Kympatti Bears

A TAIL WITH A DIFFERENCE

You will no doubt recall the recent tale of our visiting possum, nicknamed 'Brush Tail Bear', and the havoc he caused during his nocturnal visits. Well, an interesting sequel is now related which you may find amusing ... we certainly did.

Since his havoc creating night time excursions were 'curtailed' (pardon the pun) by simply closing the workshop windows we thought all was well. However, it would appear that you can't keep a good possum down, or out ... for that matter!

Several weeks passed after solving "The Case Of the Diving Bears". All seemed well, with furry friends on their very best behaviour. Then, suddenly one morning, there appeared some rather unusal marks on the laundry room floor. Of course one does wish to appear melodramatic, but these marks closely resembled the appearance of dried blood and seemed to have been created by an object being dragged across the floor.

With some trepidation Patti and I carefully inspected what appeared to be a crime scene. To our horror we found marks not just on the floor but on the window sill and the pavement outside. Our vision was of some poor injured animal dragging itself (or being dragged) around our home and seeking shelter in the laundry. A thorough search revealed nothing and the incident remained an intriguing mystery.

Now, we did remember Brush Tail Bear had recently been observed lurking in the shrubbery, but although he had nimble footprints ... maximum devastation was more his style. Naturally, our darling poodle Clancy was the prime suspect in the matter, but he was cleared when we realised his distinct lack of athletic prowess ruled him out of climbing through the laundry window.

Closer inspection convinced us that they were not bloodstains, but then they didn't look much like paint either. Whatever substance it was, it had really soaked into the tiles.

The matter seemed destined to remain a mystery until one evening we were sitting out on the veranda and who should appear than "Brush Tail Bear". Checking him out, we both did a double take on this beautiful 'possum with a difference'. We couldn't believe our eyes ... sure enough he was sporting the biggest, bushiest PINK tail we have ever seen. In fact, his tail was as pink as the teddy bear mohair Patti had dyed several weeks ago ... it was then that the penny dropped!

Weighing up the evidence ... the drag marks on the floor and window sil, the fact that Patti mixes the dye in a disused washing tub outside the laundry door, plus one very colourful possum, it seemed that our mystery was solved.

This brush tail critter had obviously been cavorting outside the laundry and when sitting on the edge of the tub had dunked his tail in the dye, thereby creating a brand new species ... the 'Kympatti Pink Tailed Possum'. The little fellow had then continued on his way, dragging his very wet tail over the window sil and into the laundry, leaving those suspicious and initially scarey drag marks.

Thankfully we can tell you that our brush tailed friend eventually returned to normal with his tail reverting to its normal hue.

A lesson was learned from this amusing experience ... with a cover being made for the tub to prevent any further surprises, for although coloured teddies are acceptable, we doubt the world is ready for a rainbow possum!

Now, this cannot be proved, but there is some suspicion that a touch of teddy bear's revenge lurks behind this 'tale'. Brush Tail Bear was, after all, pretty callous in tossing teddies off the studio shelves during his previous encounters ... and, as we well know, bears do work in mysterious ways ... a thought to ponder!