It's baaaaaack!

[kerravonsen]

I woke up this morning to find a scene of somewhat chaos on the floor of my study. I mean, only slightly more chaotic, considering that there is the chaos of I-am-in-the-middle-of-decluttering, which includes a bunch of bags and stuff on the floor. But this was not chaos caused by me (and I haven't been writing in any magical diaries either). There was a big black box-lid on the floor, and a bunch of things fallen from the shelves onto the floor. At first I thought it was the Pancake Dalek (aka my Roomba) but it wasn't consistent with the kind of disturbance that robotic appliance causes: it wasn't a case of things pushed around from somewhere else, or things that were on the floor being knocked over, nor of something getting tangled in its bristles and being dragged. And I hadn't thought that the things I'd put on the shelves were that unbalanced or precarious that they would fall down on their own.

So I started tidying up, putting things back inside containers and onto the shelves. And when I picked up a laptop-protector bag to put it back at the bottom of the wardrobe... I saw It.



The preposterously persistent possum has returned.

It was awake, though I expect it had retreated into the wardrobe to have a kip. The knocked-down things are explained by it trying to get up high and failing... unless it fell through a hole in the top of the wardrobe, but no holes were in evidence. The "trying to get somewhere high" theory is supported by a lesser disturbance in the front hall, things knocked over off the bookcase, where I surmise that it attempted to get to the top bookcase again, but did not succeed this time, possibly because last time it gained purchase on the hanging dolphin decoration, which was no longer there because the possum had broken it last time.

I have looked around the house and I can't see any likely places where it got in. The kitchen cupboard is out, because it was closed with a stool standing in front of it: no disturbances there. And I can't find any holes in the ceiling where it may have fallen down. Nor holes in the walls, either. It is a mystery.

I have left a message on the answering machine of the nice Frans who did the possum-proofing last time, because he's the only one I could contact ON A WEEKEND (how inconvenient of the possum to decide to break in on a -- wait a minute, that's what it did last time). I learned my lesson: I wasn't going to tackle it without gardening gloves on. Which I would have (yes, I have gardening gloves and I put them on) but as you can see from the photo, the cunning beastie has not left its tail free to be grabbed. Darn. I hope Frans gets my message.

Comments

[tptigger]

Good grief. *hugs*

[kerravonsen]

It is a cunning beastie. (sigh)

[tree_and_leaf]

Gosh!

I think we might have rats in the attic.

[kerravonsen]

Somehow I would prefer possums to rats, myself. Though apparently, rats often accompany possums.

[tree_and_leaf]

Given where we are, though, I'd be far more surprised by possums.

[kerravonsen]

True, there aren't any in the UK, are there? They're more a New World beastie.

[tree_and_leaf]

No, only in zoos (and we're a long way from the closest zoo!)

Bizarrely, raccoons became naturalised in parts of Germany, but there are no possums there, either.

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

Poor you - not again! :( *offers chocolate*

[kerravonsen]

I must have a magnetic personality.
(icon love)
(scoffs chocolate)