Kip’s Comments - October 8, 2022

“I Want to Rescue Wildlife”

Before I go into today’s post, let me set the stage.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been inundated with ground dwelling mammals taking up residence at our cabin. Having an occasional woodchuck is nothing new, but to have five holes appear in a few days with one of them causing damage to our step riser indicates an issue.   

To end the damage to the cabin I pulled out my live trap. Every day for the past three days I have caught something in the trap. My tally so far has been 2 woodchucks, 1 kitten (hissing and mean-acting), 1 skunk, and my catch since yesterday. That was where the title for today’s post was generated.     

Early this morning my 5 1/2 year old grandson and I went to the cabin to check the live trap. From a distance we could see something in the trap. As we approached closer it was obvious we had an old ‘possum in confinement. That meant for another trap-checking trip we had another release to take care of.     

The grandson and I pulled down an old aluminum canoe and dropped it on the water (after a long time of the canoe not being wet). Then I loaded him followed by the ‘possum in the trap. The three of us paddled up the Wapsipinicon River with two of us enjoying the time on the water and one wanting out of the trap quite strongly.   

During our paddling on the river, with steam rising from the “warmer than the air” water, we talked about wildlife and ‘possums and how we might be able to release the animal. Soon we were to a muddy bog along the shores of the Wapsie where I hopped out of the canoe and promptly sunk deeper than my boots in muck. After withdrawing from the wet bog I pulled the canoe with my grandson and our ‘possum further up the shore. From there it was easy – flip the trap over and the door would drop open. Out ran the ‘possum to live another day.   

My grandson was not familiar with ‘possums until this morning. Now that he has seen one and helped release one, he said “…I want to rescue wildlife.” Hopefully he and I won’t have much more to “rescue” from underneath our cabin. If we do, I know one young lad interested in assisting.   

For those wondering, each animal caught in the trap was lured in with Girl Scout “Do Si Dos” peanut butter cookies!

Grandson and 'Possum in Canoe - Image IMG_2787

Grandson with 'Possum in Canoe - Image IMG_2785