awww... sooo cute...
I grew up on a ranch...
we mostly saw only dead possums...
killed crossing the road...
they were shy and kept their distance...
'cause farmers had dogs... and guns...
as well as cars & tractors...
the ones around us were nocturnal...
which also decreased their "visibility" to us...
we burned our trash...
and threw garbage scraps in the fields...
away from the house...
20 years ago, when I moved into my house...
I was told about the "roof rats"...
who came in on the utility lines...
I was "too far" from the water...
to get raccoons or skunks...
but I might see the occasional possum...
and over the first few years, I did...
since I put out cat food...
I wasn't surprised to attract possums...
omnivores that they are...
and there seemed to be "one"...
each year... I'd catch a glimpse at twilight...
of them scuttling around...
or I'd hear them climbing the tree by my bedroom...
and in the spring...
I'd find the bones...or what was left...
in the garage...or under a bush...
after the winter had "gotten them"...
so with that sad fate in mind...
I trapped the possum who was eating cat food...
about 15 years ago...
took him to a local "park"...
[nature preserve]
and released him into the oak trees...
where he would have lots of food & water...
he looked back at me, as if thanking me...
as he scuttled off into the brush...
my brother, the scientist...
went ballistic when he heard my story...
telling me how stupid I was for not killing it...
because they are not indigenous... [?]
and pests to boot...
they may not be indigenous to WA, where he lives now...
but they certainly are in central CA...
or at least this species is the next best thing...
in the years since then...
the possum population has exploded around here...
last fall, I opened a drawer in my built-in Hall storage...
and found a baby possum smiling back...
sort of like THIS picture...
the access cover, to the crawl space of my house...
was pried open by an opportunistic possum a few years ago...
and it was "game on"...
the back of the built-in drawers in my house are open to below...
as is the bathtub...
and old [80 years +] tubs have a shelf under them...
that has now been the "nursery" for several litters of possums...
they also crawl in between the brick façade...
and the backside of the lath & plaster walls...
this is a shot inside the old electrical service "box"...
the service was moved...
and the electrician promised ...
to close off the old meter opening...
which, of course, "he forgot to do"...
and the little possums discovered this cool route...
right away...
here you can see the old service box on the left...
and on the right...
the cat"accessibility ramp" from outside into my bedroom...
my "oldest cat", Miss Fluff is 17+...and needs some "help"...
that was it's intended purpose, anyway...
it has become the possum ramp...
allowing entrance into my bedroom...
[where cat food awaits...]
if I leave the window open past sunset...
the little ones know NO fear...
& will come in...get startled...
and fall off the bureau...
creating a major problem for me...
just to get them back OUT...
the bigger ones have attitude...
as well as a taste for the cat food...
that I haven't put outside for a year now...
so they will come in & clean out the dish...
if I leave the window open too late...
I've been skulking about lately...
camera in hand...trying for a shot...
so far...this is the best I've gotten...
[the east end, of a west-bound possum headed down the ramp...]
when the demo starts next week...
and they get rousted out...
because the tub is going...
and there'll be mega noise...
I'm planning to seal off the crawl space access...
AND the old electric service box...
they can go back to the garage...
with their rattling in the walls at 3 AM...
the scuttling around under the tub...
the nesting in drawers...
never again do I want to have a cat...
stalking the bathroom wall...
[chasing spiders is one thing...
pawing at the wall, where scratching sounds can be heard...
from inside...is too much...]
to mis-quote Shakespeare, "out, damn possum..."
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