Don't let go

I wasn't sure where to put this blog entry, here or in our carer's blog, but I thought I'd put it here so more people would see it.

It's a story about a possum, hence the temptation to put it on the carer's blog.

Donna and I like to sit out on the back verandah in the evenings and have a glass or two of fermented grape juice. Quite often while we're out here (I'm typing this from the verandah right now), we'll hear the patter of tiny feet running across the awning.

That happened tonight. We heard the patter and had already seen a ringtail possum and her little one walking along the fence, so we assumed this was one of the resident brushtails. The footsteps moved across the awning ready to jump into the nearby tree where we have a couple of feeders.

I stood up, leaned over the railing, and when I saw a little nose appear over the edge I said, "helloooo".

The owner of the little nose, a young brushtail possum, looked down at me. I waved. I think the possum must have tried to wave back, because the next thing that happened was, it fell off the roof.

Luckily it didn't fall far. Those young, highly tuned reflexes stopped it going too far and it managed to hang on and get back on the roof. Five seconds later it jumped into the tree and it's now feeding on a mix of birdseed and apple.

That young possum learned several lessons tonight. 1) It's not rude if you don't wave back. 2) the old sailor's rule of one hand for yourself and one for the ship, i.e. hang on. 3) The most important rule, never trust a human.