Re: Questionable animal sounds in the garden
- Subject: Re: Questionable animal sounds in the garden
- From: John MacGregor j*@earthlink.net
- Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 18:42:10 -0700
on 8/18/02 3:51 PM, Nan Sterman at nsterman@plantsoup.com wrote:
> I was working in the garden this afternoon when I heard this odd
> sound -- at first, I thought it was my cat choking on a hairball.
> After hearing it repeatedly for few minutes I decided I should go
> look for him to be sure he was okay. Then, I realized that the sound
> was coming from just a few feet away, from within a clump of
> prostrate rosemary -- too tangled and low for the cat to even get
> into. The noise sounded like a cross between a cough and a hiss. I
> could see the rosemary shaking as well. I thought "Oh my gosh a
> rattlesnake!" Snakes are on my mind since I noticed a gopher snake
> at the front door, angling to get in just a few days ago.
>
> I called my all-knowing SO and asked him to listen. Of course, said
> animule was done making a racket by then. SO assured me that the
> rattle of a rattlesnake sounds very rattley which this did not.
>
> Anyone got any idea what I was hearing?
>
> Nan
Sounds to me much like a very young opossum. They are 3-4 inches high, 8-10
inches long, when the crawl off their mother's back. Its great to have them
in the garden, since they devour hundreds of slugs and snails--even very
tiny ones.
John MacGregor
South Pasadena, CA 91030
USDA zone 9 Sunset zones 21/23
