I was out pulling zucchini from my small 3X8 raised bed and I heard a hiss and a head pop up. It was a opossum! I screamed so loud. I live in the suburbs and have my grand kids working in the garden so I need to call a wildlife rescue group to come and wrangle with this beast. I was just inches away from its head. Aghhhhh

I'm sure he was more afraid of you that you were of him. He must have been desperately hungry or thirsty to have been out during daylight. They are beneficial, as long as they don't take up residence under your house. Snails are one of their favorite foods, as well as other insects and grubs. That being said, they are also partial to pet food, and have been known to use the doggy door to get it.

Opossums are pretty much all show and not much substance. They hiss and drool and if that doesn't make you go away, they will keel over and play dead.

Here is an article from the LA Times you may find interesting.

http://www.latimes.com/style/l...

We have one that got so comfortable here, that in the evening when we gave the cats their supper, she would sit the edge of the breezeway with the cats. We discovered that she was sleeping in the greenhouse in an empty pot....along with one of our cats.

Do be careful about taking the opossum away, it could be a female with babies nearby. We talked to my SIL about the dangers. She has a veterinary hospital in the Sacramento area. She assured us that Opossums are not a great threat to people or animals, because firstly, they adhere to the flight rather than fight and if all else fails, they play dead.