Oh, and "opossums" are so named to distinguish them from Australasian possums. It may also be a sign of the (in-?)famous courtly "Southern" manners that they are Opossums rather than what their southern cousins are generally referred to as, namely "Bloodypossums!
lol
this is of course due to the fact that they are different species...
with OPOSSUMS being rodents, and POSSUMS being marsupials...
and your comments on the NORTH winds reminds me of another curiosity that I found when reading....
before I knew better I always wondered about birds flying SOUTH for the winter.... why on earth would they want to go south to the Antarctic in the winter... and then to bloody Queensland for the Summer?
