Who Threw Away The Opossum?

Yesterday morning, the Man of the House noticed something was amiss in the garage.  The recycling bins were a bit askew.  And the lid was off one of the big trash bins.  Which appeared to have no bag in it.  Although he knew he had put fresh bags in after his last trip to the recycling center.  Odd...

Perhaps the bag slipped off and was down inside the can.  He took a look-see.  Yep, there it was.  Along with another little surprise.

A opossum had somehow gotten down into the trashcan!  And was now trapped there.  Best guess is that it was messing around the recycling and trash, found the lid loose or off, and in the process of investigating the bin, fell inside only to be trapped by the high walls.  Who knows how long it had been there?  I personally am amazed that it didn't raise enough of a fuss to alert us that something was messing with the trash! 

Now, how to get it out??  The Man of the House dragged the trash bin out into the back yard, stood behind it and tipped it over.  We figured the ugly little marsupial would make a dash as soon as possible.  Wrong!  It stayed tucked inside the trash can.  Until The Man of the House picked up the bottom and dumped it out onto the grass.

At this point it did finally attempt to make a mad dash - right back toward the garage!  The Man of the House had to place himself between the beastie and the garage door and shoo it away from the house.  And all the while I am having fleeting images of him being attacked by this creature and ending up needing rabies treatments.

Fortunately when it realized the human male was in the way, it changed course and waddled off down the yard and into the ditch by the road.  Hopefully never to be seen again.

Although it has left me wondering - Are opossums recyclable?