# Playing possum **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351 "2007-06-17T11:25:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/21 "2007-06-18T12:30:18Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] The last time I tried to threaten an opossum it screamed like a banshee at me. Of course, it had fallen into a trashcan and was making a bat out of hell racket at 3 in the morning. [/QUOTE] Now that’s interesting. The only time I saw one play possum was in my trashcan. Making every effort to avoid those teeth upon discovering him, I laid the can on it’s side expecting him to take off. He laid down and closed his eyes. I walked across the street and continued to observe him. Possums are not terribly intelligent, BTW. He would periodically open his eyes and look over his shoulder at me. “I’m dead here, fella. Nothing to see here…How am I doin’?” I had to move out of sight before he would leave. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/22 "2007-06-18T13:48:08Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] People – we’re getting sidetracked here. _It was on my bedside table_, between a stack of books, the alarm clock, and a bottle of moisturizer. [/QUOTE] Yes, but how squeeeeee! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/23 "2007-06-18T14:46:24Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] Yes, but how squeeeeee! 🙂 [/QUOTE] Well, if “squeeeeee” means “What.The.Fuck” – yupper. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/24 "2007-06-18T14:55:21Z")
That too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/25 "2007-06-18T15:30:10Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Or, it was a large rat. [/QUOTE] No, the rats aren’t nearly as toothy. I’ve never seen one play possum, I’ve only seen them play HISS HISS BITE BITE KILLL! Oh, and sometimes I see them play What Are You Looking At? ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/26 "2007-06-18T16:37:32Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] People – we’re getting sidetracked here. _It was on my bedside table_, between a stack of books, the alarm clock, and a bottle of moisturizer. [/QUOTE] I’m surprised you woke up enough to actually realize it was a possum. I would have opened my eyes and said, “Hmm…a baby possum on my bedside table.” and rolled over and went back to sleep. I’m impressed you woke up enough to chase it with a broom and dustpan. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/27 "2007-06-18T17:02:36Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] Yes, but how squeeeeee! 🙂 [/QUOTE] That’s exact sound it would have made if she’d tried to get some moisturizer out of it. A month or two ago, I took some trash out to the dumpster. When I opened the door to the chute it startled a possum which startled me as it jumped away and ran. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/28 "2007-06-18T19:57:10Z")
[QUOTE=phall0106] I’m impressed you woke up enough to chase it with a broom and dustpan. [/QUOTE] Think of the poor marsupial, enjoying a Goldilocks nap and suddenly being set upon by a giant person with a dustpan and broom. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/29 "2007-06-18T22:20:13Z")
Could the Possum have been trying to use the Moisturizer? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/30 "2007-06-19T00:08:29Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] We rescued a baby opossum, and before we gave him to an animal relocator (now in a state park-the possum, not the relocator) discovered that he could make himself itty bitty and fit between the bars of a parakeet cage. You might want to check for small holes. … [/QUOTE] So they can bend space and possibly time? Makes you wonder why so many of them end up as roadkill. One of my cats kept staring at my ceiling fan last night when I was trying to sleep. I wonder if there could have been a baby possum up there? I don’t have any moisturizer up there though. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/31 "2007-06-19T00:37:42Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Could the Possum have been trying to use the Moisturizer? [/QUOTE] Either that or the contact lens fluid. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/32 "2007-06-19T00:52:23Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] So they can bend space and possibly time? Makes you wonder why so many of them end up as roadkill. [/QUOTE] They still believe that lying down in the middle of the road is a better way to avoid a Mack truck than teleportation. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/33 "2007-06-19T00:56:03Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] seeking to be a more moist possum [/QUOTE] A string of words I never thought I’d see. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/34 "2007-06-19T01:09:23Z")
Oh, I’ve got experience with young possums. Had one stuck in my house for four days one time. I kept finding dried up possum turds under things for months afterwards. I _wish_ the darn thing had played possum. But no, he was a fast little bastard. The first time one got in I tossed an old t-shirt over it and put him outside. After that, I’d put on a pair of gardening gloves and just grab 'em by the tail and toss 'em out. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/35 "2007-06-19T01:20:16Z")
**grabs garden gloves, adds them to clutter on bedside table** ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/36 "2007-06-19T01:22:40Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Thank you. That was all I was looking for here. 😃 [/QUOTE] Depends. It coulda been an awesome possum (best said in a Long Island accent). You shoulda snuggled with it. It prolly needed moisturizing, too. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/37 "2007-06-19T02:12:35Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] Depends. It coulda been an awesome possum (best said in a Long Island accent). … [/QUOTE] I can only hear it in a bad Aussie accent describing it as an appetizer at the Outback Steakhouse, “try the Awesome Possum, mate!” ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/38 "2007-06-19T02:15:00Z")
Once you hear it in the Long Island tongue, you’ll never hear it in another. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/39 "2007-06-19T14:56:14Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] They still believe that lying down in the middle of the road is a better way to avoid a Mack truck than teleportation. [/QUOTE] Well, they know they can teleport - but they are never quite sure **when** they are when they finish. Given the choice between a Mack truck and the heat death of the universe, well - the truck is quick. Si ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351/40 "2007-06-19T16:41:28Z")
[QUOTE=si\_blakely] well - the truck is quick. Si [/QUOTE] You misunderstand the marsupial mindset, Sir. They believe that if they pretend to be dead, the truck will cease to pursue them, unaware that the truck is merely preceding from point “A” to point “B” with the toothy little fellow squarely between, quick or dead. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-possum/408351.md?page=3)