This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:34] Amy Daniels: Hey Kitten! How are you liking the fresh snow?

[0:37] Clucky: Oh Clucky, you know I'm not a big fan of snow.

[0:41] Loki: At least it's not super cold.

[0:45] Clucky: I am loving the snow! It's awesome!

[0:48] Loki: Ah! Plants aches, Loki! How is it you always scare the tail feathers off me every time you show up?

[0:54] Loki: I don't see any feathers lost there, Clucky. I like to pounce and dive through the snow though. Just look at it all. It's fantastic!

[1:02] Kitten: Speak for yourself, Loki. It's cold, wet, and miserable.

[1:07] Loki: Oh, but it's so much better than rain. It's like a dry wet. Know what I mean?

[1:13] Kitten: I didn't think about it like that.

[1:15] Loki: Dry wet! I like it! It's harder to find stuff to eat with this fluffy white blanket though.

[1:21] Clucky: Speaking of finding stuff, there's a giant dead rat in your yard.

[1:24] Kitten: What?

[1:25] Loki: Yeah, as I was coming down to see you, I walked past it. It's huge! It's probably bigger than Kitten.

[1:31] Kitten: A rat bigger than me? Yikes! Oh, let's go check it out!

[1:36] Clucky: Ladies! Oh, ladies! We're headed over to the other part of the yard, closer to the house. Loki says he found a giant dead rat, and it's bigger than Kitten!

[1:45] Bella: Oh, that sounds scary.

[1:47] Clucky: They like to grow things big here in Washington.

[1:50] Kitten: I don't think they have rats that big here. I haven't seen a rat at all while we've been living here.

[1:55] Bella: I'm not sure I want to go.

[1:57] Clucky: Maybe I'll just stay down here by the coop. Safety in numbers, Bella.

[2:02] Kitten: You'd be all alone here.

[2:04] Bella: I guess you're right, Clucky. I'll stay towards the back though.

[2:08] Clucky: Lead the way, Loki.

[2:10] Loki: Okay, follow me. It was right around here. I thought it was a bit further, but I see it now. Just lying down in the snow there.

[2:24] Kitten: Oh, wow! It is big! Even from this distance, it looks bigger than Kitten.

[2:30] Clucky: That's not a rat. But look, it's got a rat tail.

[2:35] Kitten: I think it's an opossum.

[2:37] Clucky: A what-um?

[2:39] Kitten: Opossum.

[2:41] Clucky: Opossum? Are you sure? Could it be a you-possum?

[2:46] Kitten: Clucky, an opossum. It's the only marsupial found north of Mexico.

[2:52] Clucky: Marsupial?

[2:54] Kitten: Marsupial. A type of mammal known to carry their young in a pouch like a kangaroo, predominantly found in Australia.

[3:07] Clucky: Oh, wow! Could this be a rat kangaroo? You know, half kangaroo, half rat?

[3:13] Kitten: It's got the rat part down. I wonder if it's got a pouch.

[3:18] Clucky: Clucky, I thought we established that rat kangaroos are only found in Australia.

[3:23] Kitten: Well, maybe we had one and it's dead now.

[3:28] Clucky: Oh, that poor possum. Perhaps it died from the cold and snow. It's probably not used to temperatures like this if it's from Australia.

[3:36] Kitten: Isn't it really hot there?

[3:38] Clucky: Yes, it is. And it's opossum, not possum.

[3:42] Kitten: Could it be an e-possum? Or perhaps there's a whole family of vowel possums. A-possum, E-possum, I-possum, O-possum, and U-possum.

[3:52] Clucky: Kitten, I was right. U-possum.

[3:55] Kitten: Clever, Clucky, but no. There are O-possums and just possums.

[4:02] Clucky: What's the difference, other than the O? Although the E-possum could be an electric possum, and the I-possum could be made by Apple.

[4:10] Kitten: It's no wonder you and Clucky get along so well. O-possums are found in North America. They're actually called Virginia O-possums.

[4:19] Clucky: Possums are found in Australia. No electric possums made by Apple or not.

[4:25] Kitten: Then shouldn't they be called V-possums?

[4:28] Clucky: Well, although they are both marsupials, they do have other differences. They look quite different.

[4:34] Kitten: The O-possum can be two to three feet long, including the tail. The possum is much smaller and typically only has one young, whereas the O-possum can have a litter up to 25.

[4:46] Clucky: My goodness, that's a lot of babies.

[4:50] Kitten: And the O-possum cannot carry rabies.

[4:53] Clucky: Didn't you just say they carry a lot of babies?

