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| Photo by S O C I A L . C U T on Unsplash |
15 April 2021
C.S. Sherin
Let's set aside all the problems of the world for a moment.
It is important to take breaks. And, of course, they will all still be there as we go about our days. There is only so much we can do and process in each day. So, allow me to detail a story of the unexpected events that unfolded at my house last weekend.
Well, we had a stint of warm weather a while back, and we became aware of a smell of something that had died, somewhere near our side door porch. We are also dealing with a troupe of pigeons who have found shelter in the winter under our carport, which covers our small side porch. We are trying to get them to move out, but the cold snap slowed us down, and also left us less motivated to find the dead animal.
But, then, the smell amped up, even in the cooler weather. That was when I knew we shouldn't avoid it for much longer. It was this past Friday. I decided to investigate the smell. I looked and looked under our porch and couldn't see anything and didn't smell anything. That was surprising. Yet, I could smell it above the porch near the door. I couldn't figure it out.
I did a load of laundry. When I got the load out of the dryer, I could smell the bad smell, and realized an animal could have died in the dryer vent, as it comes out right by the side door. I went out to the vent and smelled the smell there quite clearly.
After talking to my spouse, Jeff, about it, we decided to take the dryer vent off and investigate on Saturday morning. I am glad we rested on Friday night.
The washer-dryer is one unit in a tight space of a closet. We slowly wedged it out enough to squeeze behind it. I'm not embarrassed to admit, we were pretty scared of what we would find. I guess I was thinking a mouse or small bird. To our amazement, once we got the venting tube removed, it was clean and smelled fine, with nothing in it.
So, we went back to the porch, and the smell was terribly strong. It was nauseating. We started to worry it could be a cat or something. But nothing was really easily visible. After a long time of cleaning up the debris from the pigeons, and leaves that had collected under the porch, Jeff used a flashlight and slid under the porch a bit to see more. Very far back, tucked and stuck between old cement steps under the porch and door was something, he couldn't see much. He did see part of some kind of animal, but not much. He could see blood from it on the cement. Something had been injured and went as far back as possible, and wedged in.
Well, we shined the flashlight through the slats of the wood over the top of the porch by the door. Jeff couldn't see it, but I glimpsed a large body, with hair like wildlife...a raccoon or opossum, it seemed. We really didn't know what to do. We had never encountered an issue like this. Granted, many squirrels, over the years, have chosen to die in our yard. And we bury them. We have joked about being a hospice for wildlife. But, we hadn't imagined how far that would go! This dead animal was unreachable, even with long brooms and rakes.
I called animal control through our humane society. They don't handle dead wildlife. I called some pest control businesses. They don't handle dead wildlife either. I put a note on the NextDoor neighbor app. No one had any ideas. I talked to the neighbor, and she encouraged us to just get a plastic bag and get under there and get it. But, the thing is, neither of us could stomach the smell, we were kind of freaked out, and getting under the porch that far wasn't possible. Add to that: neither of us are super handy. We don't know how to build or deconstruct porches.
Anyway, we were a mess, and struggling. From start to finish, the day was 3/4 over by the time we had dealt with the situation fully.
Finally, Jeff called his buddy from work, who kindly and quickly came over to help. They borrowed some tools from our kind neighbors, including a crow bar. They ended up having to pry boards up in order to find the body. It was a very large opossum, bigger than our biggest cat, who is a Maine Coon. Well, both of them nearly threw up from the smell. But, they did it. Opossums are not the prettiest animal, but they are beneficial, harmless beings. We were sad that this one had such a hard time.
And, actually the benefits of opossums are worthwhile mentioning:
Opossums are important protectors for us humans. They are major heroes, in that they are relentless in their hunting and killing of ticks, cockroaches, mice, and rats. And due to their need to get calcium in their diet, they will eat dead animals, like roadkill, down to the bone. Like vultures, they clean up what could otherwise become a source of disease. In the garden they will help gardeners by eating snails, slugs, and rotting fruit.
As someone who dealt with undiagnosed/late diagnosed Lyme's disease at one time, I particularly appreciate the fact that one opossum will kill over 5,000 ticks in its lifetime!
So, back to our porch. We are letting it air out, have sprayed it with water and sanitized, but the smell isn't quite gone yet. So, I think I will be sprinkling baking powder, and will see how that goes.
Anyway, this whole saga led to an important discovery.
In pulling out the washer-dryer, we found a seriously leaky pipe that we would have never known about. There was mold built up and the leak was quite subtle, despite it being serious and right near some electrical outlets.
So, this morning the plumber is here, fixing it all. It turned out to be an extensive job, too. It's funny how things happen sometimes. In thinking about it, I have to thank that opossum for choosing to die right at our door. If s/he hadn't, we could have had a much more serious problem, hidden from view.
While we haven't gotten the bill from the plumber yet, I am truly glad that we can get our plumbing fixed, and that this story is over.
After the fact, and before today, I had told my mother the story, and she thought it was hilarious. Well, to her credit, I didn't tell her about the plumbing problem, just about the opossum and our distress. She encouraged me to write it out as a story.
After what we had been through I wasn't laughing so much, but was happy we could make her laugh so hard. Similarly, when we told the whole story to the neighbor she also laughed and thought that Jeff could write a song about he and his friend, Carl, and the possum.
That could be a fun song.
Well, I do know it is easier to laugh about problems once they are over. I am still not quite sure why that was so hilarious to hear. But, I do hope it made you laugh, or at least smile today.
And, yes...I know, I know. This is where you may insert your jokes about possums playing dead. But, really, this possum wasn't playin.
Until next time, take good care of you.
All my best,
Chandra
(C. S. Sherin)
