Mymom is very slow to catch on to things.  We had a possum living in our house inda spring uv 2003, eating my food, drinking my water, sleeping ... well, sleeping somewhere, but I'm not telling.  And this went on for days and days and mymom didn't get it.  She noticed that the water was getting drinked quicker than usual.  And she noticed that some times I sniffed and sniffed around the back of the bed.  And when she went on a little vacation and sent me off to jail ... she calls it my own private Bed an Brekfast, but it's jail ... she noticed rustlerustlerustle sounds in the middle of the night and I wasn't there to make them.  But she decided it was the house making house noises.  Now, I ask you, what house goes rustlerustlerustle?  

And when she came home from that vacation, when I had been in jail the whole time, she saw that the water dishes were empty -- she thought she'd filled them before she left, but maybe she'd forgotten ... or maybe there was a crack and they were leaking ... or maybe she'd kicked them with her clumsy foot.  But she still didn't get it.  She came and got me out of jail, and then just a day or two later, there she was, in the middle of the night, not sleeping good so she had the little TV playing softly in the bedroom ... and she heard more rustlerustlerustle.  And this time a gray rodent sorta shape came walking across the paperpiles and bookpiles next to the TV.  And then that shape stopped right in front of the TV, so it was backlit by the TV screen, and it turned its little pointy face right at mymom.  And stared at her with little black beady eyes.  And twitched a little pink noze at her.  And she stared at it and said, out loud, "Oh.  My.  Gawd.  What.  IS.  That?"   And the rodent sorta shape went on its way and when she turned on the light and got up, it was crouched right next to the bedside table.  She wasn't sure what it was, though she was thinking "Rat.  Large."   But it just crouched there, and she got this walking cane she had and kinda poked at it.  (Mymom isn't the sharpest pin inna cushion sometimes.)  And it came out and walked right up to her.  And then froze stillstillstill.  She was going to throw a towel over it, but she kinda missed.  And this little gray furry thing just stayed there.  So she bent over and grabbed it hard by the scruff of the neck (by this time she was thinking more like "Possum.  Small.") and took it to the bathroom (its mouth was wide open an it had lots of teeths -- the most teeths of any mammal in North America or maybe the whole world -- showing its teeths is what it does when it's scared) and opened the window and tossed it into the bushes under the window.  And sat up for a long time thinking about it.  And went to the internet the next day and found pictures of possums and said to herself, yes that had been a possum.  An she figgered da possum came frum da crawlspace under da howse throo some hole bak behind da plumming inna bafroom, an now she has to find dat hole an block it up.  Dat duz not make her happy. But da possum wuz gone an dat wuz ok fer now.

Well, the possum was gone.   But ... the possum wasn't quite as dumb as, oh say, mymom.  The possum came back.  A few days later mymom saw the water was getting drinked up again.  And I was staying on the dining room table or the kitchen table.  And sure enough, she heard rustlerustlerustle sounds in the night again.  She saw the possum two more times in the next ten days -- once inna bedroom like before, only this time the possum didn't come to her -- it sqwawked when she poked it wif her canne and ran under da bed.  And once inna bathroom where it ran behind a big pile of clothes and things and she couldn't get at it.   So she went to the internet and read and read and read all about possums.  There are lots of different kinds of possums and lots live in Australia and New Zealand.  But only one kind of possum lives in North America, and that's what we had.  It wasn't a baby, but it wasn't grown up yet either.  It was what they call a juvenile.  It was young but it had found a great place to live, with lots of water and catfood and hideyholes and no predators cuz I really didn't want to bother with it and mymom wouldn't hurt it, really.  But she didn't want the possum living in our house, and, truth to say, neither did I very much.  It ate my food!

So mymom decided to catch the possum and find it a better home.  First she took me to jail -- she said it was so I wouldn't get caught in any trap meant for the possum.   It was still jail (though they did  give me a catnip toy to play with and I tore it all apart and ate the catnip).  Back at home, first mymom tried a kind of homemade trap she read about on the internet -- something about halfway tipped over wastebaskets that the possum was supposed to go into to get the food in the bottom, but couldn't get back out of.  Well, the first night after she turned the light out, she heard rustlerustlerustle but no possum went into any tipped over wastebasket.  The second night she went and borrowed a real trap (one that wouldn't hurt the possum) from a friend of a friend she knew who did animal rescue, and set that up too.  She heard rustlerustlerustle but no possum went into any trap.  The third night she moved the real trap to a different part of the house and covered it with a cover -- and that night she didn't really hhear any rustlerustlerustle but all of a sudden, around 10 pm, she heard BANG!  The real trap had closed, and it was full of scared young possum.  So mymom called the animal rescue person, and they made arrangements for her to return the trap -- filled with Possum Small (or, Freddie the Freeloader, which is what one of her coworkers called him/her) and they would find a new home for Possum Small that wasn't close to Our House.  And mymom took lots and lots of mothballs (ick!) and put them around where she thought the possum came in so no more possums would decide to move in.  

And this morning she took the trap and the possum to the animal rescue place, and we are both hoping Possum Small will have a good life and grow to be Possum Large, but not here.

---

Here are some pictures of our possum.  The first one is right after s/he went inna trap.  The other two are the next morning onna porch (but still inna trap).

Black shiny eyes and soft pink nose.

Cute black feet and little pink fingers

Possum Small, mouth open cuz she's afraid though she shudn't be cuz mymom wudn't hurt her
(and more teeth than any other mammal anywhere).
Note the cute white scallop on the top of the ear!

