I assumed it was rabid because it didn't exhibit what I thought was normal behavior. Do they always sleep with their eyes open like this one? I tried to run it off by banging on the back of the dog house. It wouldn't budge. Stayed curled up with its eyes open like you see here. I took a broom and (standing as far back from the entrance as I could) swished it around inside the dog house, thinking the coon would wake up and run out. It didn't. I finally drug the dog house to the edge of the back porch so that the "door" of the dog house was about 6" lower than the back side and tipped the house enough that the coon and the pillow came slowly out. The coon wouldn't run off. It couldn't stand up. I tried to prod it with the broom. It just fell over instead of walking. So is this normal behavior in October in broad daylight? And if it did have rabies, what should I have done? We live in the country...we ARE animal control.

I'll bet she's out hobbling on that knee, tending her sweet babies!

He had money...and he gave most of it to me. I was spposed to get his ashes, but when they found out about the money, they wouldn't give me his ashes. Well, that's okay. I know what he would say. "It's just an old body. It doesn't matter." I told him that would happen...so, at least I wasn't surprised. He didn't want to go to a nursing home, and we made this agreement seven years ago. I promised him I would take care of him until he died. I am glad he didn't have to die, hooked up to tubes or forgotten in the back room, of a nursing home. They were talking bad about me...saying I only did it for the money, but let me tell you...I couldn't go or do anything without taking care of him, and it was a 40 mile round trip over there that I made every day at least once, and sometimes as often as four times a day. They were too important and too busy to be bothered with his care...so leave it to me...my time isn't valuable like theirs. I guess they thought I should have done this for free. It isn't that I wouldn't have. I couldn't afford the cost of driving over there and back every day...and the hours it took to take care of him. He did nothing. He didn't even flush the toilet. I took care of him, his house, his yard, his truck, his taxes, brought him a hot meal every day, and kept the fridge well stocked for him. I brought him books, magazines and movies and sat and talked to him. I treated him as kindly as I would want to be treated. The last 4 years of his life, he never stepped foot out of his house. I kept him alive....when they wanted him to die...simply by being there and making sure he was never around anyone who was sick. He had emphysema so badly, he couldn't walk to the kitchen without difficulty. He was a very intelligent man, well read but extremely difficult because he wouldn't do anything he was supposed to do...like not smoke, eat right, etc. I'm not a saint. I got paid for taking care of him, but if anyone doesn't think that is a burden to take on, and one that went on for years...think again. I have no regrets though because I was very kind to him, and he died knowing I was there, and in his own house and that is what meant the most to him. The week I spent sleeping on his floor, I had to bring all three of my dogs...so I was up at daylight, walking the dogs, and all around him, live his family. They had to have seen that or my truck in the driveway all night. You know they had to have realized something was wrong...but not one of them called or came by. Probably afraid I would ask them to help do something.

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.