Part II - Where’s Momma
Missed Part I...find it here - http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/2013/01/possums-in-da-house-part-i.html Go ahead, its short. We'll be right here.
Ok, all caught up?
The next day
I left for work without mentioning the possums.
Matt left for work as well, our secret intact. I had to think…how do I get rid of these
beasts? How did they get in the house?
One week
before the invasion, we had the sill of our family room repaired. There was termite damage, and there was a
hole in the sill which covered the crawl space that the family room was built
over. At night I had heard a scratching
noise, but thought it was from the outside.
I now realized what had happened.
The possum
family was bedding down in our crawl space leaving only at night through the
hole in the sill. When the sill was
repaired, the possums were entombed in the crawl space. The babies were able to squeeze through a small
hole from the crawl space and into the basement under the main part of the
house. Momma was too big to squeeze
through the hole.
At work I
received a rather testy call from my wife.
“Joe…why are there two dictionaries over the heating pipe hole in
Spencer’s room?”
Trapped, I
was forced to tell her about the possums in the basement, and probably the
crawl space. She took it surprisingly
well. We called an exterminator. I wanted the critters out of the house, and I
didn’t want momma to die in the crawl space and stink the house up.
The
exterminator sent a seventeen year old kid who did not have a clue what to
do. I spoke to him from work and suggested
that he at least make a larger opening from the basement to the crawl space so
momma (and maybe papa) could escape to the basement.
That night I
sealed the basement door to the kitchen.
I opened the double “Bilko” doors from the basement to the outside. I then covered the steps that led up and out
the double doors with talcum powder.
I checked
the steps every hour. At two in the
morning when I checked the stairs there were two sets of tracks. Little bitty baby tracks and great big momma
tracks. I slammed the double doors
shut. The possums had escaped and I suspect
they were as happy to be out of that basement as I was to see that they had
left.
I learned
much from the whole possum fiasco:
Possums
really do “play possum.”
When up
against adversity, both my son and I were sissies.
My Black Lab
hunting dog was actually a “show” dog…pretty, sweet, but worthless when the
chips were down.
Talcum
powder can be used for more than just drying a baby’s butt.
AND
The only thing uglier than a possum is: A Possum In Da House
AND
The only thing uglier than a possum is: A Possum In Da House
oh yes..they are not pretty.. andyou had a family of them and in the house!..oh lucky you. 2 winters ago I cornered one in my garden then had no idea what to do with it ..so i called the dog to get it who threw him around for 15 min by the neck..the possum laid there dead...until the dog left his guard then the possum got up and ran back into the woods!!!
ReplyDeleteWe used talcum powder to find out where ur mouse invader was walking at night. It's a handy trick. As for possums they are ugly little critters I'm glad you got them out. :)
ReplyDeleteWell done, you! Handy to know the talcum powder trick -- thanks...
ReplyDelete...and you lived happily ever after and never wrote a possum blog again!!
ReplyDeleteI love a story with a happy ending. I think now I'll go lay down somewhere and play dead.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful tale, you had me laughing when it came to disclosing to your wife that there were varmits running loose in the house, and I could just picture you and your son in "warrior mode" in the attempt to avoid (I mean capture)the critters. I'm glad mama and babies made it safely out... to return another day perhaps?! :-)
ReplyDeleteGood thinking!
ReplyDeleteI can't help but thinking that if your story had taken place in Alabama or somewhere similar it would have ended with a spotlight and a lot of gunfire. Equally effective, but much too messy. ;)
S
So, did the exterminator charge you for figuring it out?
ReplyDeleteFunny story. I can just imagine the look on your face when you spotted that first critter in your house. (But I don't think they're all that ugly...)
ReplyDeleteAhhh I always love a good story... Even if it involves possums *shudder*
ReplyDeleteI caught a possum on the back porch eating dog food out of the dog's dish. Not CAUGHT caught. Caught in the act. I was very glad to have the laundry room door between us. Now I know why the dogs go crazy in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I have a tentative truce with the possums that live under my bathtub that they access from the carport. They don't come inside my house and I don't have them "removed".
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Billy the Exterminator helped you out with those critters. I wasn't sure when I read about the powder on the steps trick which would have added new meaning to things that go bump in the night at my place. TG the only thing that took up residence in our crawl space was a mother cat.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad it was a happy ending and that no possums were harmed .. and no further damage to your home.
ReplyDeleteWe used flour to determine whether there was a mamma raccoon under my deck, one time.. or if her babies had been orphaned as suspected. It was the latter, unfortunately. I have more raccoon incidents than anyone should. But at least they're way cuter than possums.. which I don't think are all that ugly, anyway. :)