HA! I'm Smarter Than Some Ole Possum
Himself discovered the younger fellow (not Wilbur, the really old guy who closely resembles a pot-bellied pig) under the bed upstairs. Kinda surprised him as he was looking for Penny, our will-o-the-wisp kitty, to make sure everyone was inside before shutting the doors for the night. We planned to flush Opie with brooms, herd him down the stairs with cardboard box "chutes" (like a rodeo: yee-haw!) and then jettison him out the warehouse. Well yes—kinda like Cally being air-locked, come to think of it, but without the lethal consequences...we aren't entirely barbarians, y'know.
Things were going well until Opie panicked so much that he lost his footing whilst scrabbling (feet, don't fail me now!), bounced down the stairs, did a backflip between some shelving and then shot under the stairway where he was impossible to access. Himself said there was no way we could flush Opie so he called it a night (translation: he wasn't waiting up). I kept floating by in hopes that Opie could be coaxed out but to no avail...maybe shining a flashlight in his eyes every 15 minutes was not conducive towards this end. Fred and Cindi decided the entertainment was just too good to pass up so they comfortably ensconced themselves on boxes near the back door, balcony seats from which to view the action.
Frederico Suave
Cinderella
Decided it just wouldn't do to be bested by a mere marsupial so snuck into the warehouse whilst moving like an Opossum = slow as m-o-l-a-s-s-e-s. Figured it wouldn't take that long for Opie to high-tail it since each time the light shone on him, he was inches closer to freedom. Made the consummate error of not turning off the overhead light triggered by movement (infrared) so had to do miniscule tai chi moves, eventually positioning myself to watch the doorway. Have no idea how long I waited as moving my arm to look at the watch could trigger the overhead light but actually, Opie did NOT go out the door. In fact, he padded right past my feet on the way to the water bowl. Fred's eyes were about as big as saucers by this time but he made not one peep. Opie then took a leisurely tour of the warehouse and finally ambled his way out the door.
So you see, although it took over 2+ hours of watching and waiting and shining the flashlight and moving in ultra-slo-mo, superior Homo sapiens intellect outsmarted the primitive brain of the living fossil, Didelphimorph.
Or did it? 
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