capri0mni | Accidental wildlife viewing (Reply)

So, last night, on the late evening news (23:00), there was a live on-location report about recent gun violence at a local commericial gathering spot. The reporter was standing in front of a four-level parking garage where the shootings occurred. I wasn't really paying much attention to what she was saying because my eye was drawn to a small animal walking around in the background across the street behind her, snuffling along the ground, from my left to my right.

My thoughts went like this:

"That's a really strange looking stray dog..."

"Wait... is that a cat?"

"If there are rats that big hanging around those bars, the cameraman would be zooming in for a close-up..."

"Oh! It's an Oppossum!"

*Squee!* \o/

The opossum ambled off screen just as the report gave her tagline and sent it back to the studio. The anchorwoman made no mention of any animals in any backgrounds, so I'm wondering if anyone there even noticed...

Normally, I'd be worried about rabies when I see an opossum, but then I remembered that's for 'possums in the daytime. And it was definitely night when I saw this one. They're omnivorous scavengers, and I wouldn't be surprised if the pickings were particularly good there, what with pizza and cheap Chinese food being for sale inside.