Quoted By:
"Playing possum: a life-and-death game. Curled body, open eyes, grisly grin, and lax tail typify the pose. When danger threatens and there's no escape, the Virginia opossum may sink into this nervous paralysis, a catatonic state that can last just a few seconds or several hours. Much longer, of course, if the feint fails to fool the attacker.
Regional culture celebrates the opossum in song and folklore. It is trapped for fur, hunted for sport and food. "Possum and taters" is a southern tradition. Many are kept as pets. Rules for the selection of "Top Possum" at an Alabama fair required all entries to wear an official leash. They had to be free of parasites; any that bit a judge twice faced automatic disqualification.
For all its fame, the opossum often puzzles suburbanites in a backyard encounter. Best clues to its identity: bare ears and tail."
-Wild Animals of North America by National Geographic Society, 1979
