Section A · Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, November 9, 1999
Weather trend continues to flirt with record highs
Warm temperatures are not indication winter will be mild
By Michael Terry
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Students have taken the opportunity to play outside before they have to start studying for upcoming finals thanks to five straight days of unseasonably warm temperatures.
Steve Kays, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Topeka, said that Lawrence had experienced near-record highs because of a high pressure system that had settled across the central plains.
"The high pressure system hasn't shown any signs of giving way, and Lawrence should continue to see temperatures in the upper 60s to the low 70s well into the middle of next week."
Kays said.
He said the average temperatures for Lawrence this time of year were highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s. Lawrence hasn't been within 20 degrees of that range in almost a week.
"It's important that students don't read too much into the warm temperatures," Kays said. "At this time there are no established weather trends that show this upcoming winter will be any milder then ones in years past."
Students don't seem to care why or how long the weather is warm; they are just taking advantage of it while they can.
Heather Domingue, Lake Charles, La., junior, said she had been enjoying spending time outdoors.
"It gives me a chance to come to Potter Lake with my dog, Mia, and let her play with the other dogs," Domingue said. "This weather reminds me of home and lets me be out with my dog without freezing my butt off."
"It's important that students don't read too much into the warm temperatures."
Steve Kays
meteorologist
But there is at least one student who is ready for a more traditional fall.
Chris Bartley, Overland Park graduate student, said he was not pleased with the recent weather.
"I love the fall and winter seasons," Bartley said. "It's supposed to be cold and snowing in November, and I'm really disappointed that this has yet to happen."
Bartley said that he and his dog, Moose, enjoyed the cold and that they couldn't wait for the warm weather to go away.
- Edited by Jamie Knodel
Dallas sophomore Daniel Magill plays frisbee in front of Frasier Hall yesterday afternoon. The warm sunshine reminded many students of summer with shorts and fun in the sun. Photo by Chad Cummins/KANSAN
Opossums popping up on campus for food, friends
By Todd Halstead
By Todd Halstead
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
When Tracy Huser got home from class, she headed straight for the trash can behind her house. What she saw next would become somewhat of a spiritual experience.
"It's not exactly what you expect to see when you go to take the trash out," the Fredonia junior said.
refuge among their refuse.
Peering from the depths of the trash can was a ghostly white face; its beady, black eyes watching her. It was an opossum.
Huser showed her roommates what she had discovered seeking
"We were going to leave him alone because we figured if he got in there by himself, he could get out by himself," she said. "So we left him overnight, and it had started raining. When we checked in there the next morning he was all freezing cold and wet."
Huser tipped the trash can over with a stick and the marsupial who had been dubbed Dicky by Huser's roommate scampered off down the alleyway. Soon after, she found a dead opossum in the ditch near her house, but Dicky has stayed with her.
"I miss him bunches, and his spirit visits me ever so often," Huser said.
What Huser saw was a common occurrence for students at the University of Kansas. It appears, however, that more opossums than usual have been spotted waddling about campus.
Jay Sexton, Salina senior, was sitting on the steps near Wesco Terrace about 11:30 a.m. when a opossum waddled past him and curled up underneath the stairs of Wesco Hall.
"He acted like he was a squirrel or something, and it was no big deal," Sexton said. "There were millions of people around."
Melany Sutherland, administrative manager of Wild Care, an animal rehabilitation unit, said the warmer weather might be a factor
in more opossum sightings,but that there were probably no more animals than usual.
"Essentially leave them alone," Sutherland said. "If you find an injured one and feel comfortable, you can contain it and call us. If you're not sure, call us, and we'll coach you through it."
Robert Timm, curator of mammals at the Natural History Museum, said as the weather cooled off at night opossums could be seen scavenging for food in the late afternoon and early morning.
"They are really abundant in Lawrence so it wouldn't surprise me that people are seeing them around campus," Timm said. "As the weather cools off, they are
more anxious to be out when it's not cool."
Timm ad opossums ate vast amounts of insects, but as winter set in, they could be seen scavenging for anything they could find.
Opossums often venture into urban areas foraging, but experts say people do not have anything to worry about.
"Possums do not carry rabies because their body temperature can't harbor the virus," Sutherland said.
She said students did not have to worry about other diseases because opossums did not usually carry diseases contagious to humans.
human hands because of a divergent toe and they have prehensile tails used for stabilization when climbing.
Opossums' hind feet resemble
They have gray or black fur, pink noses, feet and tails, black ears and pointed snouts. When threatened, an opossum bears its 50 teeth, more than any other mammal, but it usually is harmless and wishes to avoid all confrontations. Its predators include great horned owls, dogs and other animals. A possum is a languid runner and will try to escape predators by climbing trees. If attacked they often lie very still as if dead, a practice called "playing opossum."
Edited by Jessie Meyer
Go abroad, earn credit have the best summer of your life... all at the same time!
Summer 2000 Study Abroad Fair
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Kansas Union, 4th Floor
TODAY!
864-3742 • osa@ukans.edu • www.ukans.edu/~osa