Come hop aboard the possum bus!
This omnibus takes all of us
Mom-possum navigates the trail
With whiskered nose and long pink tailAll of us children clamber on
We cling to her, a possum throng
No fights aboard this crowded bus
‘Cause momma is the boss of usOur possum momma is so strong
To ferry all her kids along
And seat belts are superfluous
We’resafeaboardourpossumbusWhen we were smaller, we’d all crouch
On lower decks, inside her pouch
But as we grew, we made the swap
And now we ride in style on topIllustrated by Robert Meganck
text © 2019 by Ruth Ingulsrud, art © 2019 by Robert Meganckby Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud
The Possumbus
The possum is the only marsupial (or animal with a
pouch) native to North America. A mother possum
carries her children in her pouch until they are strong
enough to crawl onto her back, where up to f ifteen
can ride through the forest on the momma-bus.
Possums do not have big teeth or claws to defend
themselves. If danger threatens, they faint involuntarily
(“playing possum”). They even produce a rotting smell
to convince predators that they have been dead too
long to make a tasty meal.18