Wookie was up at about 4am keen to go out! What’s going on, little guy? Then I heard it, scratching at the dog flap!

This wasn’t a horrid cane toad. Maybe it was a turtle? We had one a few years ago, disoriented and striding determinedly, intent on walking up or through the glass door. They are strong!

Tonight, Wookie and I peered through the glass. I’m not brave when it comes to nature and wildlife, and he’s brave but so little! No way I was opening the door and dashing out in the dark.

It was hard to see out. We had a couple of low lights on, so I ran around switching them off. We sat and waited for our eyes to adjust. Well I did. Wookie was wriggling in my arms, beside himself trying to get to the dog flap. Eventually we made something out. Then the two babies met. Bless!

Daylight revealed all. It was the baby possum that lives under my solar panels. We saw mummy and baby a few days ago.

How was I to get him back to his mum? I texted a few friends, who suggested calling Scenic Rim Wildlife Rescue, which I did. I described the little bub, who was looking tired and stressed now, having tried to dig a hole to get under the window frame.

The Scenic Rim Wildlife Rescue man sounded like he was waking up (sorry dude).

“You need to wrap him in a towel and put him in a tree. He’ll be right then,” he said, kindly.

“Hmm. Is he going to fight me? He’s got some serious claws on him.”

“Naw. He’ll probably roll over and fall asleep,” he chuckled.

“Are you near Kooralbyn?” I asked, hopefully.

“Tamborine.”

Sigh. Too far to come out for this small job, especially as we’re waiting for Cyclone Alfred to hit the coast.

Okay. I would do it.

I got a big fluffy towel and went outside, cooed a bit to the little guy and then picked him up.

He was gorgeous! Big eyes looking at me and his little claws on top of the towel. Probably my best missed photo opportunity ever. I wanted to grab my phone but thought the better of it. I mean, I’m no expert at handling wildlife. Cuddling a possum in one arm while negotiating a phone in the other was never going to end well.

I carried him to a tree which has branches hanging over my roof. Surely his mum will find him and bring him home. When I let him go, he ran up the trunk to the first branch, and then stopped and looked down at me.

OMG if I could have captured that! 🥹 Off you go, baby boy!

I ran back inside and grabbed my phone. Just managed to get the back of him farther up the tree.

(I looked back at this photo later and thought, isn’t that a bit BIG for the baby? Was it the mum, oh please don’t make it a predator. Thankfully, my fears were allayed, see below.)

Boy, what a morning! Feeling so good! But Wookie was like, “Where is my new friend?”

UPDATE: Early morning, March 9 2025. The baby came back! Wookie dashed out and peered around the corner, and the possum came over to see us. Amazing.

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These days I’m just writing about stuff in my little life. But in the past I wrote about creatives I met. You can find that in the Tag Cloud below.

13th Street Films actor Agency 888 Australian film Beale Bob Marley tribute band Brisbane Jazz Club castings director Dusty The Original Pop Diva garden havanese Jacks jazz Joel Stephen Fleming John Stefulj June Gemmell Kota Kinabalu lessons live music Logan melodica metal model online lessons orchestra pianist piano rapper reggae repetiteur Reviews Roaring Lion Sabah SabahSongs book Scenestr Scenic Rim short film Sophie Van Aerde The Fam Valtozash wildlife WookieTheHavanese writer Yap Keng Vui