Possum’s visit via the chimney results in a wild night of havoc
An unexpected visitor down the chimney left its mark overnight — but its “gifts” were a lot less wanted than Santa’s annual arrival.
Residents of a home in the Auckland suburb of Te Atatu¯ were shocked to wake up yesterday to discover their lounge in a shambles.
Jasper Gapusan and his wife slept soundly on Thursday night but in the morning found paw prints all over their couch and walls, indoor plants knocked over and “wees and poos” everywhere.
The fluffy trespasser’s prints led the pair to think the mess had been made by a cat. But then Gapusan realised: “I thought, a cat can’t make this mess, the whole lounge is trashed.”
Instead, they now think a possum had climbed in via the chimney, a conclusion deduced from the fact all the windows were closed, and the metal cover on the fireplace had been knocked over. Gapusan said their couch pillows, office table and walls had paw marks, and the creature had even left paw marks on paintings. Some pot plants had been eaten. They were lucky the living room door was closed because the possum could have come into the bedroom, or the rest of the house — “that really frightens me,” Gapusan said.
They had also found a deposit left in their turtle’s tank in the lounge.
“The whole day we haven’t seen the turtle come up to the basking area, usually he is always there.
“He’s scared, maybe something happened, maybe the possum tried to eat him or something.”
Gapusan suspects the little intruder got out the way it came in. But he had still been checking every corner of the house to make sure the possum wasn’t still inside.
After posting the story and photos to their local Facebook page, Gapusan had plenty of responses from the community with helpful suggestions to prevent a return visit, including putting a mesh cover over the fireplace.