Meet Snowball - A Face Only A Mother Could Love?

As you may know I feed the raccoons (Heidi and friends) in my back yard. Last summer a tiny white baby oppossum showed up for dinner, too. When I 1st saw him/her he was so small that I thought he was a big white rat - until I noticed his long, long "nose".

Because he was so uncharacteristically white, I named him Snowball. Snowball earns his living by keeping the grubs out of my lawn and by cleaning up anything the raccoons don't eat - he's the evening cleanup "crew". Thanks to him, no matter what I put out I know I won't find it scattered on the lawn next morning.

Snowball is over a year old now but is still very, very small - 6 to 8" tall if that. Clearly, he is a "runt", his growth stunted for some reason. Also, he is far too white. When he sits on the back fence I can see him from the house even on a dark, moonless night. He just "glows" in the darkness, so it must be difficult for him to avoid predators.

Until now he has kept his distance from me, but last night Snowball must have been very hungry. I had put out a pan of bbq rib bones and chicken egg foo yung. The raccoons were all eating cat/dog food from other dishes. Snowball just could not wait. He had to have that chicken and egg. The pan was only maybe 2.5ft from my foot, and the raccoons were issuing threats everytime he tried to get to it, but he kept trying different angles, determined to get to that food.

Check out those toe nails! The nose. The black hairs on the nose. I'm afraid this may be a face that only a mother could love.

What a great picture!! I think he's cute!

Let's see, maybe I can sneak past them over here...

(Snowball has that Siamese Cat coloring. He looks whiter from a distance. Today he's a little dirty, too, because the whole place is a swamp right now.)

Ahhh! KyWoods, you must be kidding, but I know he'll be happy to hear that he has a fan, too. : )

(I mean this in the nicest sort of way, but I think the poor dear looks like he was made from a mixed bunch of left over parts. But he's almost so "ugly" he's cute if that makes any sense.)

1st appearance of the evening. Sneaking along the back fence. Note how much "whiter" (albeit dirty) he looks from a distance. Also check out his size compared to the width of the boards on the fence.

Trying to sneak past the pool, a different angle of "attack" on the problem of getting past those pesky raccoons and the human.

Full view of the "cover" shot. (Note the white on his ears)

Ok, maybe I can get in under the radar from this side. I think I can, I think I can...


(Looks like their might be something wrong with the left front paw, but I don't know much about oppossums "architecture")

This message was edited Jul 29, 2007 2:50 PM

Yay! Success!!! I knew I could do it!

Who the man? I'm the man! Who the man? I'm the man!

(Note size compared to pan)

This message was edited Jul 29, 2007 4:12 PM

Close up

Now let me see. Do I want ribs or egg foo young? Geez, this is a tough decision! Hey, you got any of those little packets of soy sauce? How 'bout the fortune cookie?

This message was edited Jul 29, 2007 4:09 PM

You missed your calling, scutler--you shoulda been a wildlife photographer!

Oops! Raccoon at 2 o'clock. I'll take egg foo young. Better blow this joint.

LOL "Will that be for here, or to go?"

ROTFLOL! Thank you, KyWoods!!! That is SO sweet of you! I do seem to be getting along well with the critters - so as to get good photo ops - too bad I can't use my camera. (I'm reading the dummies book on digital cameras right now.)

Thank you again!


Close up of Snowball running away with the chicken egg foo young. (Note the left front foot!)

KyWoods, LOL!!! Definitely, to go!


Matter of fact, this looks like a good out of the way spot to enjoy the take (hiding in the weed infested ex-veggie patch to eat the egg foo young).

This message was edited Jul 29, 2007 4:11 PM

I was pretty surprised when he came up so close to me, but actually, he seemed much more concerned about Heidi (the raccoon) than me. (She has sharper claws and teeth.) I guess after watching me out there around the raccoons for so long he must have figured out that I'm a push over.

Yep, he musta been watching from a hiding spot for a while before he approached. We have one that I left cat food out for once, and he still digs in that area looking for more. Maybe I should put out more...the coons have all their eating spots, perhaps he would appreciate one of his own--at least until the coons find it?

Awwwwwwww poor Snowball's foot. Does it look like all Snowball's claws are there/ Poor thing it got to be hard being the genetic misfit. Even harder to fidn food withotu beign preyed upon.

