Most of the time, the wildlife stays in the yard, but occasionally I get a few unexpected house guests. A couple of times in the late afternoon, when I leave the back door of the house open to let in a breeze a hummingbird has lost its way and flow into my living room, confused by the ceiling light there. They eventually were coaxed back out by shutting off the living room light and turning on and off a sequence of lights that leads them back to the door. The same trick often works with a bee or moth.
Another guest that finds the kitchen especially interesting is the Virginia Opossum. They sneak in if I leave the door open in the evening to feast on the cat food there. My guess is they have done this on several occasions, but I've only caught them a couple of times when they didn't escape quickly enough.
Opossums love to eat just about everything, but they're particularly fond of cat food and sweets. Last year, when my basement door wasn't latching properly, a set of triplets moved into the basement for a rainy week. I have a projector and some chair set up down there so we can watch movies. One evening I was down there alone in the dark watching a movie and I saw three little figures crawl down a ledge one by one, pass right by me feet, and make their way to the open door. I later found that they had devoured a full tub of peanut butter cups that was inadvertently left down there.
In spite of the mischief these creatures may get in to, we are truly lucky that they come to stay in our neighborhoods and live with us in harmony. They are our reminder that there are still wild and natural places and things in this world.
"In wildness is the preservation of the world."
--Henry David Thoreau
