Well, dang... I wish I'd thought to get pictures!
I awoke about an hour ago to yell at Lucy and Twizzler to shut up, as they were barking in the house... but for only a second, as it was clear that their tone was serious. I grabbed my boomstick and made my way to the front door to see who was outside (figured it might be the paper guy with the Sunday rag) and saw a big, scared possum cowering in the corner by the front door.
Hoo! "Honey, wake up! You gotta see this!"
Well, Mrs S is a city girl, and just about clawed her way to the ceiling... then made her way to her cellphone while yelling at me not to shoot it. Ok, I figured I didn't want to fix a hole in the floor anyhow, so I went poking around the house for a solution. None of our plastic broomsticks would easily come apart for what I had planned, so I had Mrs V stand in the entry hallway with a push broom and our noisy vacuum cleaner while I dug around and pulled out my ol' Pardner 12ga single.
Yeah. That'd show the possum a thing or three... but I pulled the stock off and threaded a length of cat-5 cable, doubled, through the muzzle end, and pulled the loose ends out the chamber, forming a 10" loop on the business side. Thus armed with a makeshift restrainer like my 'good old days' as an Animal Control officer, I was able to cinch the loop around the possum's neck and carry it outside to the wooded area nearby. When I returned to the house, we tracked the guy's mud trail through the house, and it had made it into our bedroom when the dogs awoke and chased it to the doorway. So, Kudos, Lucy and Twizzler... you've earned your extra treats tonight.
Also, now My dear spouse can tell her friends that you can, in fact, capture a possum with a 12 gauge, without hurting it at all.
Still... wish I'd thought to get pictures.