Wonder if somethign trie d to attack Snowball. if Snowball keeps havign problems, maybe the local vet has somesort of cage that you could try and catch him/her in to have that foot checke d out.

Sure appreciate the photo's! : )

I guess my backyard cottage garden is almost tailor made for him. We don't have any large predators here. No bears, cougars, wolves, etc. We do have bobcats and foxes, but I don't think the cats come into the populated areas; I've never seen one. I doubt the foxes would mess with him, not to mention that I've never seen them in the city either. The backyard is contained by a 6ft privacy fence which provides some "shelter". Since it's a cottage garden, it's full of flowers and shrubs - and, unfortunately, weeds, so he doesn't have to venture out into the open where he's exposed. Predatory birds do fly overhead sometimes looking for birds at the feeder, but with all of the vegetation it's not that easy for them to navigate in the garden; whereas, the prey animals have lots of places to hide. Since I rarely use pesticides the backyard flower garden is full of insects, grubs. Snowball patrols the grounds at night eating "bugs" and grubs.I know this because he makes cone shaped holes in the ground; I call it aerating.

A while back the bird feeders attracted rats that were living outside. Not wanting them around even outside, I started trapping them. Snowball quickly learned to listen for the trap (on the patio) to snap so he could pick up his dinner. For a while he was sitting on the back fence every night waiting. That worked well for both of us since he got dinner and I didn't have to deal with the dead rats. But sometimes when he couldn't get them out of the trap, he'd just take them trap and all. That got expensive after a while.

He also get to eat leftovers from the raccoons' dinner a lot. I also grow a lot of fruits, veggies, berries, etc that he can eat - and that usually gets eaten by one or more critters out there.

I'll have to think about that foot thing.

Have you seen Snowball lately? I wonder if since you have that nasty snake. uggggggggggggg! ( double shivers) that maybe Snowball, didn't get bit by it. If Snowball stil nursign that foot or ya se e it swollen up I would worry.

I hope for yoru sake and yoru critters sake that it has done move d on and way out of yoru neck of the woods.

Hi starlight

I'm afraid the snake has been coming around for a few years now. I spoke with several people who specialize in venomous snakes. I'm told that he probably doesn't live in my yard/garden, but that he likely comes by periodically in search of dinner: birds, bird eggs, rodents, frogs, etc, all of which are quite prevalent in my garden habitat. I have a guy on "standby" to come and get him possibly to be used for venom extraction or relocation. I have to call the guy (in my cell) when I see the snake and can keep an eye on him. The other night when I saw the snake I was outside without my cell phone (and definitely not dressed for company anyhow). I couldn't get inside to get the phone without walking beside the snake - that wasn't going to happen.

I haven't seen snowball again. He usually shows up later in the night so if I feed the raccoons before dark, I don't see him. Actually, I've only been out there once since the night I took these pics and then it was too early for him to be out. We are having extreme weather, thunderstorms, and heavy downpours daily right now, and most days these things occur in the late afternoon and early evening such that they prevent me from staying out there while the animals are eating. Last night I literally had to wade (in rubber boots) out to find the dishes (which were floating). It was raining so hard that I was almost blinded. I filled the dishes, stashed them under the chair for shelter, and rushed back inside thoroughly soaked through and through. We were under a flash flood warning with reports of 3ft of water on area roads. I didn't stay out there, didn't see the raccoons much less Snowball.

The one thing I have found about "my" snake is that he is not aggressive or temperamental. One day last summer my Maltese puppy, who was only about 6mo old at the time and weighed 3lbs or so, went out the back door and literally walked on the snake without getting bitten. Not only that but when I (being right behind the dog) saw the snake and refused to follow the puppy out the door, the silly puppy (who wanted to stay with me) turned around and walked over the snake AGAIN to get back to the door - despite my protests! Clearly, the snake is not very hot-headed or easy to provoke.

I think Snowball is precious! Thanks for sharing!

Yikes--are you sure it's a venomous snake? I don't think I'd let my puppy out without a leash until someone removes that snake.

As far as Snowball's foot is concerned, could it have accidentally gotten injured by one of the mousetraps you had out? Who knows what misadventures could have caused it, though.

Hi, tigerlily! You are welcome. Thanks for viewing. I know that little Snowball will be happy to know that he has a few friends out there.: )

Hi, KyWoods!