[4:56] Kitten: Rabies, with an R. It is a virus that many wild animals can carry and infect others.

[5:02] Clucky: Loki and I are vaccinated, so we can't get it. Many livestock like horses and cows and sheep also get vaccinations.

[5:09] Kitten: However, O-possums have a really low body temperature, so the virus cannot survive in their bodies.

[5:20] Clucky: Remember your dead O-possum?

[5:23] Kitten: Yeah, what about it?

[5:26] Clucky: It's not so dead anymore. It just got up and is walking away.

[5:30] Kitten: What? Oh no! Is it a zombie O-possum now?

[5:34] Clucky: I think that'd be a Z-possum.

[5:37] Kitten: Ooh, zombie O-possums! That would be cool! I'll go check it out.

[5:43] Clucky: You think it's safe? What if it wants to eat your brain?

[5:45] Kitten: I'm not too worried about it. I'm really fast. Hey O-possum, wait up!

[5:57] Nine: Ooooh!

[6:01] Kitten: Oh hey there, don't fall over again. Are you feeling light-headed? Faint? Do you need brains to eat?

[6:08] Nine: Huh? Brains?

[6:11] Kitten: Yeah, aren't you a zombie? You were just dead, and now you're alive and moving again.

[6:16] Nine: No, not a zombie. Just an O-possum.

[6:20] Kitten: Oh, but weren't you just dead? You looked pretty dead to me. To all of us, actually.

[6:27] Nine: Oh, yeah. Um, about that...

[6:34] Kitten: Meow? Hello?

[6:36] Nine: Ooooh!

[6:38] Kitten: Oh look, you're falling over again. Why do you keep doing that?

[6:42] Nine: I think it's an O-possum thing. Do you faint a lot?

[6:47] Kitten: Not exactly. Who are all of you?

[6:50] Nine: I'm Loki. I'm a husky.

[6:53] Kitten: I'm Sir Cluckington of Carrington.

[6:57] Nine: Well, Washington now.

[6:59] Kitten: I'm Kitten. And those hens coming now are Brigitte.

[7:03] Clucky: So she's not a zombie.

[7:05] Nine: Bridgette.

[7:06] Kitten: Told you she wasn't dead. And Bella.

[7:09] Bella: Hi. You have an awful lot of teeth.

[7:12] Nine: Indeed! Teeth or not, watch this. Every time we get closer...

[7:19] Clucky: Oh my! Look at that! She's starting to lean over!

[7:23] Kitten: Is she alright?

[7:26] Nine: But when I step back...

[7:30] Clucky: She looks fine again.

[7:32] Nine: Forward...

[7:37] Clucky: How does she lean so far to the side without actually falling over?

[7:40] Nine: And then back. And she's upright again. Kitten says it's an O-possum thing.

[7:46] Kitten: It's a defense mechanism for O-possums. They pretend that they're dead when they think there's danger.

[7:52] Nine: Don't worry. We won't hurt you. We're friendly.

[7:55] Kitten: Okay. So you know my secret now.

[7:59] Nine: Well, it's not exactly a secret. There is a saying about playing possum when one pretends to be dead.

[8:08] Clucky: You like to play dead? Mess with people's heads?

[8:11] Nine: People scream and dread, but you like to play dead.

[8:15] Clucky: Oh no. Please stop. I don't like singing.

[8:19] Nine: Fine. A musical interlude's not for everyone.

[8:22] Kitten: So, I've never heard of this playing dead as a defense mechanism before. It seems a bit dangerous.

[8:27] Nine: Shouldn't you try and run away from the danger?

[8:31] Kitten: I'm not a fast runner. I can look scary to others, though. Especially if I hiss and bare my teeth.

[8:39] Clucky: Oh my!

[8:41] Nine: Rook! That was a scary face!

[8:46] Clucky: Aside from that, I can make myself look dead for a few minutes up to a few hours until the danger has passed.

[8:52] Nine: I can also release a nasty smell that makes predators think I've been dead for longer than I have, so they don't want to eat me. I also climb trees or try to hide, but we aren't really aggressive. We try to keep to ourselves as we forage for food.

[9:06] Kitten: Do you have a name?

[9:07] Nine: Hmm. No.

[9:09] Kitten: You aren't sure?

[9:11] Nine: Um, well, my mom sometimes called me Nine when I was younger, but I've never had a name before.

[9:18] Kitten: How many brothers and sisters did you have? Kitten says opossums can have more than twenty babies at a time.

[9:25] Nine: Yes, that's true, but only thirteen of us can survive.

