Re: OT:possums/copperheads/armadillos
- To: <i*@onelist.com>
- Subject: Re: OT:possums/copperheads/armadillos
- From: "* E* <d*@eastland.net>
- Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1998 09:19:39 -0700
From: "Donald Eaves" <donald@eastland.net>
Joni writes:
> They can also carry Rabies, as do
> many wild animals in this country. South of here, in Florida, the
armadillo is
> their version of the possum. We call them "possum on the half shell"!
>
Haven't heard the half shell descript! But I don't believe that it is
correct about
possums carrying rabies. I did some research on them since there are so
many
here and they really aren't subject to rabies. They are also immune to the
bites
of the pit vipers and thus readily eat both rattlesnakes and copperheads
with up
to 25% of their diet being copperheads. It is one of their preferred
foods. They
are also very short lived. A possum which lives to the age of 18 months is
like
Methuselah in the possum world. A female has raised two familes by the
time
she is 12 months old and is completely worn out; males live only slightly
longer.
So the possum you see this year is not likely to be the one you are seeing
next
year.
Armadillos are also curious. Besides having identical quadruplets EVERY
time,
all babies springing from a single egg which divides, they are one of the
very few
animal besides humans which can contract and carry leprosy.
I promise - no more OTs!
Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7
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