possum update

tricky little creatures. They would probably be lovable if it weren't for those scritchy little claws , vampire eyes and oooh.. that tail.
After days of wrestling with the possum dilemma, I decided to 'deal' with it myself. A runner by nature, avoiding responsibility whenever and wherever possible, this was a big deal for me. Armed with a sinus infection, gloves, a scoop, and very large 5mil garbage bag and a fine breezy morning, I went out to finally face what ever was waiting in the garbage bin.
It had been full a week of avoidance behavior and even as I moved to look into the bin, I was not sure I was up to this. I imagined the smell of death and placed that particular dread over there, somewhere else over by the shrubbery.
I moved slowly toward the bin, deciding to take in the visual situation in on an "as needed" basis. And I realized that I was looking at the surface, a litter of shredded paper refuse, the detritus of the street trash collected in front of my home.
NO possum!

At least not visible. I jostled the bin slightly trying to assess the expected weight to volume of dried paper refuse plus one dead possum. I decided that the mass indicated either that the possum was all dried up or gone. I was slightly less creeped out by the prospect of a dessicated creature.
I took a breath. I think I had been holding my breath because the rush of air was a shock. I engineered a few steps of transferring the garbage so that I would not actually have to touch anything but realized at some point the possum was indeed gone.