Happy Spring, Alan! Finally, your area is showing signs of new life.

I once had a friend who was TERRIFIED of possums because of their appearance. I think they are charmingly ugly-cute. We have one that sometimes roots in our recyclables.

We have two indoor cats and one night, after cleaning the litter boxes, I accidentally left the bag of soiled litter on the ground. I assume I was distracted before getting it in the trash can. Next morning, all the nasty litter was gone - an empty plastic bag with only a few crumbs of littler remained. The following week, our pest control guy came to do his quarterly treatments and since his company also removes "wildlife pests", I told him the story of the vanishing soiled kitty litter. This was his theory:

"My only guess is a possum. Possums will eat anything - literally, anything. Most wildlife are spooked by the smell of cat urine and would stay clear of a bag of dirty litter, but I can image a possum thinking you were kind enough to leave dinner on the ground for him."