[9:28] Kitten: Thirteen? Always thirteen?

[9:31] Nine: Well, never more than thirteen. We're born after about two weeks and then make our way into our mother's pouches when we're nursed. We stay for another couple of months before we ever come back out into the open. Mothers only have space to nurse thirteen babies, so only the strongest survive.

[9:48] Kitten: I have eleven brothers and sisters. Once we leave our mothers, though, we're on our own. We don't really socialize with others except to have babies.

[9:57] Nine: I guess that's why I don't see why I'd need a name.

[10:00] Kitten: What about friends? Don't you have friends?

[10:03] Nine: No. We like to be alone, and we travel a lot. Except when we have babies. We're always moving.

[10:10] Kitten: And is it true that you can carry all of your babies around with you on your back?

[10:14] Nine: Yes. It's the easiest way to travel without being young. Although, when they're still that small, we don't travel far.

[10:22] Clucky: Nomadic!

[10:23] Nine: No-magic?

[10:25] Kitten: Nomadic, Clucky. It means roaming from place to place aimlessly, frequently, or without a fixed pattern of movement.

[10:32] Clucky: I like being nomadic from time to time, too. I'm super nomadic when I'm hunting for worms.

[10:38] Nine: What do you like eating?

[10:40] Kitten: Everything.

[10:42] Nine: When you say everything.

[10:45] Kitten: I can't think of anything I wouldn't eat.

[10:47] Nine: There's plenty of things I wouldn't eat. I eat lots of things most animals wouldn't touch. I eat dead animals I find. Frogs, rats, mice, insects, berries, seeds, garbage from humans. Pretty much everything and anything.

[11:03] Kitten: Oh! Wait, my human mom said that she loves opossums, especially because you eat ticks.

[11:09] Nine: Yes, anytime I find a tick, I usually eat it. They're pretty tasty.

[11:14] Kitten: My family finds one to two ticks on me every time I go out for a walk. I probably have one on me now.

[11:17] Nine: They make such a big production of getting them off me.

[11:22] Kitten: If there's snow, you likely don't have a tick on you. They're only active within a certain temperature range. It's too cold right now.

[11:30] Nine: Good to know. I should be going now.

[11:33] Kitten: Where are you off to?

[11:35] Nine: I don't know, but I don't usually spend this much time with anyone. It feels... strange.

[11:41] Clucky: Well, we've enjoyed talking to you.

[11:44] Kitten: Yeah, we've learned so much about opossums today. Your teeth make you look super scary, but you're very kind.

[11:50] Nine: A bit socially awkward, but aren't we all?

[11:53] Kitten: I wouldn't know. I don't think I've ever spoken to chickens before.

[11:57] Nine: Well, you're definitely the first opossum I've ever encountered. What an interesting day we're having.

[12:03] Kitten: Goodbye, then.

[12:05] Nine: Bye, Nan. It was nice meeting you.

[12:08] Kitten: I hope we see you again on your travels through here.

[12:11] Nine: Not likely.

[12:13] Clucky: It would have been cool if you were a zombie. But I guess a playing dead opossum is pretty cool, too.

[12:18] Kitten: Hey, if you like sunflower seeds, there's usually a whole bunch that my humans leave out for the birds. We just live down the mountain a bit.

[12:23] Nine: Thanks for the tip.

[12:27] Kitten: Thanks for reading the text.

[12:29] Nine: Farewell, Nine.

[12:30] Kitten: Bye. It was nice to meet you.

[12:34] Amy Daniels: Thank you for joining us for today's episode. If you liked it, please share it with a friend or leave us a review so others can find our show.

[12:42] Amy Daniels: Voices for today's episode were performed by...

[12:45] Corwin Rosen: Loki

[12:48] Christine Rosen: Nine

[12:53] Parker Daniels: Bridget

[12:58] Bella: It's not so dead anymore.

[13:00] Brigitte: Oh, no!

[13:01] Amy Daniels: And Kitten

[13:09] Clucky: And it's opossum, not possum.

[13:11] Amy Daniels: And Clucky

[13:13] Clucky: A-possum, E-possum, A-possum, O-possum, and U-possum.

[13:18] Amy Daniels: Today's script was written by Christine Rosen and Amy Daniels. The Kitten and Clucky podcast is edited and produced by Amy Daniels, all rights reserved.

[13:28] Amy Daniels: Special thanks to our theme song composer, Henry Johnson. Did you know he wrote that music when he was only 12 years old?

[13:34] Clucky: Wow, so talented!

[13:37] Amy Daniels: Music and sound effects provided by Epidemic Sound.