Possum chase didn’t go well for Harvey

It was far too much for Harvey the jack russell and his mate Sam, the labrador cross, to resist – the sound of something rattling in a bush.

So they did what jack russells and labradors do – pursue it. But the problem was the rattling sound – a possum – was down a cliff.

But for Harvey it nearly all turned to custard when he charged down the cliff which was covered in thick, wild berry bushes.

He had been out walking with his owner Catherine Venrooy who was with her friend and Sam on the Māori Gardens track at Governors Bay after work on January 25, when the drama unfolded.

Venrooy managed to get a hold of Sam by the tail as the dogs charged for their quarry but little Harvey was too quick.

It was too steep and the bush too dense for Venrooy to get to Harvey.

“We couldn’t get down, we couldn’t see him but we could hear him and the possum,” she said.

“We tried calling him for ages but it was no use, we didn’t know if he was stuck or just wasn’t coming out.”

Venrooy phoned a friend and told him they were in a “pickle” and to please come with rope and secateurs.

While her friend was on the way, she decided to call the Fire Brigade.

About 7pm, a team of 10 from the Governors Bay Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived.

The team set up ropes to send volunteer Mike Smith down to where Harvey was.

With safety gear on and secateurs in hand, Smith abseiled about 3m down the cliff side to find the seven-and-a-half year old Harvey with the possum’s tail in his mouth.

Said Venrooy: “The fireman flung the possum out and up to where we were and we were like ‘aargh’ seeing this possum flying in the air, it landed and then just took off.”

Governors Bay Volunteer Fire Brigade chief Andrew Norris was relieved Smith put his hand up to abseil down.

“Thank God for farmers, Mike, he’s a farmer, the first thing he caught was the possum and threw it back up. I think most of us city dwellers would crap ourselves to be quite honest and wouldn’t go near it,” said Norris.

With Harvey in hand, Smith was lifted back up by the team.

Harvey was very thirsty but uninjured and keen to continue his possum hunt.

“We got Harvey’s lead onto him but then he was real keen to get back in there so we had to hold him back pretty hard,” said Venrooy.

After a shower and a big feed of biscuits Harvey collapsed on his bed for the night.

Venrooy was very thankful for the team at the Governors Bay brigade.

“Everyone was so helpful, it was good teamwork, my friends were great too.”

Governors Bay is the only brigade in the Lyttelton Harbour basin that is trained for lines rescue and Norris said it went very well.