Qu'est-ce que c'est?

The past 48 hours have been full of wildlife in various forms.

Wednesday night, the dog found a possum in the back yard.  I got her away before she did any damage to it, but being a possum, it did the whole faint and play dead thing.

So I got a shovel and relocated it to the back alley, where it recovered and bailed - I went to check an hour later, no possum.

Last night, we got home and heard something in the front room of the house.  It was a bird - a chimney swift, to be specific, flying around.  Matt shut the room off, except for the front door, and we heard it bang around in there for a bit, then silence.  I go in to investigate:  dead bird on floor.  So I bag it up and take it out to the trashcan in the alley.

We continue our evening, and an hour later, we hear something in the front room.  Second chimney swift, not dead.  Matt restrains the dog, and I catch the bird and release it out the front door, where it tries to come back in. 

Girl, I'mma Fuck Up Your Whole Night!

I'm screaming at it though gritted teeth the whole time.  When I'm not coughing uncontrollably.  Thanks, respiratory infection!

Matt closes the chimney, after determining that they came in via a nest built there.

I take the dog out to expend some energy, as she's been trying to get in the front room and deal with the birds for over an hour.

She runs under the deck and another possum - not last night's - comes skittering out.  This one is smaller, and no match for my highly motivated, extremely amped up dog.   She runs around the yard with it and I'm screaming and throwing shit to get her to let go of it.

She finally does and I drag her into the house.

And then I get the shovel and take the possum to the alley.  This one won't be scampering off, but maybe something bigger will dispose of it.  We have buzzards. I can only hope.

I am starting to suspect we have a colony (?)* of possums under our deck (it's two feet high at the tallest, and about 80% enclosed, with a space big enough for dog/vermin to get in and out of). 

I did some reading.  You know what's an effective possum repellent?  NOTHING.  Everything I'm reading says they cannot be repelled.

Cue me, screaming through gritted teeth.

So, in order to get rid of them, we have to trap/relocate them.

Or... I could just continue to let my dog handle it.

I have a shovel.

*Professor Google informs me that a group of possums is referred to as a passel.  A Passel of Possums.


Next time, instead of chasing and throwing things, try to get a picture of Piper with a possum in her mouth. I for one would find that very entertaining. I'll bet she looked radiantly happy.