Drunken Confusion in Punxsutawney

There are times when it seems like, no matter how many times you point to a picture and say, "This is an opossum," it just won't make any difference. Some will just go ahead and call the animal a "possum" and that's that. By now, it's culturally accepted, and no big deal. That animal above is a possum. Fine.

Possums just aren't cute or cuddly or attractive. They don't do cute things. And, they certainly aren't famous for anything more than carriers of the EPM virus that is particularly harmful to horses.

Somehow, some way, basic information like this gets lost, once some people get a few too many drinks in them. An instance like this made the news today. Donald Wolfe, 55, of Brookville, PA, not far from Punxsutawney, tied on a good one and decided to attempt to resuscitate a possum that had been dead along side the road for more than just a few days. To give ol' Donald some credit, he tried to communicate with the possum first by holding a seance before trying mouth-to-mouth.

I can only imagine the conversation that took place:  "Oh my, I found Punxsutawney Phil dead along the road! Oh, I have to save you, Phil! I'll save you, I'll save you. Hush, don't try to talk now, Phil. I have to breath into your mouth."  Oh, what a possum has to put up with when he's mistaken for a groundhog...