So I went running out the back door hollering at Mo for leaving the house alone. She's a flight risk, something people laugh it when they don't have visual aids.
She found something on her way through the grass, something she was chewing on. I thought it was a squirell, gross, and while she was in time out, I put antibacterial crap on her hands, had her swish some Listerine in her mouth, called the doctor to see if I should worry.
When I caught up to her, I'd told her to spit it out, and she spit out clumps of white hair.
The doc called back to say squirrels are probably safe, at least it wasn't a bat or a skunk.
I started thinking, how much tail did I see? No bushy thing, but maybe dead squirrels get to having limp tails.
It's a possum.
I called the doctor back, and even he had to get online and do some research. It turns out, kids eating raw possum is not a hot lecture topic in med school, but he called me back to say that it's not impossible for a possum to have rabies.
So, after discussing with him, I quadruple bagged the possum and stuck it in the garage refrigerator. I get to call animal control tomorrow and see about having it tested. They're going to ask me if it bit Mo, and I'll have to explain that she did the biting.
Then I have to call them back, because they're going to hang up on me as a prank...
5 comments:
Wow! Well at least you will have your doc on your side to can back you up on eating possums.
I'm guessing this will be one of those things that you'll look back on and laugh about, but not just yet.
Kind of like when my brother ate an ant-covered burrito as a toddler.
So your kid actually captured and bit into a wild animal? In a way, that's kind of cool and something Mo can brag about later in life.
Ah, I thought I'd made it clear: the possum was already deceased. Had a nasty, crusted over gash on its side. I don't think it was more than half grown, so what I'm guessing is an owl in the neighborhood got hold of more rodent that it could handle, and in the process critically wounded the possum. It was about seven in the evening when this stuff happened, so chances are he'd been in the yard, dead or mostly dead, all day, being that they're nocturnal.
But yeah, at least it's not a totally mundane thing for a kid to do.
Just make sure Mo doesn't start keeping some wasabi in her back pocket and looking up in the tree with a hungry look.
See... this is why I read your blog!
I can't help invisioning you at a flip chart with pictures, pointer in hand, instructing Mo on how to spot the clues that will help her distinguish between road-kill and food. Food Or No Food?
She and Em may never know how many people in cyber-land care about their adventures.
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