Dead possums are some of the worst stank in the known world.

And wouldn't you know it seems to be a banner year for dead possums here in Kansas City. I swear I see a half-flattened one of those nasty little buggers every day, different locations. It seems like the sanitation crews can't pry 'em up as fast as they're getting mowed down.

Been seeing and smelling a lot of flat squirrels, too. Flat squirrels are plenty disgusting, but they don't linger like a possum does. They get dessicated pretty quickly; they're only good for a couple of days of smell, whereas a possum is like the Duracell Bunny of stink.

If I know where a carcass is, I will plan my route to skip a block or so over and miss it, but sometimes, you know one will catch you unawares. It's worst when you've decided it's time to stretch your legs a little and hammer up a hill, and you're really laying into it, sucking air, and "hooof" you pass right past something very dead and very ripe. I darn near yakked one night last week, in a situation like that. Nasty is an inadequate word.