<TITLE>30. Par 102-105</TITLE>L-102 And setting on a porch, talking, I happened to notice at ten o'clock in the day, coming up the road come an old opossum. I don't know what you... I guess you have them here. You do have here in this state. Now, anyone knows that knows conservation, a opossum is blind in the daytime. They prowl at night. And here it was ten o'clock, come up dragging his leg, like that. And I said, "That opossum," he passed about four or five houses, coming from the woods over from me, right up the lane. And I was the only one had a fence, but he come to my gate, turned in, started walking up. I said, "That opossum's got rabies. See? It's... That's what's the matter. It's gone mad. And now, there's old yard rake laying there, Mr. Wood setting there, Mrs. Wood was there present, the milkman was standing there talking to me, Mr. Gilmore, a friend of mine, the two boys, all of them setting there, talking. And I'd been teaching to them.
A young colored girl, the day before had had a baby, and took it, and wrapped it up, and smothered it to death, and dropped it in the river, like that. And we was talking about what a heart that was in that girl.

L-103 And so I went out there and took a rake and threw it over the opossum, and usually they do what you call, 'play opossum,' they just lay down and grin. Instead of this, she kept squirming. I looked at here. And this is a... I don't mean to turn your stomach, but the flies had blowed her all over, and maggots was all over her, and her leg was drawed back, just to swell way up that. Either a car had hit her, or the dogs had got a hold of her and mashed her up.
I said, "Oh, she's hurt." And I happened to notice she was trying to get up. And when I noticed, she had nine little naked babies about like that, little baby opossums. And I said, "This is more of a mother than that girl was, though she's a dumb brute." I said, "She hasn't got maybe a half hour to live, but she'll spend that half hour, fighting to protect those babies." I said, "There's more morals to that opossum than there is to that girl." That's right. And I was teaching the boys from that.
And just that, just as soon as I let the rake up, she took right off as hard as she could, and went right up to my step, right by my step where you go up, and laid down and exhausted.

L-104 I went up and punched her. And she wouldn't move. And so, she... The little babies were trying to nurse that milk from her. They said, "Why, she's dead."
And I said, "I don't know. I don't think she's dead." And I punched her again, you can just see a little grin-like come on her lip, you know, like that. And I punched her again.
Mrs. Wood setting there, she's kind of a veterinary, Mrs. Wood is. She said, "Brother Branham, the only humane thing to do with this now," said, "them little babies will die." Said, "There's only one thing to do, is take and finish killing the opossum, and then kill the babies." Said, "Because they're too little to put on... Little bitty things about that long," said, "you... Said, "They're--they're going to die." And said, "Then and they'll just starve their little theirselves to death." And I said, "Mrs. Wood, that's right, but I can't kill the opossum."
"Why," she said, "Brother Branham, you're a hunter." Said, "Go get one of your guns and shoot them."

L-105 And I said, "I'm a hunter, but not a killer." I said, "I--I can't kill those little baby opossums." To see that poor mother struggling till she come here and laid down. I said, "I haven't got the heart to kill that mother and them babies laying there like that."
She said, "That's right." But said, "The humane thing to do, Brother Branham, think of the little things, that old milk coming from that dead mother there, why, they--they it's just going to kill them anyhow." She said, "Let Mr. Wood take them and kill them."
I said, "I just can't do it, Sister Wood." And I wouldn't let them do it.


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