Bears, Coyote and Possum...Oh mY!!?!?

We had a unwanted and unexpected little visitor on the neighborhood playground the other day....how yucky is he? Possums kind of creep me out. The kids went to throw something away on the playground and found this guy in the can. We were roped into the situation...Avery told me to get my camera right away and Chris was the designated wildlife releaser. I have to be honest i was alittle afraid that it was going to jump out of the can and attack one of the bazillion kids that were noisily circling it and squealing and pointing. But in the end i think the possum was way more afraid of the kids than they were of him.So, Really? What other wild animal is next....i am not sure i want to know.

Visitor

Can you see who came calling today?

Yup...a young black bear. One off the first real signs that we live in the middle of nowhere smack in the center of a bunch of "mountains"...woods all around. This is not something i have had to think about before, in terms of backyard safety for the kids.

The bear was not a thrill in Avery's book. Poor thing had a heart attack. She was playing behind the house in the playground when one of the other mom's spotted him and called for all the kids to go inside. She came tearing through the house shouting about a bear. I thought she was playing a game....so i stepped out onto the front porch and oh my goodness, there really was a bear.

She was upset about Chris still being outside taking pictures, crying in the upstairs window, in fact. She actually got closer than any of the rest of us, but she did not know this until after he was gone and she calmed down a little. She and the bear came around the house together just on opposite sides of the street. I suspect he will be around again...he is perched on top of all the garbage cans in this picture....looking for more free food.