Raven, that is so kind of you to make sure he has food and water and don't mind him staying in the cats' condo. If he can stay there and rest, he just might get well. Possums are amazing in their ability to heal. I have one right now that came in with one baby and on her back was a huge wound. She had been caught in a trap with the babies and with no food, they had started chewing on her. The back is a common place that they will chew. They will also chew on the faces of their mothers. Mother possums chew food and let the babies take it from their mouths, which is probably why they get their faces chewed on. She only had one baby when brought to me, but the others probably had escaped out of the trap. I took the remaining baby from her, so it wouldn't chew on her any further. People will trap them...usually in the process of trapping feral cats, and since it is "just an old possum" they don't get in any hurry to remove them from the trap. Plus, most people are intimidated by them and can't get them out of the trap very easily anyway. My mama possum is almost well now. Her injury was the size of a silver dollar, or bigger when she came here and is about like a nickel now. I was just thinking last night how much she enjoys the food here. I fed her yogurt and kibble and a dish of bananas, grapes and avocado. Possums do drink a lot of water. If the possum is hanging around, you might give it a little bit of left overs, if you are so inclined. They will eat anything. On the other hand....while I have seen many possums heal from horrific injuries, I have also seen those that look to be perfectly healthy, go down and die within a couple of days. And, their life span is very short anyway. A two year old wild possum is an old one. Thank you for caring about one of the most misunderstood of all creatures.

Jasdip, we would never let the animals go hungry. The shelter in Galveston has continued to donate to me because I took in several of their unadoptable cats, and they have been very good to me. When we don't have food, we buy it. Actually, Mare, she dumped me. I am glad to be rid of her, but was strapped by the food issue. Now though, she has given her "permission" that my wildlife can have food. The donors never realized that 90% of the donated food went to me because my animals are all alive. Dead animals don't eat very much. Actually, she has taken to "farming" out most of the animals brought to her, so they are in better hands because most people who take them to raise, really want to do right by them. Oh, Lord! The pig situation!! I had Pig Sue...spayed, big pet. She was stolen but not before Pig Lee showed up....wild...and later, Pig Newton. Pig Lee was too wild to get spayed and by the time she was tame, too big. She and Newton had many children....I think we have sold about 40 of them so far. Her oldest daughter, Delores, and she had 11 pigs this spring. They are all big enough to go now and as much as I hate to see Pig Lee go, I can't keep having all these baby pigs. Pig Newt weighs about 600 lb. He is wild but he will take food from my hand. I don't try to pet him though, because he could be dangerous, especially if he got scared. The horses and donkeys and mule are fine........however, we may be welcoming a little mule foal in a few months. My donkeys were fighting, so had to separate them until we could get them gelded. Due to having to keep them in pastures that didn't adjoin, Amos went in with the mares. I didn't worry too much about him breeding the mares, until I saw him breed "my mare"....Mariah. I am not 100% sure she settled, but I have been watching her carefully.....and from what I know about such things, I think so. I could have her checked by the vet, but I will know soon enough. I wouldn't care if one of the other mares had a mule foal, but if it happens, it will probably be Mariah. Here is a picture of Pig Newton.

It's okay, I didn't take it as being bossy. Yes, I am fortunate that it is a huge complex with satellite facilities all over the area. He is at the main hospital. Private room....treating him very well. He isn't crazy about the food....they have him on a low sodium diet due to the fluid in his lungs. He looked better last night than I have seen him in ages.

Raven, this place isn't even listed yet. I have had someone here almost every day helping me go through all the junk I have and finally got all the hurricane debris cleaned up that was all over the pastures, plus tore down and burned all my old possum cages. Washed and packed up all the dishes except for about 4 plates and a couple of bowls. Jody says I have more dishes than Martha Stewart....and I probably do.) Actually, there are more dishes in the sun porch and in the other building....hopefully they all didn't break........or maybe I should hope that they did. ;) The realtor was out a week or so ago, and she really loved this old house. I didn't think anyone would want it but she thinks they might. A friend of mine was here yesterday and I gave away all my old iron chairs and tables, and started on the furniture in the other building...my mission oak settle, and a blanket chest. . I also gave her a very nice old cypress door. She is my rehab partner. I didn't tell her we were leaving. She won't be very happy about me leaving, but I will still take baby possums. They aren't any trouble to raise, but right now I don't have any of my equipment, like heating pads, etc. She is 20 years younger than me and she will have to understand that we are old and Jody's health isn't what it used to be. I need a place that is easier for me to take care of. If this one had about $200,000 worth of improvements, I could do it here, but I don't want to stay here any more. Three hundred and twenty five new houses are going in about 3 miles from here. That figures about 650 more cars...and the traffic between here and town is already bumper to bumper every evening. I live in the country and if I wanted to deal with that, I'd move to town. Anyway, she can understand or not....I really don't care. If I wasn't leaving, I wouldn't be giving her all of this nifty stuff that she will sell in her shop. :)) When we get everything else taken care of, will go through and get rid of just about everything. I am keeping only a kitchen table and a few of the cupboards. You can't even walk in that building because it completely filled up with water and everything is piled up. Such a mess. I will get to that after everything in the house is taken care of and all the pastures cleared because she wants to do a drone picture. By the time we get all this finished, I am sure that house I like in Centerville will be sold. I have looked at every place for sale from here to wherever and that is the only one that I Iike everything about. I am afraid I am going to end up selling this place and not being able to find another one I like. I can find lots of nice land but not any with a house already. I don't want to go thru the stress of building a house. In a lot of ways, this is more stressful than the flood. So much uncertainty. At least the mud is all dried up and the trees are leafing out. Wish me luck! (Sorry this is so long).