A new critter has discovered food funland: a opossum. I saw it for the first time two nights ago on a three-quarter moonlit night. The opossum had free reign of the dog food for a couple of minutes before a raccoon came and claimed head of the table.
The opossum left, then came back to nibble at the edges of the food while the raccoon continued to eat. The two were within a couple of feet of each other.
My main raccoon I believe is a female. She travels with three yearling kits. There were four kits in the summer, but one might have been a male who left to forge his own path in life, or one might have been killed. There is a two-lane highway on the far side of the greenway behind my house that is death alley for raccoons.
The female always comes first, then is joined a few minutes later by the other three. I have not seen the kits in the past few days. The nights are warmer and mating season is near, so I'm wondering whether the family is splitting up to live as adults. Female raccoons will share territory, but will not likely travel in pairs. Raccoons are social enough to share a dedicated food source, such as food funland.
This might be the last I see of the family together. There was a tender moment a week ago between the female and her kits. She ate her dinner then left. She came back with the other three behind her. She moved to the far side of the food and watched as the kits, seemingly on their best behavior, ate their dinner. The last supper, perhaps.
It is good to see a opossum. When I was growing up, opossums were quite ubiquitous in the Northwest, and often were seen as roadkill. In recent years, I have seen very few roadkill opossums. This is my first opossum sighting in a few years.
I'm looking forward to a bright moon and the raccoon, opossum, and skunk sharing a meal.
