Playing Possum

Have you ever seen the movie "Over the Hedge"? There are a couple of opossums who play dead at one point in the movie. Or have you heard your parents say, oh she's not asleep. She's playing possum? Here is what wikipedia had to say about it:
Playing possum" is an idiomatic phrase which means "pretending to be dead". It comes from a characteristic of the Virginia opossum, which is famous for pretending to be dead when threatened. This instinct does not always pay off in the modern world; for example, possums scavenging roadkill may use it in response to the threat posed by oncoming traffic, and subsequently end up as roadkill themselves.
"Playing possum" can also mean simply pretending to be injured, unconscious, asleep, or otherwise vulnerable, often to lure an opponent into a vulnerable position him or herself.


So the other day, we find this cute little guy in my dad's yard. We caught him and immediately he fell into this position. We rolled him back and forth and he wouldn't move. It actually looked like he was dead. Then we moved back a few feet and within a minute or two he peeked out of his eyes and looked around. We were still too close. We backed up further, and he peeks once again. This time he jumps up and runs like crazy! It was the funniest thing.