More possum

Around 3:30 I woke up. This is not unusual for me, I usually have to empty my bladder around then. But I had a feeling something wasn't quite right. Silkensteel was awake and sitting up beside me. She says I woke her up, but from my POV she was already awake when I woke up.

My subconscious has done interesting things in the past where I've sat up and checked out my environment, then gone back to sleep, without ever becoming conscious. It's possible I actually said or did something to wake her up before I became aware.

Anyway, unlike the usual case, I was instantly awake and aware, and I felt something wasn't quite right. Sure enough, a few seconds later I heard a "click."

Seems I cleverly left the sliding glass door all the way open (for air circulation) and the screen open enough for the cats, which allowed him to simply walk around the computer I'd set up to block the door.

Sometimes I'm so smart.

So there he was in our bedroom again, but this time we knew how to deal, and were confident that he was tame and friendly. Silkensteel led him back outside and pushed the computer against the screen to deny him access. I ran around outside with the camera, got a picture, and took a couple short movies. You can't see anything in the movies but I was mostly trying to record the "click" sound. There's an MP3 here. I let him get closer this time, and he sniffed and licked my foot, which was interesting. Very much like a large rat licking my foot. When he licked her foot Silkensteel described it as "creepy" but she was also thinking about 50 sharp teeth. Me, I've got no imagination.

15 minutes later, still lying awake, we heard the clicking coming back up the hall. Apparently he's learned to climb on top of the MacIntosh case.

Well, they are arboreal. Doubtless the air flow vents gave him purchase.

So I had him follow me out the front door, ran back inside and closed it quickly. Poor fellow. I looked around for something taller than the MacIntosh case, and I spotted a tower case that I'd brought in from storage. It was my firewall -- ideal for stopping intruders! (tarzxf says I'm evil. Probably for telling puns before he's fully awake. :) Apparently it workes, because we didn't see him again, though I did hear him clicking around out front for a while.

I'm fairly convinced that the clicking is his personal sonar.