Being an animal lover, I have been surrounded by a varitey of animals my whole life. I was raised in
Laguna Niguel, an older section where cows and sheep were our neighbors, in 1978. Opossums, skunks, raccoons and coyotes
were regular visitors in our back yard. In our family, each family member had a chore of preparing food, nightly, for the
possums and skunks. Sometimes it was peanut butter toast, my dads favorite, or chicken.
At one point, my family and I were blessed to raise a baby possum, that had fallen off its mothers back.
She looked like a small rat. She grew larger than our family cat, whom she shared a special relationship with.
Possums are very passive animals. If you see one and it hisses at you, it is scared and will
not hurt you. Possums are one of the few animals that DO NOT carry rabies. If it appears dead, it probably is not. It could
be playing "possum"! A great mechanism to trick you into leaving it alone. Do not allow your dogs to have their way with
these animals. They are not large rats. Remember, they are actually living fossils that were around with the dinosaurs!
So respect them and leave them alone. If you see a stray, baby possum, and you don't see it's mother around; it may have been
separated from it's mother. It will make a "clicking" noise, it is calling its mother and is scared. (You would be too if
you were young and got separated from your mother.) You can rescue it and put it in a small cat or dog carrier with a towel
and maybe a water bottle or try a container of water. They like to eat fruit, bananas were always a favorite and if you are
into gourmet, kiwi's were a favorite as well. Also, check out opossumsocietyus.org and have many questions answered.
Dogs are my love. In my past, I have rescued many dogs. At present, I have 2 doggies, Isabella is a
rescue and Mina is from a pet store. I am very much against buying dogs from pet stores and will never
do it again. Most dogs, from pet stores are bred in what is known as "Puppy Mills". Many of the dogs are left in cages for
breeding purposes alone. "20/20" will occasionally run a show on the horrible conditions most animals have to live under
in a "Puppy Mill".
DO NOT BUY DOGS AT PET STORES! You can rescue a wonderful pet at your local shelter, or if you want a
specific breed, by all means research a reputable and professional, AKC breeder. This breeder will not sell to just anyone.
And they are not making their dogs give birth all the time. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Too many dogs end up in shelters. And hundreds
more are put to DEATH on a daily basis do to over crowding. I'm sorry to put a gloomy view on this, but it's the truth.
It's too easy to buy a cute, fuzzy dog at your local pet store in the mall. DON'T DO IT. PUT AN END TO PUPPY MILLS!
Your dog will know you rescued him or her. They act different, maybe even grateful. They know what it's
like to do hard time in the Dog House. Do The Right Thing, Rescue a Dog or Cat. If anything, it's good Karma!
