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252 on their tails, but a sort of a scale, or hard crust, as the beavers have. If a cat has nine lives, this creature surely has nineteen&#59; for if you break every bone in their skin, and mash their skull,

VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM.

leaving them for dead, you may come an hour after, and they will be gone quite away, or perhaps you may meet them creeping away. ‘They are a very stupid creature, utterly neglecting their safety. They are most like rats of anything. I have, for necessity, in the wilderness, eaten of them. ‘Their flesh is very white, and well-tasted &#59; but their ugly tails put me out of conceit with that fare. ‘They climb trees as the racoons do.

In the southern United States, where this animal