I wish that I could say otherwise, but, yes, I'm quite sure that it is a venomous snake. The incident described about where the puppy walked on the snake is depicted here along with the photo which leaves no doubt as to the ID (caution: if you click this you will go directly to a close up of the snake) : http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2317563
That happened last summer. The puppy had already walked on the snake before I had a chance to react. Widge (the puppy) is now almost 2 so no longer a puppy.

You know you may be right about Snowball's foot. I was always terrified that I might come out to find an injured raccoon caught in the rat trap. But I HAD to get rid of the rats. Among other things they attract the snake! Since the rats were outside and in the backyard, anything I used to trap or kill them posed problems with the other wildlife. I didn't dare put poison back there. I tried the rat zapper, but the raccoons repurposed it as a treat dispenser; they would just pick it up and dump the food out. One night last summer I heard noise out on the patio and looked out to see Heidi's babies tossing it around like a football. By the time I rescued it they had removed the food AND the batteries! I put the trap under my garden cart and against the house in an attempt to conceil it as much as possible.

To me his foot looks more like it might have been broken and has healed leaving a lump.

BTW, Snowball showed up tonight - quite unexpectedly. He came out of the weed infested veggie garden and walked over toward me. For a moment it looked like he might eat from the dish beside me, but he decided against it. He wandered about the area sampling the air - checking for more egg foo young, maybe - he really seemed to like that. From what I've seen, Snowball seems to prefer the leftovers, especially meat and eggs, whereas the raccoons prefer dog/cat food, fruit, raw eggs, and peanuts. That works out well, all in all. The raccoons poke their noses up at the leftovers, so Snowball's favorites get left for him.

LOL at the coons playing with the rat zapper!! They do like to amuse themselves, don't they? And it sounds like you've got that possum spoiled already!

Yes, raccoons will play. Last summer I left Widgets toys out a few times. I found one, a rope toy with stuffed animal head, the next day some 30ft or more away from the table it had been on. The small red stuffed bird with squeaker, one of my favorites, has never been seen again since the day I threw it into a patch of clover and decided I'd retrieve it tomorrow; the next day I searched and searched and searched, even got the weed eater out to cut down the clover but there was no toy bird anywhere to be found.

I tried to coax Snowball to come to the dish, but he lost his nerve. Still he came out from his cover and up to within 2ft of me. I think he'll soon be eating around me like the others. (I'll have to scramble him some eggs tomorrow and order him some more egg foo young soon.)

LOL, first spoiled rotten possum I ever heard of!

Oh, forgot to mention, but tonight when he came over close to me I watched him walking and couldn't see any sign of a limp. He did not seem to be favoring the front leg in any way. I does not appear to be inhibiting his movement at all, so that's a good sign.

I know we have them here, but I've only seen one live one on the entire mountain. When I lived at the coast there was a litter raised under my home, and the silly young animals were not properly cautioned. One by one over a period of days they came out. .......in the daytime when my dachshunds were out. ;-(

I worked at the hospital there and one of the maintenance guys had trapped one in a trash container. His intentions were not good. I worked an odd early shift and another maintenance fellow asked me if I'd take it and release it. I turned the cute young thing loose in the woods behind my home.

Ahhh, tigerlily, what a nice thing to do. I used to set trapped raccoons free when I was a kid, but it must take some courage to get close enough to a cougar to free it, even a baby. Wonder thing you did though.

Edited, opps, I'll bet you were ACTUALLY referring to oppossums since thats the topic here. I still had my mind on your beautiful deer pics and those cougars. LOL at my faux pas

This message was edited Aug 1, 2007 1:04 AM

I WAS refering to the opposums, yes! LOL

I'm going back and forth between the two threads too.

Sounds like if Snowball did have a foot injury, it has healed now. Must be tough having to live out there! Good to hear that he's not suffering.

After looking at the lump on his leg in the photo, I was concerned. Now that I've had a chance to watch him up close and see that he does not limp or favor the leg, I feel a lot better about the leg. Actually, Snowball seems pretty well adapted considering his unique circumstances. He's a fairly Fiesty little thing - coming up to grap food in the midst of raccoons and a human.

I think Snowball is cute as can be. Thanks for giving him (?) his own thread!

Thank you, Floridian!


Snowball showed up again on Thursday evening. Heidi, the raccoon matriarch didn't let him stay very long; so I didn't get any good photos, but here he is making his getaway with a stolen power bar.

LOL.... : )

hiding out in weed infested area to eat protein bar