cute thorny. mine looks like it has had more fights, more pink and ruffling on the ears.
it ran under the shed.
the reason the men wanted to shoot it was because
a) they can be very mean when they feel threatened (and he was pretty threatened where he was)
b) they can carry rabies (although no more so than a squirrel)
c) we have an outside cat that the men thought was threatened (as if that was the first time the cat encountered the possum
)
d) they've always heard they are pests, and someone even almost had them convinced that they were rodents
i explained that, a) you'd be mean if you were threatened too, b) squirrels are as bad or worse for rabies, and bats ARE worse, something we have plenty of, c) if the cat has been out that long (several weeks) and still has all her fighting tools (claws, teeth, etc) she is in no danger from the 'possum, and d) they are marsupials, not rodents.
my final argument that got them to run it off rather than shoot is was that they are native to this area, and harmless as critters like that go. now, armadillos on the other hand...
we won't go there.