A Possum Tale, or everything I never wanted to know about possum

This is a possum.


Now, I do not know a whole lot about possums, nor do I care to, though I have discovered a few things. They are rodent-ish like creatures, with creepy stares, icky tails, and weird claws. I do not want to find one in my yard. They are frequently found run over on the side of the road. My dad was bit by one when he opted to pick it up, by the tail to extract it and its babies from his shed.

This was more than enough for me to know about possums.

However, on our road trip home from Canada, I learned one other fun fact about possums while in Tennessee.

We left Nashville in the morning and headed west towards Jackson. There is not a lot between Nashville and Jackson (as was evidenced last year when we had to pull over on the side of the road due to the lack of bathrooms. Anyhow, we knew we'd have to get gas at some point, but decided to drive out the tank and stop when needed. A couple of hours on the road and we needed to stop. We finally find a reasonably priced gas station and enjoy their "American-owned and operated" sign. Shaun gases up the car, and I take F&B in to use the facilities.

The gas station itself is almost set up like a general store. The nice lady behind the counter directs us to the very clean bathrooms and I notice all sorts of goodies in the store--local jams and jellies, honey, preserves, and, at the counter, Nana's Homemade Fried Pies. I don't know who Nana is, but her fried pies look quite good. I contemplate buying a couple while waiting on F&B.

The kids finish, we meet up with Shaun and discuss the fried pies. While waiting for the change from the tank of gas, my eye wanders to the right, just passed the fried pies, the little store is selling ...

Canned Possum.

Canned by the Tennessee Possum Club.

Needless to say, that was the end of my desire for the fried pies, because canned rodent is enough to a) make me lose my appetite and b) to question whether or not Nana uses the same knife to can her possum and make her fried pies. We left and ate the sandwiches we had in the car instead, because I am 100% sure that no possum was harmed in the making of my sandwiches.

As a side note, the gas from that tank lasted for 460 miles before the light came on and we still had a gallon in reserve. This is generally unheard of on a Honda Pilot. Perhaps, possum isn't only good for canning. It's a darn good gas additive too.

Other recent posts from me:
Cute Bunny Wrap Bento
Baby Einstein Discovery Kits Review & Giveaway

Comments

  1. What a funny story, but don't you remember seeing and Beverly Hillbillies reruns? LOL! Didn't they use possum for everything? Haha! I was thinking about nana's pies. I remember a place where i used to work going through the lunch line when they had something labled "meat salad"...really? do you want to eat meat salad?

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  2. Anonymous9:30 PM

    this is a funny story considering I just came in from outside to get my barking dog. The dog was barking like crazy, so I got my flashlight and looked into the neighbors yard and seen a cat sitting there. I was yelling at the dog, because the dog is really a 4 month old pup. And I was laughing because he was raising such hell over this stupid cat that was looking at the dog like he is stupid. So after about 5 minutes of probably waking every neighbor up in the neighborhood, I decided to go over and get the dog so the poor cat could be on his merry way. When I got to the dog, I realized that the cat was a possum! LOL. Then I started laughing again, because I realized at that point that the (possum) was probably thinking (I) was the stupid one and not the dog.
    I guess I ought to start wearing my glasses, because I think my eyes are worse than I thought! LOL

    But even with all that said, Possums are cute! Maybe not cuddly, but definately cute. Unfortunately, most of them carry rabbies, so you don't want to get scratched or bit by one. I had Cat Scratch Fever once, and it wasn't pleasant.

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  3. Anonymous5:46 AM

    You know the definition of a redneck 7 course meal? It is a six pack and a possum.

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  4. Another funny thing, what you've pictured above isn't a possum. It's a Virginia Opossum. Similar name, yes, but from a completely different family. Possums are native to Australia and New Zealand, while opossums come from the Americas. It's a common misconception

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