Possum Chronicles

Last night I watched a movie; at around 11pm I got up from the couch and headed toward my bedroom. You will never guess who was in my hallway! Yep! One of Percy's brothers! He looked really scared and angry. He was hissing, his little pink mouth open with all of his pointy teeth showing. Fearsome. George was his name. Just then, Rascal came through the cat door. I was really shocked and perturbed by this turn of events. Where did this guy come from? What was Rascal doing and where was he getting all these baby possums?! Was there a nest on one of my balconies? I actually went out to look after I was able to coral George into the bathroom. There were no nests of possums I could see on either balcony. I also had to go down to the car because the cat carrier was still in the trunk. I wiped it out and threw some towels in it for George.
Meanwhile, Rascal was pacing the hall and he stopped and sprayed (pissed on) the door to the closet when I was looking right at him. I grabbed him and threw him out of the house, locking the cat door. I was really pissed (no pun intended) at him!
Before I could get George in the carrier, I needed to go outside for something and there was Rascal at my neighbor's door. I was happy to see he was going to bug someone else. These neighbors are like Rascal's second parents. They really love him. I took a closer look and realized he had another baby possum! Holy shit Rascal, I yelled. I could not believe my eyes. Really. The couple I could see were at the door and could hear me yelling. They opened the window and I told them to throw a towel over her (Lucky) and I would come over with the carrier. Well, when I went to get the carrier, he got a towel. But when he went to throw it on her, she did a flying leap off their balcony and landed down below in their carport, about 15 feet down. She seemed a little shocked and just sat there looking from side to side. We both ran over, me with the cage, he with the towel and successfully grabbed her.
All the while, Rascal was hovering over a hole in the ground on the side of their apartment building. I walked around to check it out. Sure enough there was a big hole under the sidewalk. And there staring out was a big momma possum face. I can't say she looked sad, but I was feeling really sad for her. I wasn't able to see if she had other babies in there with her, but here we had already taken three from her. Guilt. But I didn't feel that it was safe to reunify the babies with her because Rascal would easily be able to get them again.
In any case, we locked Rascal in the house to try and prevent him from more hunting, at least for the night. I went into the bathroom to find George clinging onto the bottom of the shower door jam. He was holding on for dear life and hissing at me of course. I was able to get him into the cage by carefully prying his tiny little paws off his perch. This time I was able to give them some cat food and a big thing of water. George played dead under a towel, the entire time I was arranging the little dishes. Lucky on the other hand, was telling me just how pissed off she was about the whole thing and where I could stuff it!
I finally got to bed at around 1am. Having Rascal locked up in the house is not conducive to sleeping. First of all he wears a bell (supposedly to warn critters he is coming!), and second of all locking him in is like locking up a wild animal. He paces, scratches at the cat door, chases his poor sister Pearl, and is generally obnoxious. All of his antics keep me awake and have Pearl hyper-vigilant, worrying that he is going to pounce on her at any moment. I finally broke and let him out at 5am. I couldn't handle it any more. Pearl's relief was apparent and she was finally able to come to bed with me.
When I went in to check on George and Lucky, they were snuggled up together in a ball sleeping. Although I didn't want to disturb them, I had to remove the cat food and water from their cage. I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos. Their water was nasty, filled with possum crap. (The Lindsey people told me that is what they do in the wild. I guess to clean themselves?) They had probably eaten some of the cat food. But mostly they were happily sleeping.
Lucky and George were taken to join their brother Percy. I can call and check on them next week. I now have two passes to the Lindsey Wildlife Museum. I am becoming a wildlife expert, thanks to Rascal. Well, maybe not an expert, but I certainly know more now about possums and pigeons than I ever cared to know.
For example here is a bit of information you wouldn't think about unless you were in my situation:
Although they are quite slow moving in general, what I realized is that possums play dead. This was quite a revelation! I kept wondering why Rascal would bring these guys in and release them and then basically forget about them. Well, this is why! He grabs them in his mouth and brings them to his mommy to show off his toy. He drops the baby which then plays dead. Well a dead anything is no fun to play with! Rascal only wants to play with a toy that is trying to get away. So, he leaves it. Eventually the possum gets brave enough to escape. I gather this is usually once kitty is far away.
I will keep you posted on how Percy, Lucky and George are doing. They will be released back into the wild once they are healthy and old enough. I am not sure if they are released back into their old neighborhood or into a place more rural than where I live. I know they often release birds back into their original community. I will learn about possum release when I call for an update.