I had successfully relocated four squirrels, but I knew there was another one that had moved into the neighborhood, so I kept the trap baited.

Then when I got up one morning I looked out the back door and saw that the trap had sprung.

Number five!

Or so I thought.

When I went out and took a closer look, I realized I had caught… 

…an opossum.

And a rather young one at that.

My first thought was just to release it, but I wasn’t sure. What harm would it do to take it to a park?

So I carried it to the Mario Lanza park and was within a block of the park when I encountered a young woman who saw the opossum and we got to talking.

She was certain that it was still a baby and needed its mother. I had thought it was a teen and was ready to see the world.

Anyway, she convinced me to take it back and release it in my neighborhood.

Which is what I did.