But Wait, There's More!

[kerravonsen]

I had my suspicions yesterday, certain items disturbed, knocked over, but my brother dismissed them.

"It was an earthquake or something. The possum is not still in the house."

However, he changed his mind this morning when he observed many more disturbances, things knocked over, spoons on the floor of the kitchen, games knocked over, boxes knocked over... the possum was still in the house, it had not escaped on Saturday night as we had assumed.
Phone call to possum remover. First one we called, no longer worked in Melbourne in spite what their website said. Second one we called, had a lot of questions and informative back-and-forth. Needed to get it out of the house TODAY because otherwise it might die of hunger & thirst. My brother figured it probably had drunk water, from the pan which was soaking in the kitchen sink, since the spoons on the floor were evidence that it had been in the kitchen.

Plan A: look for the possum, where it could be hiding, asleep. If found, let sleeping possum lie, and call the possum people to remove it.
Plan B: wait until it wakes up at dusk, and lure it to the (open) front door with a trail of apple pieces.

So my brother started wandering around with a torch, looking under the sofa and other likely dark places. In the meantime, I wandered to the front hall and pointed out a couple more things disturbed: the battery-powered wireless doorbell was on the floor, and my agate-slice with the dolphins on it had broken off the strand it was hanging from in the front door window. I picked up the agate slice, looked at where it had snapped off, looked up a little further, and saw...


...the possum. Asleep. With its head curled down and its tail curled around, a fluffy ball of fur.

My brother figured that when the possum had gone to sleep, the top of the bookcase had looked invitingly dark. It was on top of the bookcase right next to the front door; it could not have been positioned in a more perfect place for it to be persuaded to go out the front door. My brother rang the possum people again, and they said it would be okay to try to get it out ourselves: open the front door, then take a broom and wake up the possum and push it off the bookcase so that it could see and go out the front door. Brave brother did this, with a couple of attempts because the possum was clinging to the wood of the window frame (yes those claws are sharp), but then it was down and bounding out the door and across the front lawn, peeking out between the wheelie bins and then gone.

Hallelujah! The possum is free! Fly free little possum!

Comments

[tptigger]

Yay! And no more in the house where it can get to you!

Brave brother is brave. Yay for supportive family!

[kerravonsen]

Brave brother is brave. Yay for supportive family!

And yay for the timing, since this brother of mine is normally in another state, but just "happened" to be visiting me when all this happened. I suspect God's hand in that. Also in the fact that (as discovered this morning) that the possum removalist we booked for today actually lives nearby, so he turned up early. 8-)

[lizbee]

IT'S SO SMALL AND ROUND AND FLUFFY, I'm so glad it got out okay!

[kerravonsen]

YES IT IS SO SMALL AND ROUND AND FLUFFY! About the size of a cat. A Brushtail possum, according to the possum guy who came this morning. Brushtails are apparently more aggressive than Ringtails. I think The Possum would give The Nomcat a run for his money. But I bear him or her no ill-will (because SMALL AND ROUND AND FLUFFY!). The eviction notice has been given, but I wish to be a good Landlord to the possum(s), and so I am arranging alternative accommodation: I've ordered a nesting box, which the possum guy will install in a suitable tree.

[lizbee]

Oh, good. I feel that way about the nomcat when he's aggressive, too -- he's not being bad, he's just an animal with an animal's natural stress reaction. (Also: SMALL, ROUND, FLUFFY.)

I hope you and your tenant have a long, happy relationship with no more injuries.

[watervole]

Hurrah! Sounds pretty much like what we do with birds that fall down the chimney. Close all curtains except the one in front of the window and it generally heads straight for the light.

[kalypso]

I am quite pleased to have seen the possum, but glad that it has been persuaded to leave, and I hope there have been no further visits.

[miamadwyn.livejournal.com]

Wow. What an adventure for the poor little thing!

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, despite the fact that it bit me, my sympathy is with the possum. It must have been terrified.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

I have never seen a live possum...it must be cute - BUT also not a welcomed visitor. I am glad you were patient with it and managed to get it out safely.:-)

[kerravonsen]

I am glad it got out safely, poor thing must have been terrified.

[kaffy_r]

Yes, you're right; your possums are more attractive than the North American type (although I harbor a sort of odd affection for our toothy little insectivores). I don't even have to see its head to know that.

Glad you were able to get him or her out of the house, so that he or she could fly free - and, with any luck, no more hostile encounters!

[kerravonsen]

Yes, you're right; your possums are more attractive than the North American type (although I harbor a sort of odd affection for our toothy little insectivores).

I get the impression that the North American possums have pale vampiric faces and very messy fur. Idiosyncratic, but not cute.

I don't even have to see its head to know that.

Huge eyes, rodent-like face, pink nose. Herbivore.
It didn't bite me so much as gnaw my hand.
An example of the cuteness here.

[kaffy_r]

I get the impression that the North American possums have pale vampiric faces and very messy fur.

They have gorgeous, liquid brown eyes, but their lovely eyes are sort of negated by their very long, toothy snouts. I'm not sure they have messy fur, as such; they don't have an undercoat, the way most mammals of that size do (i.e. rabbits, cats, etc.), so they're rather more hairy than furry. And they aren't nearly as cute as yours, but I like them nonetheless. They do have prehensile tails, which you can see if you google images for North American possum.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

What a tale! Glad the possum is free and neither of you got scratched or bit.

Also, from that picture alone, your possums do look cuter than ours.

[kerravonsen]

Here's a full face shot from Wikipedia, which demonstrates more cuteness.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, you have had some excitement for sure. So glad you were able to get the possum outside before it did any more damage to you or the house!

But that picture is adorable. :)

[kerravonsen]

Possums are adorable when they aren't biting you, yes.
I intend to get a possum box so that it will have a place to live after it (they) have been evicted from my roof. They are protected wildlife here (being native marsupials) and very territorial, so you aren't allowed to remove them from their territory, or they might get killed by other possums as invaders and interlopers. So the best solution is to give them a new home in a tree.

Fortunately, I'm not a fanatical gardener, so I don't have fruit/vegetables which I might be annoyed about if they were eaten by possums. And I think there's enough Silky-Oak flowers for all of us.

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

Sorry that you had more possum chaos...

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

So glad you were able to get it out without any more pain and injury on either side...

[kerravonsen]

Yep.

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

What an adventure. Glad it ended happily.