'Possums in my purse

Our lovely new teaching assistant (also a friend, former HMNS educator, and current Houston Arboretum volunteer/employee) sidled over to me this morning and whispered, "There's something interesting in my purse.  I don't know if it's too exciting for the children or not." 

Oh, boy.  I was intrigued!  "What is it?" I asked. 

"There are 'possums in my purse."  Yep folks, baby opossums came to school today in Mrs. Z's purse.  It turns out they had met with a dog-disaster in her backyard last night, and she was able to rescue two of the babies (with plans to take them to a wildlife rehabilitation center where they could be properly cared for).  Virginia opossums are the only marsupials in North America.  They also have prehensile tails, allowing them to hang from trees.  These little guys are probably about six weeks old (based on this website) and should still be in their mama's pouch.