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Opossums, Possum

Possum in the House

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The house was quiet and I had it all to myself for once.  Well, I thought I did.  I had no idea there was a possum in the house.

As the youngest of four teenagers and the only girl, it was a big deal for me to be home by myself.  It was such a big deal that when Megan asked me to go over to her house, I texted back that I just wanted to stay home.  Of course, she texted Kylee saying I was mad at her, and then Kylee texted me.  It turned into this big thing, and after I’d finally called and texted everyone, both Kylee and Megan just came over.  Whatever, I guess I couldn’t be alone in the house for once, but it turned out that I was really happy to have company.

Usually, my older brothers eat all the good stuff before I get a chance to even see what we have, but Mom went shopping today and my brothers are all out on camping trips or doing school stuff, so I get first pick.  I grabbed up a couple of bags of unopened chips (usually, I just get the crumbs), some soda and head into the living room.  Megan and Kylee got to my place about five minutes later, and before long we were laughing, play-fighting over whose playlist we were going to listen to, eating, and telling Kylee what to text her boyfriend.

All of a sudden, we heard a crash come from upstairs.  It sounded like it was from my brother Bryan’s room, but I couldn’t be sure.  We just looked at each other for a second, and then started talking all at the same time.  Kylee was asking me if I was sure if my brothers were all gone.  Megan was threatening to run out to her car and drive away.  I was trying to calm everyone down, including myself.  Finally, I just laughed.  “It’s probably just a stray cat or something that got in the house.”

So, we decided to go upstairs and investigate.  We decided to start with Bryan’s room, since it was right above the living room and the crash sounded like it came from there.  Together, we kind of hugged and huddled our way up the stairs and to the hallway, whispering and giggling nervously, sure we were being stupid and silly, but determined to be sure.

I nudged the door to Bryan’s messy room open with my foot, and we all peered in.  We couldn’t see anything, it was dark.  So, I reached in and flipped on the light.  Eyes, teeth, hissing, some kind of large furry thing.  There was a possum in the house, sitting right on top of Bryan’s desk, where it had knocked over a stack of stuff, as well as Bryan’s basketball trophy.   A big, ugly, possum in the house, and there was no freaking way we were going to stick around by ourselves!  We ran back down the stairs and out the front door, barely giving Megan any time to grab her purse with her car keys.  I called Mom from Kylee’s house, screaming about the possum in the house and that I wasn’t going to go back home until that thing was gone.

I haven’t wanted to stay home by myself ever since.  I’d much rather be there with my four big brothers and let them take care of the possum in the house!

Opossums

Get Rid of Opossum

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opossum remival

Being a techie at a stadium is one of the best jobs a person could ever do, but it should never include getting rid of an opossum.

Opossum hanging by his tail.
An opossum that spooked a theater by hiding in it’s orchestra pit.

I’m part of the stage crew at a large theater downtown.  Every day is a little different, depending on the show or concert that will be playing here.  Some days are spent lighting and re-lighting for a show that’s coming through our city, spiking the stage (putting tape marks all over the stage so we know where a set piece is supposed to go in the middle of a show), testing the sound system, or making sure the green rooms and dressing rooms are prepared.  Some of our guest celebrities are very particular about how they want their dressing rooms arranged and stocked.  Some days are spent with maintenance, such as keeping the house in good repair, making sure the seats are clean and comfortable, or repairing curtains.  Other days are spent striking sets and loading them up in trucks for the show’s next city appearance.  It’s exhausting, physical work, and there aren’t a lot of women who do what I do professionally, but it’s my passion and joy.  And, I’m lucky enough that my husband works here, too.

One day when we wer

e doing maintenance on the house, I made a horrible discovery.  There was an opossum under the orchestra pit.  No one had ever trained me how to get rid of an opossum.  But, there it was, backed up against the other side of the pit, its eyes gleaming in the darkness, its lips pulled back in a hissing and toothy grimace.  Not only do I have to get rid of an opossum, I have to get rid of a live opossum.  I’m no nervous nelly, but that’s really not in my job description.

I backed out of the space under the orchestra pit.  That area is technically lower than the river, so I shouldn’t be surprised to find animals down in there.  Maybe that’s why the opossum was down there, to feast on mice or rats or whatever made its way down there.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this explains a lot.  Lately, some of the actors and musicians from our latest musical production had been complaining of weird smells around the stage.  Some of the crew had been “spooked” by odd noises when they were working alone in the area.  We joked that it was our resident ghost.  Really, what theater doesn’t have a resident ghost?

But, this explained everything.  It was just an animal.

I made my way up to the office, where my husband was working.  “Hon, we gotta get rid of an opossum,” I said.

He had to see it for himself, of course, and I think he came out of the orchestra pit faster than I did.  Before long, we called Allstate Animal Control to get rid of the opossum.  Fortunately, their guy got it out before we set up for the show that night.  Of course, we still let the actors and musicians believe it was a ghost.