Friday 11 May 2012

Pole Dancing with the Possums


....Possums in the round...this is the first morning I have woken to the delightful song of the earliest rainforest birds at 6.30 am instead of the shenanigans of two naughty possums at 2.30 am in more than 2 weeks!!!Ahhhh the sweet joy of a good night's sleep...
It is in fact almost impossible to function as mother, lover, business operator or friend, when I have had four or less hours of sleep in a night for an extended period of time, in fact it takes me back to the zombified version of myself from when the children were babies... and now here I am- first one awake and loving it!
Previously though, every night at around 2.30 am, they would come... I could hear them scratching around outside the kitchen, looking for morsels of food in the recycling bin, which is never going to be a quiet event taking into consideration the tins and bottles and boxes that daily make their way in- that was fine, I thought, I'll just move the bins further from the house so I don't hear all the kerfuffle... however these possums got cheeky- for months we would need to shut tight any windows in the first floor, so that they wouldn't get in, they could open louvres with their cute little paws (do possums have paws?), anyway, they got creative. They decided to check out the action in the second floor roof...looking for a way in... and they found several. So the past few weeks have been a process of chasing possums from the house, and sealing up points of entry along the way. I will add some pics of the house so you will stop wondering why we would have so many entry points for wildlife. 


The point of this entry is to share the different ways you can deal with a possum invasion. I have been the light sleeper during this whole episode, thanks go lovingly to my four gorgeous children for teaching me this important life skill from the moments after they were born...grrr... My approach to ridding the house of possums has always been low lighting, and a few open doors, a bit of physical encouragement without aggression, so that they don't freak out and go where you don't want them to go, and that seems to work just fine... however as the fatigue caught up with me, my gorgeous partner volunteered himself to the job...
Now there is a difference to the tactics of men and women in any race, game or war. I can see this now oh so clearly. 
The second floor mezzanine...possum heaven



2.30 am...Fearless Joe came at the task from a whole other brain space. He figured that it would be impossible to see the little buggers with the lights off, so on they all went... he thought that just chasing them around and around the house would do the job.It did not! Calling them names is also not that effective. Chasing one while the other sits in the fruit basket watching may induce feelings of hatred toward most small furry Australian creatures, and throwing a sheet on top of them while giving chase is more times than not, ineffective in slowing the little critters down. Add to this two small children cheering Fearless Joe on from the second floor, and myself making suggestions for their eventual evacuation(..."what if we just turn off the lights, open a door and leave them to it?")
3.30 am...Lights off...doors open, possums walk out...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Baby Dakota
Last night the house remained quiet...and instead of the sounds of thundering feet around and around the pole, I was woken by the fresh light of day, the birds and the baby goats calling for their belly-ache to be relieved...mmmmmm. Sanctuary.

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