I find the orphanage story interesting. What I want to know is...when the boys went off to the orphanage...did the remaining family come to see them...did they get to go see the remainder of the family, or were they put up for adoption and dispersed about???

I probably exaggerated how close to death I would have to be in order to consume possum but I still maintain I'd have to be a lot hungrier than I've ever been. One got in the old farm house we used to rent on this farm. First though, we had one get in our house way back when I was in highschool. Dad poked it with a broom handle and it played possum...we threw it in a pillowcase and let it go outside. So, I tried the same thing with the one that got in the old rental...didn't work. That thing hissed at me and showed his mouth full of teeth as if he didn't appreciate being hit with that broom handle. So, I got some "duct" tape and taped my double edged Gerber stabbin knife on the end of the broomstick. Stabbed that big phucker and pinned it to the base trim. Two things about that...a pointy sharp knife will traverse the animal body with more ease than you might think, and you can feel it's heart beating up through the broom handle as it bleeds out. That was gross and no...we did not eat that nasty thing.

Used to have a hunting buddy that was about 10 years older than me who would scream out an alert whenever we would pass a groundhog(may be called a whistle pig to you yankees) while on the way to whatever hunting spot. He, as a youngster when visiting his grandparents farm over the summer time would hunt and eat groundhogs on a regular basis. As much as he let on when he spotted one...I took it that he really liked them and wanted one pretty bad. Thank the good lord and the fact I had control of the car we never got one or I would have been challenged to taste one of those things. I've been close enough to one of them out here to know they are extremely musky smelling.