Valiant young rooster brings fight back to assailant

[Chickassan]

I just buried a possum today, i didn't kill it though. I saw it yesterday when i was locking up the coop not three feet from my backdoor he was already very injured. By the time i got the coop secured he was gone. I found him deceased under my yucca bushes, i think he'd been hit by a car. I was a little bit relieved because i didn't want to kill him but he couldn't stay due to him being a mangled possum. Sorry about Ms.Clucks I'm glad you avenged her. And give your little roo some special attention, he's a hero.

 

[Shirlain]

Colloquial semantics....
......in the USA 'possum is just a truncated pronunciation of opossum.

I was under the impression that these terms referred to two very different groups of animals and that most of the confusion came about due to mislabel-ling over the course of history and a general lack of knowledge in the past, thus the grouping of animals by visual similarities. Bottom line is that these colloquial names (in large part due to our tendency to group by appearances) potentially refers to two very different groups of animals, and it is generally accepted that Opossums refer to those under the Order Didelphimorphia and 'possums --> Possums, now refers to the suborder Phalangeriformes. I may be wrong though.

(Opossum)
(Possum)

 

[aart]

I was under the impression that these terms referred to two very different groups of animals

They do...but... here in the US (where a great majority of BYC members live),
'possum is the standard term for opossum as there aren't any possums here.
Gotta look at context

Maybe you do live where possums live, and have no opossums?
Adding your location to your profile would be good

 

[Shirlain]

They do...but... here in the US (where a great majority of BYC members live),
'possum is the standard term for opossum as there aren't any possums here.
Gotta look at context

Maybe you do live where possums live, and have no opossums?
Adding your location to your profile would be good
View attachment 1263812

I live in the US, and that just means people are either ignorant, limited in perception, or using words wrong.

Similar to the misconception described in this article and how people ask if it's a "rooster or a chicken", when really they want to ask if their chicken is a rooster or a hen. Colloquially accepted, perhaps, but incorrect.