I have a gorgeous garden. I’ve always enjoyed fresh produce, but it wasn’t until last year that I was introduced to the experience of producing your own vegetables. So this year I decided to plant a front yard garden. So in early spring with the help of my (at the time) personal master gardener, I interplanted Brandywine tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes, one other type of tomato that I forgot the name of, zucchini, yellow squash, red bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, Anaheim chilies, and my personal favorite, Big Jim peppers.
After being nearly wiped clean by a stampeding herd of hungry snails, I replanted, and watched as my garden grew fast. Like really fast. Some might call it beginners luck, but I call it copious quantities of performance enhancing plant steroids. No worries though, the chemist at the lab promised me that it was safe for humans, and as a bonus my garden gives off a nice soothing neon green glow eliminating the need for any additional electricity-consuming yard lighting. Just doing my part for the environment.
About a month ago I started noticing zucchini and squash starting to develop. Then they would be gone. More zucchini/squash……then vanished. Something was eating my vegetables. At first I suspected my next door neighbor. She seems a little shady at times. However, then it occurred to me that she weighs over 300 pounds so I doubt that when she goes out at night looking for a snack that fresh veggies are what she is after.
So my focus turned to thieves of the furry variety. I Googled “Disappearing Zucchini” and found a blog entry on possum vegetable thieves. I had a hunch I was onto something.
I went down to Harbor Freight, bought a live animal trap and waited for the sound of the trap door slamming shut on whatever thieving creature was lurking in the night. SLAM!!!!!! I rush outside to find my neighbors cat in the cage. So I let the cat out before any of my neighbors noticed me trapping their pets and reset the trap. Woke up the next morning…..
A baby possum!!!! It was actually kinda cute. If it wasn’t mooching off my garden I might have let the thing go.
Of course I can’t imagine that this singular marsupial was responsible for the decimation of my zucchini. It must have accomplices so I am officially on a possum mission.
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