My Mom used to live in a house who's foundation is what they call "peer and beam" meaning that it sits on short pilings a couple of feet off of the ground.
One afternoon, as I was walking along the side of the house I heard a hissing sound coming from underneath, about even with the bathroom. Suspecting a leak in the pipes, I put on my coveralls and armed with a flashlight and my trusty companion (Tanda) I crawled bravely under the house.
I made my way over to where the bathroom was and began doing an inspection of the pipes, they were bundled in a group that came up out of the ground and went up into the wall through a hole in the floor of the house at a point even with the bathtub.
With my flashight, I followed the pipes out of the ground and up into the wall. I rolled over and peered into the hole, and there staring back at me just a few inches from my face, was the biggest possum I've ever seen...
I think my first reaction went something like "Woah!". The possum hissed, and Tanda snorted "humph, imagine that". Fearing any number of nasty outcomes, I rolled towards Tanda and told her "Get out". Tail tucked between her legs she made a beeline for the access hole with me not too far behind, imagining that big possum bearing down on me the whole way.
The possum had made a home in the hollow of the bathtub. After that day, Tanda would go in the bathroom and bark at the bathtub. We named the possum Taso after a paintball mascot.
