I wrote this up back in early October but some how it never got posted. Thought I would share it.
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It’s Sunday evening and I’m sitting at my computer at about 11:30 pm contemplating retiring for the evening when I hear, “KERRY THERE IS A POSSUM ON THE BACK PORCH!!!!”
The problem with that statement (other than the obvious) is that the door from the back porch to the outside is closed, has been for some weeks, and is blocked with a pile of boxes. In addition there is a cat door leading into the living room for the cat (or this unwelcome possum) to enter through. This warrants immediate action.
In my tshirt and underware I head to the back porch via the door in the kitchen. So here i am looking at this possum lookin’ at me and it didn’t appear that either one of us were too thrilled at seeing the other. Fortunately it was small, about the size of my cat or a little smaller.
I immediately asked for pants. First things first. I wasn’t going to go possum wrangling in my underware after all. After getting the Levis on Tia handed me a broom. I guess she thought I could clean up a little or sweep it under the door?? Ok so I have this broom in my hand and no plan what so ever. The only way out of the room for the possum is past me into the kitchen or through the hole in the wall into the livingroom. I’m not too happy with either scenario as there is a rather large black dog inside the house.
I decided to try to contain our guest and used the broom to pin him against the wall while I tried to move items and get a box next to him. Remember this is a rather cluttered porch. All the while my cat is next to me still not aware of what is going on just sure that what I really want to do is pick him up and pet him. The possum only goes along with the under the broom routine for a short while before deciding there were about 1000 other places he/she would rather be. Fortunately for me (and him/her) the tube to my leaf blower/mulcher was laying on the floor next to the now getting pissed possum. Taking a cue from the possum who was already headed for the tube I encouraged, ok pushed, as he/she took cover. At this point I asked Tia for a pillow case. I capped the wide end of the tube with the broom and the other end was too small for our guest to exit so I felt this was a good place to be at the moment. As I turned to put the tube in the pillow case Tia hightailed it back into the house with the pillowcase in hand. Such a brave soul. In a couple of seconds the possum was in the tube which was in the pillowcase which I held at arms length as we headed to the car to put our friend into the possum relocation program. I yelled upstairs to the kid that we were on the way to the country to turn loose the possum I just caught on the porch and her only reply was ‘have fun with that.
The trip to the wildlife area a couple of minutes up the road was rather uneventful till Tia hit a bump and our visitor decided being in a tube inside a pillow case wasn’t where he/she wanted to be. As I am sitting in the seat with the pillowcase on the floor between my feet I realize that I reeeeely don’t want this guy getting any more upset than he already is and also realize that I can only move my feet so far apart. My grip on the pillow case tightens.
Fast forward a few moments and I am walking across the grass with a rather squirrely lump in the pillowcase held as far from my body as humanly possible. I just knew the police would probably become involved if someone saw me in the park but as it turned out I was spared that. With great care I gently laid the pillowcase down and stepped back. Within a few moments our guest was on his way into the woods. Happy life little guy.
After the excitement wore off I got to thinking. This guy has probably been living under that porch since I closed the door some weeks back. There is a hole in the corner leading to the craws space under the porch addon. I don’t believe there is any access to the outside world from under that porch except through that hole where he probably came and went from. I did notice the cat looking intensely over in that direction a couple of times and we noticed that the cat food had been disappearing at quite an alarming rate over the last week or two. Since our guest has left we have gone through a lot less cat food. Never a dull moment around here.
Hah! Possum adventures! I had one myself a few weeks ago lol. Little dude went into my garage and I shut the door. A short time later I hear all sorts of noise out there. My hubby was Not. Home. So, there I was, alone, with some sort of animal in my garage, at midnight. I did what any sane woman would do. I called my best friend to have a good laugh 😉 She came over (talk about a good friend rofl) and we proceeded to chase the possum out of the garage with… a Broom (the possum chasing tool of choice it seems!)
Fast forward a few weeks. Said friend has just returned from a vacation. Calls me up and says “I’m comin’ over, I gotcha somethin’ ” She shows up with a Stuffed Possum!
He now resides happily in my living room as a reminder of our Midnight Possum Adventure 2007 lol.
Ha. I had a run in with a lizard in which I had to remove my pants. Glad you were able to prioritize in the face of danger!
wow!! what excitement, I had the same problem
with a Racoon, they are nice to look at, but get close and personal
and there is a difference!!
wow!! I had the same problem with a goat on my front porch!!
Perhaps I should consider marketing the broom as Possum Extractor 2000! I can see it now, commercials, mall spots. $$$
Possums are one of those critters that are so ugly that I always wonder how they reproduce.
Don
I have a possem in my garage NOW! Scared the living shit out of me the other night as he was hanging on the garage door when I was opening it. Tried to chase him out with a broom, but in a crowded garage, that ain’t happening…. Then I had a bright idea to pour amonia in the area to drive him away. I somehow managed to sprinkle some on him, and he went bananas! Then I ran like a bitch, cause he scared the living shit out of me.
It’s day 3 and he’s still there. I don’t know how he keeps getting in, but he’s managed to break both sensors of my garage door opener. I succomed to the fact that I, a grown man, am scared of the small creature. But give me min to collect myself. I’ll grow some nuts, and go back after him.
ROFLMAO. I would be scared too. I would hate to be in a closed room with an angry possum. Do you have a trap? If you can find out how he is getting out perhaps you can install a 1 way device with a piece of wood and a spring. At least when he gets out he won’t get back in. Please keep me posted. I had to pick myself up of the floor picturing the both of you running from each other.