wildlife rescue in suburbia

Last Thursday our dog Molly was barking up a storm along with all the other neighbor dogs.
I go outside to find an injured possum on our back fence. Our back neighbors have a very big and mean looking Boxer dog and he is jumping up on the fence trying to take another bite of this critter. Then the big dog rocks the fence, the possum falls down and gets under some branches we had stacked behind the shed. So Molly has it cornered - barking and within a few inches from the possum which is now getting mean and aggressive snapping back at Molly. So I finally retrieve Molly and get her on a leash and call my husband and he calls around some places trying to get someone who would come and get an injured animal. Finally he finds the Houston SPCA does rescue wild animals and they will send someone out.

The guys gets here in the afternoon and looks for the possum under the branches, and then gets his flashlight and it is under the shed. First we try to get the water hose but it wasn't long enough, then he tried to get his with his animal catcher - noose on a pole type thing, but the possum keeps moving. Then I ask him, would it help if I just let Molly off her leash and chase it out - so we try that, but it just involved about an hour stand off with Molly cornering the possum in a corner under there. Thankfully beagle or possum were not injured in this experiment.
Molly comes out and I tie her back up, then I remember we have another water hose in the front yard, so I bring that back and with two water hoses the guy is able to get water under there and then I see the little white nose poke out and possum starts scurrying out towards the back fence. Meanwhile Molly is so excited she pulls herself out of her collar and takes off after the critter, but not before SPCA guy gets his little animal catcher and grabs the possum and puts it in a little cage.

So we were very thankful for the SPCA guy - and they do animal rescues for free, but do accept donations - so I did give a donation. And if the critters injuries we not bad they treat them and release into the wild somewhere.