You realize I hope that by presenting the Yankee to the Possum, you are establishing the Yankee as lower in social rank than the Possum . . . which may well be true, but Possums are pretty low on the social scale.
Sunday night my Labrador Retriever went nuts in the back yard - hackles up, barking like a fiend, wound up diving under the deck. There are a couple of drainage pipes under there, and she wound up emerging with a large possum in her mouth. She gave it a good hard shake before dropping it on command, and of course it just lay there like a possum. I took her inside and washed out her mouth (boy did she stink of possum!) and examined her for any bites (none - she's a whole lot quicker than a possum). Went outside, Mr. Possum was still lying there in a heap, my kids suggested that we bury it . . . "it's not breathing" . . . but I told them to let it lay overnight and we'd check in the morning. Next morning bright and early my son put on his mud boots and went out to take a look, came back in and announced cheerily, "Mister Possum's in Alpharetta by now!"
I still think they're nasty. Lots of entertainment for the dog though. This morning she followed its track all over the yard with great excitement, hoping she could catch up. Too late, Miss Shelley!