I am a whodunnit addict. Is it any wonder that a real life Mystery should present itself to me?
Screeching in the night. This a day after my husband Eric tells me he has felt a ‘presence’ in the house on many occasions. A ghost, he says, but he has not connected enough to be able to elaborate on the ‘presence’. Good spirit energy? Grumpy old ghost?
More eerie screeching. Eric would not wake if the house fell on his head. I am a light sleeper, but choose to ignore the dark side’s activity, and bury my head under the covers.
Next morning, I head to the bathroom for my usual morning shower. There is suspicious looking shit there, the resident windows spiders home has been destroyed, havoc.
Mmmm.. Detective Inspector Muir is not familiar with this kind of poo. The Facebook Public helps, points the finger at Fox.
A fox, inside my house? What the? Is it what I am risking if I leave the pergola door open to cool the house at night!
Next night brings more spine tingling screeching. This time, we both bolt to the back of the house, and there, in the laundry ( which by the way doubles as an art gallery) is a possum!
A not happy possum. Had it been chased by Fox the night before, and somehow managed to get away from him by hiding there? I open the laundry window to facilitate its exit, and close the door. Its not over yet. More screeching and clanging and banging. Sight. Turn around, pillow on head.
Next morning, total chaos in laundry ( which is also the toilet, beside being the art gallery, and did I say? a library as well). I thought Eric had taken a photo, but it turns out he was busy moving broken shelves and books out of the toilet in order to re establish its intended use, and in his rush, forgot to document the upheaval.
I spent the morning cleaning possum poo ( and fur) from everywhere, found Possum in the wall, and wondered? Did Fox come through the open window and somehow tried again for a bite of deliciously plump Possum?
Possums shit and piss like you would not believe it. Which is fine in the great outdoors, but not in our cosy indoors. Possum had to go. DI Muir got on the case. Or perhaps it was the other way around.
The last time I was bitten by a possum was over ten years ago, in a park in Melbourne. I was sporting bright red nail polish and summer sandals. Possums were running all over the place, I felt a bit anxious. ‘Don’t worry, said my companion that night, they are not aggressive.” Which is exactly when one possum charged at me, stopped, its beady eyes locked on my big toe, and chomped straight through my toenail! Strawberry red nail polish? Never again!
This time, it was the arm, straight through my thick winter coat!
So a word of warning: children, do not try this at home! Possums may be cute, but cuddly they ain’t!
Yep this was disinfected straight away!
Brigitte Koch-Muir OAM summitted Everest in 1997, on her fourth attempt. Storms, spending the night out at 8500m without light or oxygen, and being caught in the 1996 disaster on the South Col of Everest are some of the challenges she faced before eventually summitting. She was a high altitude expedition climber, and leader, for almost thirty years. She is also a story teller, and belongs to the Beyond the Smile Friendily, and the SEED Alliances, a network of people excited by the idea of changing the world by implementing a business model based on collaboration, and having fun doing it.
When she is not chasing possums, she is a keynote speaker, and leads community building treks to her favourite place in Nepal.
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