Who in the name of Sam Hill am I supposed to call if I find a possum in the basement???
Opossum.
OH! Possum!
I wish I were kidding about this - but, sadly, no.
Riding the new found wave of perkiness, I not only sorted the laundry (a Herculean chore to be sure!) but even went down in the basement and got the laundry party started.
All was well and good until I went down to check on the status of the dryer...
I open the door to the basement, get halfway down the stairs, and BLAM! there it was at the bottom of the steps.
Needless to say, I screamed like the big goosey girl that I am, and broke all landspeed records hightailing it back up the steps.
I then slammed the door shut ('cause I'm sure that possums can eat through wood, you know!) and heaved a sigh of relief.
Until I realized that I probably had to deal with it.
Ugh.
So back down the stairs I go. Long story longer - it's totally a possum.* And honestly, it's a little baby one. If I saw him out somewhere, I'd totally think he's cute. But as it is? In *my* basement? Not so much. He's wedged up under the crawlspace of the porch, under the house. And you know what - I'm not up to dealing with it tonight. I'm totally pulling a Scarlett on this one: Tomorrow is another day....
('Cause the only thing I'm doing tonight is making a date with the cute Toms: Tommy Gavin and Tom Colicchio.** Hee!)
So I'm going to board up the kitty door to the basement, and I'm keeping the Things up here with me, and we'll just let LilMr.PossumBaby have the basement tonight.
But, tell me all you wiser-than-me-Atlanta folk - what do I do tomorrow????
Updated to add: Seems like in theory that the Things might be able to help. But ThingOne isn't right in the head, and ThingTwo is scared of everything. So I'm probably in the market for a PlanB.
This is actually the second time that a possum's gotten in the basement - but the first time was years ago... The Pre-Schecky era. And that situation was easily rectified by Hobbes, Best Cat There Ever Was. I'm not quite sure how Hobbes killed that possum, but he did. Bubba says that the poor possum probably saw all 21 pounds of Hobbes waddling at him and died of fright. Either that, or Hobbes sat on it and crushed the breath out of it. I'm not dignifying either of speculations with a reply. All I know is that Hobbes, Best Cat There Ever Was, handled it...
And does anyone besides me think that it's a wee bit odd, that although I'm a little old hillbilly girl through and through, I never *once* had possum problems 'til I moved to the big city? There's irony in there somewhere, for those of you what enjoy that kind of thing...
*and Thank God for that. I mean, Remy was tres cute in Ratatouille and all. Doesn't mean I want him in the house. Unless he wanted to take over cooking duties. I need a break from the all-MoonPie, all-the-time diet...
(And did you see what I did there? I threw in some gratutitous French. 'Cause the rats in Ratatouille are all from Paris!)
**I talk the big talk. Trust me, I'll be asleep 15 minutes into the first show! Thank goodness for TiVo...
18 comments:
Critters!
Ick!
At my other house, I was plagued by frogs.
In my toilet.
Seriously.
Look in my archives. ;-)
Call animal control. When we were working in an old house on Church Street in Decatur, a chimney sweep came down through the old fireplace. Scared the living daylights out of me! But, we called animal control and they came and got the little guy and released him outside.
Jeez, we had a bat in the fireplace, you've got a possum in the basement. Can't the critters stay outside?? Hmmm...I shot a possum that was in the barn a couple years ago with a pistol. But you probably don't want to do that. (altho I figured that wasn't a bad story to have get out when your husband works a lot of nights...."hey Bob, did you hear about that crazy city girl up on the hill- she's got a gun!") Anyway, I digress. I know there are people around here that deal with "pests" for a living so you could call someone like that, or as someone else suggested, animal control. Good luck!
ps. I shot the possum because at the time we had a pony and possum poop has stuff in it that can make a horse deathly sick. Plus they eat all the cat food.
holy crap.
i would probably freak out too.
my mom once ran one over near our house (woods)
and then that very night one showed up hissing on the back porch. I went to get a broom to shoo it out of the yard for her. After telling her it had TIRE TREADS ON IT'S BACK and it was LOOKING FOR THE LADY WHO DROVE THE OLDS.
:D
I'm almost ashamed to admit what a bleeding heart I am -- when my dog brings us baby rabbits, we drive them two hours to the nearest wildlife rehabilitator . . .
Although I greatly admire the commenter who shot a possum with a pistol! Wow!
That's just a little guy. Are you sure he doesn't have a mama somewhere? If so, they are mean and can hurt a cat. I think the animal control suggestion is a good one.
I had to stop feeding my cats on the back porch because I'd have a possum out there every night eating the food. Big fat ugly ones!!
Around these parts (which is obviously not in GA), animal control will not come for what they term "wildife" (squirrels, raccoons, possums). You have to call the exterminator or deal with it your own bad self.
We got rid of the squirrel by opening the doors and scaring the thing a little bit. It couldn't wait to get out the door!
Good luck with that, glad it's not me *tee hee*! Possums are NASTY. They freak me out.
Good luck with getting rid of it! I don't have any suggestions... I think I would have freaked out if I had found a possum in my house though:)
Eeeeekkkk! I'd hightail it out of there too! Forget animal control -- move! LOL. Just kidding -- hope he's gone by now. And crap! Thanks for the reminder -- I missed Tommy last night. I'm still in "Nothin' but reruns on in summer" mode and I keep forgetting about FX! Off to figure out when it replays! Gotta love ABC -- wish all the networks would put their shows up on the internet.
um, animal control?
It just never gets dull at your house, does it? Vicious hamsters, pikachu, possum. I hope Schecky writes a poem about the whole experience. :)
Good luck!
I'd call my dad, but he couldn't really help either of us, he's 6000 miles away in Australia. So I'd settle for the SPCA or Animal Control
Gaaak! I know he's tiny, but I just can't stand possums. Plus, not to freak you out worse, but if there's one little one, there might be more somewhere nearby.
I've seen these trucks driving around town. Never used them myself, though. (Thank GOD!) Or you could google wildlife removal in Atlanta.
Little ones are cuter than big ones, but still icky. I am SO with you on your reaction. Good luck!
OK - so my question is truly terrifying: where are his tiny brothers?
bring that possum home with you, you're coming this week or next week? my former hairdresser used to have a possum baby and she loved it. but it died on her. so i'm sure she'd love to have another possum baby. i could middle manage the exchange. oh, and one of the ladies at my LYS has a per possum, she's actually pretty sweet, believe it or not. but it is illegal in tennessee to keep a possum as a pet. i bet there are scads of covert possum keepers across the state.
"scads of covert possum keepers across the state."
I think that you should Google for one of this underground possum keepers & have them come get it!!!! Bawahahahaha! I think that you will have to look up an exterminator or an animal removal service.
Opossums do not carry anything that a horse could get! They have a suped up immune system; they are even immune to rabies. They carry no known diseases that are communicable to humans; unlike horses, goats, cattle, cats and dogs. Horses and goats carry Tetanus in their feces; maybe you should shoot your horse where you won't get lock-jaw.
One more opossum fact; they are immune to all poisonous snakes in the US. They eat them, and their eggs.
The reason my father used to "do away with them" is they love baby chickens and chicken eggs.
Ignorance, and spreading false information, like the gentleman that shot the opossum because he "assumed" it had diseases his horse could catch, make people not only scared of wild life, but a danger to the little critters that pose no harm.
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