haha! my dane boy "killed" one just a little while ago. once they start playing dead, my dogs lose all interest. i picked it up in a snow scoop and tossed it over the fence.

several months ago, bentley was outside at night. i heard him barking like crazy then, silence. five minutes later, he came in through the dog door with his "dead" prize. gee, thanks bentley!

We had one who went into a large trash can and could not get out. We tipped the can on its side, and he was able to walk out. When he was playing possum on the bottom of the can, his mouth was ajar, and he had some fearsome looking teeth.

I handled one one when I was young who was playing dead. He evidently didn't think this defense was working when I didn't put him down soon enough,and he sure enough came back to life and flashed his choppers at me. Yes, they're fearsome. I put him down directly.

Years ago I saw a dog "worrying" a possum and they ended up in a very shallow creek. The possum played dead and laid in the water. The dog soon lost interest and went away. I watched it for awhile and then took a long stick and gently tried to touch the possum. It moved it's head and showed those teeth and I took off running. It didn't take long for it to get up and walk away. It is a pretty good defense mechanism when you think about it.