---

POSTSCRIPTZ:

POSSUMTOO: Da next yeer (2004), no possum mooved in, but PossumToo showed up a couple times to grab a used babywipe tisshue from da foot uv da bed an den leeve. We haf no idea whut PossumToo liked bout doze babywipes. Maybe he wuz using dem to make his den inna Out all nice an comfy.

POSSUM POSSE (POSSUM 3A an POSSUM 3B): Den da next yeer after dat (2005) it wuz a reel mild winter, an some time round May mymom began to fink she shud put down some mothballz to keep out enny yung possum explorers. Cuz da past two yeers dey had come round June, an she had not fixed dat possum hole yet. But she wuz too late. Dat furry night she saw Possum3 checking out da catfud (dat wud be my fud!). Possum3 has walked all ofur da bed, has walked ofur mymom's feets inna bed, has walked ofur mymom's shoulder when she wuz sleeping inna bed ... and Possum3 has turned out to be a Possum Posse -- dere haf been at leest two possum boys (definitely boys!) having dens inna closet an under da bed an den wandering round da howse at night! Mymom finks dat some uv da time dey were going out at nite an coming bak inna howse to sleep inna daytime. But not alwayz. Sometimez dey just found fud (like a old bag of catfud inna corner) to eet inna howse. (An troof be told, mymom sometimes cutted up pieces uv banannannanna an applez for dem to find.)  Finally wun uv dem (Possum3A) got himself all tangled up inna plastic grocery bag an camed into da bedroom trailing dat bag behind him, an mymom wuz able to take off da bag an pick him up an put him in my cat carrier an drive him to a noo home inna Out where she hoped he wud be able to find fud an shelter an frends wifout living in our howse, cuz possums are really Out critters who shudn't live in howses wif hoomins.  An Onliest Kitties.  She put him inna thicket uv ivy an sed "Good-bye. Be happy. Be healthy. Be safe." An a few days later, she found Possum3B in a corner inna kitchen an she taked him to da same place where his brother had been taken. She said "Good-bye. Be happy. Be healthy. Be safe." I fink she really likes an worries about doze possums. I just fink dey're weerd. But if mymom duzn't find dat possum hole an close it up, we may haf possum babies visit us fur a long long time. I don't know how I feel bout dat. --Talisker Pippin, VC

POSSUMFORE: Well, once again mymom didn't do anyfing about dat possum hole.  An da spring of 2006 wuz not a gud time, becuz lotza fings were happening in her life an she wuzn't home for weekz atta time (I hadda stay wif TED MaryKay inna bording kennel ptui).  So when PossumFore appeared, rite on schedule in May or June, she just didn't bother much.  She tried to pick up da catfud when she wuz at work, an tried to make sure I ate it all at dinner time, so PossumFore wudn't start finking our howse wuz a free buffet for young possums.  (I fink mymom wuz a bit too late -- dere haz to be a sign under our howse datt sez "All Yung Possums Welcome -- Free Fud, Mellow Cat, Sucker Hoomin Possummom" on it.)  Ennyway, PossumFore came visiting lots of nites, an maybe (or maybe not -- I'm not telling) stayed overnite inna cloosit or inna cupboard.  An some nites PossumFore wuzn't around.  Mymom had finally figured out dat if da possum could get into da howse by herownself, she could get outta da howse by herownself too.  And so mymom hoped she'd just get tired of coming inna In and go on her possumly way.  Speshully if dere wuzn't much of myfud out for her to eat.  An mymom did not cut up apples an banannnanas for PossumFore.  PossumFore kept coming around for a long time though, and she kept getting bigger and bigger.  She wuz growing into a big grownup possum.  But finally she didn't come so offten.  And den she didn't come any more.  Mymom kinda missed her.  An she hopes dat PossumFore just got too big to come inna possumhole or too growned up to visit hoomin howses.  She hopes nothing bad happened to PossumFore.  But now she finks maybe -- if she doesn't fix dat possumhole dis year -- dat she'll just leave any noo young possum alone an let Nature take its course.  She duzn't haf to trap it an take it to a noo home.  She also finks she's been blessed to have possums come visit her an she likes dem more and more -- dey are quiet an mellow little fings, she sez, an mind dere own bizzyness, an dey are very ancient an speshul creatures an she's privileged dat dey trust her enuff to come vizit.  She's weerd, mymom.  But da possums aren't so bad. --Talisker Pippin, VC

---

OPPORTUNISTIC OPOSSUM (FLORIDA): It turns out we are not da onliest howse dat possums vizit!  My frend Mietze who lives alldaway away in Florida had dis possum come sleep on her porch!  Hermom taked dese picturez of da possum all cozy inna quilt pile one day.  Dey sed she wuz a Oppurrtunistic Possum, an she wuz dere a day or so, den went on her way.  But wif dat cozy pile uv quiltz to nap in, an kitty kibble onna porch, I bet she'll be back, just like our PossumPosses!

Possum tayl

Possum noze (an one tiny toof)

Total possum relaxashun!

---

An if you're interested, here are some links bout Possums:

Possum Rescue: http://www.possumrescue.com/
National Possum Society: http://www.opossum.org/
Possum Society of the US: http://www.opossumsocietyus.org/
Planet Possum: http://www.planetpossum.com
The Opossum Page: http://www.theopossumpage.com

---

Our Scrapbuk  |  Bitterroot Manor homepage