THE OPOSSUM WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS

Now that I am sufficiently sated from an absolutely wonderful, delicious Christmas Feast with friends, it's time to get back to reality and the problem 'possum who came for Christmas. He's still here somewhere ~ out in the attic loft, probably making a nest amongst the junk I have stored out there. I first noticed him as I was hanging my Advent Calendar against an outer wall. I could hear scrabbling close to the baseboards where the outer wall meets the attic roof. In that one foot window of opportunity, the opossum managed to start a small hole in a weak part of the wall. Soon, I saw the hole widen and a snout appeared. Yep. It was an opossum all right. Trying to get into my living room from the attic. Quickly, I found a large piece of wood and jammed it up against the hole and wedged it in tight. In daylight, I ventured into the attic and looked for the beast, but he was hiding, or he had gone outside through whatever method he had used to get in. For days, I looked for him and for the hole that brought him inside, but to no avail. In the darkness of night, I could hear him scrabbling around out in the attic, but I was too nervous to go out there as the lighting isn't good and frankly, I was afraid he'd jump out at me. (I've heard they can be vicious when provoked.) My three cats were absolutely no help at all. They pretended to not notice the sounds of an impending invasion. I told friends about my intruder and they all advised me to contact my landlady. I kept putting it off, knowing that she really couldn't do much to help and by this time, we were fast approaching the holidays. The big snowstorm arrived and while out shoveling, I spoke with a neighbour about my problem and he said he noted pawprints coming from my place. I took that as a good sign that my little friend had given up and moved on to warmer quarters as my attic is not heated or insulated. (BTW, I have the greatest neighbours. They ploughed my driveway; snowblew the sidewalk in front and helped me get my vehicle on the road.) My neighbour also brought me a cage to catch the little beast on Boxing Day. I was feeling complacent that my 'possum problem was over and settled in for a nap on the dark afternoon of Christmas Eve. Two of my cats snuggled up with me in bed and we drifted off into a pleasant sleep. I awoke and noticed that it was after 5:00 p.m. and it was pitch dark. I had an hour to get ready to go for a Christmas Eve gathering at a friend's home, so I ran around turning on lights. When I got to the living room, I quickly turned on the table lamp next to my little antique crib-turned-settee and suddenly, the room was awash with light, revealing the opossum just sitting on the cushions, like he belonged there. The cats had finally awakened from their nap and wandered into the living room, completely ignoring the 'possum. It was as though time stood still for a good five minutes, while I figured out what to do. Gotta take a picture of this. No one will believe it. Camera was recharging in the kitchen and I quickly snapped off a couple of shots. Okay, now what do I do? I notice that my intrepid intruder had gnawed a huge hole around the wood covering the original hole. I went out in the attic and got a large cupboard door stored there and got that ready. I took a broom and found that it was very easy to coax the opossum back through his hole. Soon as he was out of the living room and back into the attic, I plugged up the holes with a two by three foot piece of solid oak. So much for that. I went to the party late, but I had the perfect excuse on my camera. It was quite the hit of the party, but I was very nervous when I came home several hours later. I immediately did a nose count of the cats; looked at my makeshift barrier (OK) and breathed a sigh of relief that the critter didn't make a return visit while I was gone. Didn't hear anything on Christmas and went to the feast and stayed several hours (boy do these people know how to put on a partay!) Still no sign of my Christmas Eve visitor, but on Boxing Day, I once again heard scrabbling behind the wood barrier. And then my neighbour came by with the trap/cage. The onus is now on me to catch the critter and take him somewhere and let him go. (Can't kill him.) Where does one take an opossum anyways? What function do they perform on this earth except to look so ugly they're cute? They sure have sharp little teeth, capable of chewing wallboard, but what else are they good for?
The only other 'possum I ever heard of was Pogo Possum late of newspaper comic fame. He was a favourite at my house when I was growing up. I didn't care for his comic strip, but, to adults, he was the sage/satirical/commentator on the times and he was very political. Written by Walt Kelly, the strip took on such sacred cows as Joseph McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover and various other political figures of the time. The famous line, "We have me the enemy as he is us," came from Pogo.
Who knows? Maybe my visitor brought a message, like the three ghosts who visited Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve so long ago. Maybe I should start a political comic strip. Or maybe I am the enemy. Naw. Nothing that deep. I need to call my landlady.