots, no orange or buff. She is enjoying being an aunt this summer. Sometimes she follows the spring kittens into bad behavior; sometimes she keeps them on the right side of the rules. She is still feeding them the milk her own kittens didn't live to use. She has also chosen a specialized job in the social cat family. The cats' sand pit is regularly cleaned by a chosen possum, and Silver is the Possum Trainer.
A small animal died in the rocks below the road last spring. Dasher Possum stopped dashing around the house about that time and, since sprinting in laps is unusual behavior for a possum, I thought he might have died. Since Silver showed a swollen paw with bite marks on it, I thought she might have killed him. I was glad that these guesses were wrong. Dasher moved up into the orchard, apparently to be further away from a skunk who has taken a great interest in the Vespulas. Silver's paw had probably been stung by Vespulas she swatted; I saw her bite into her paw as if trying to drain the inflammation. So who did die in the rocks? Since digging into the rocks would destroy the road, we'll never know.
The cats are accustomed to having their sand pit cleaned regularly by a possum. They didn't wait long to find another one. I call her Drabble; she's drab-colored, not very eye-catching, but Silver obviously rates her high.
I saw why one evening when I was watching the trash fire burn itself out and the kittens play after dinner. Dayflowers were blooming; I've tried to encourage the less showy native type, and was pleased to see only the native type blooming this year. Jewelweeds that had survived the kittens' onlsaughts were also blooming. The Feral Elberta Peach Tree, having lost the branch that always caught the most light and bore the most fruit, has produced little this year and I've left its fruit for the possum. And there she came, little Drabble, making a wide, careful circle around the three rambunctious kittens.
Drudge, who is currently the biggest and strongest kitten, bounced out at her.
"Drudge," I said, "leave that possum alone. It's a different kind of animal from you. Not as clean."
So Drabble completed her wide circuit and approached the place where the cats had lrft a few crumbs on the ground. She looked at Silver as if to say, "May I?"
"Come here," Silver nonverbally said.
Drabble crept up toward Silver, wary but well trained.
Silver sniffed her breath, keeping her nose about an inch away from Drabble's, slightly higher. "Show yourself to the human," she nonverbally said. "You don't smell very bad tonight."
"Must I?" Drabble nonverbally said.
"If you want those crumbs," Silver nonverbally said. "Go on."
Drabble crept up toward me, obviously working through fear.
"That's close enough to my human," Diego nonverbally said, bouncing at Drabble.
"Don't be silly," Silver and I said together. Nonverbally and verbally.
So Drabble ventured within two or three feet from my foot and carefully, with lots of lip action, sucked up the crumbs.
"Nobody likes us possums," she might have been thinking. "We are the composters who eat their bodywastes, and many living things seem to begrudge us even that. Why is even a human showing so much tolerance toward me tonight?"
Researchers have imagined that, although all possums seem to do, from the human perspective, is creep about at night and eat garbage, they live in fight-or-flight mode and spend much of their lives being afraid of other creatures, most of which are faster and tougher than they are. Even pampered pet possums spend a lot of time finding places to hide. From humans; point of view they don't make good pets; even if they can survive on a diet of food that any other animal wants to think about, they sleep all day, don't want to cuddle, will bite if anyone they don't know gets near them, aren't social enough to have interesting relationships even with other possums, and will eat dung and carrion if they can. (Urban possums are also said to like roaches, as food.)
"Because of Silver," I said. "If she thinks you're a good possum, you probably are."
I've never seen a possum on Petfinder but here are some adoptable dogs who come with character references from cats.
Zipcode 10101: Apollo from NYC
Apollo is thought to be mostly Yellow Lab, not a Golden Retriever. Still a playful pup at heart, he's said to be friendly with everyone including cats, inviting everyone to play and then curling up beside them for naps. He weighs 28 pounds and is not expcted to get much bigger, so he'll be easier to handle than a purebred retriever.
Zipcode 20202: Henry from DC
Henry is said to do well with other dogs and cats generally. He's young, and has a high price tag because he comes from an organization that includes basic training as part of the deal. You could get to know him as a foster dog before paying the adoption fee, but look at that beagle face--you'd have to decide quickly. They solicit sponsors to help cover the fees, when possible.
Zipcode 30303: Millie from Colquitt
Millie is said to be good-natured and friendly but not well-mannered. She spent most of her life outdoors and has had very little house training. However, she's been found to get along well with cats or other dogs. The asking price is high but may be negotiable.
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