Cute Possum Attacked by Fire Ants

Video: Cute Possum Attacked by Fire Ants

Possum attacked by fire ants - Ouch! Virginia Possums common to the eastern US are immune to Rattlesnake and Cottonmouth bites - they eat these snakes before they get real big and have developed immunity to snake venom and show no physiological reaction when bitten - but Fire Ant Venom still really hurts! A very large possum checking out some crumbs from food I left for a feral cat (see: The Secret Life of a Feral Cat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVPWvFW0Jwk for background ) is overwhelmed by fire ants and wisely retreats to lick its wounds. The old chewed up dog bone on the fence inexplicably appeared earlier in the night, probably found in a nearby yard and brought by a Raccoon! Night Vision recording so quality is a bit lower - looks better if you don't look at full screen.

New HD videos uploaded weekly. Subscribe at: 

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding

Video: Cute Possum Attacked by Fire Ants

Screech Owls and Other "Creatures of the Night"

Possums (Opossums),  Raccoons and Armadillos are the Screech Owl's Companions at Night and clean up any left over birdseed and enjoy clean fresh water.

We're expecting the return of nesting Eastern Screech Owls within 3 to 5 weeks and I'm testing out a new "nightvision" camera (more on that in a future blog) to hopefully get more action footage of the screech owls flying around the backyard at night. When all the other birds roost for the night the owls are just getting started, but there are many other  creatures that come out at night and are part of the same suburban ecosystem.  The video above shows a Raccoon and a Possum cleaning up  leftover seed around one of the bird feeding areas and partaking of the fresh water from a small birdbath. This is a regular stop at night for many creatures. In this case, the Raccoon and the Possum come to terms with each other and coexist rather peacefully, although the smaller Possum seems a little less trusting than the Raccoon who goes out of his way to avoid direct eye contact. The top predators in this environment are likely Bobcats and Foxes, but I have not seen any. They undoubtedly have a much farther ranging territory and do not stop by daily.  I hope to document whatever chased the Armadillo and scared the Raccoon and Possum at the end of the video. It looks like the nightvision camera is going to work - more to come.