suburban wildlife encounter
Last night at midnight I let the dogs out for their final pee run. This is when Marley usually does the Indy around the back yard chasing imaginary rabbits. Last night she went into the middle of the yard and was sniffing something. Upon closer inspection (I looked out the door  )I saw what appeared to be a white ball with black legs - okay I have bad eyesight, but i didn't remember seeing any toys laying the yard.
I reminded Marley she went out to pee, and she moved on. I went in to get my glasses and went back out to see what it was. YUCH - it was not a cute little bunny, or even a semi-cute racoon , rather it was a very ugly, very prehistoric looking oppossum. Gross and creepy!!! I tried not to freak out - but yuck they are really ugly critters with those beady yellow eys <shudder>. I called the dogs back in and decided to think of it as an unplanned opportunity to proof the "leave it" command.    |
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| Good thing you didn't see inside the mouth! They got some mightly nasty teeth. Prehistoric......yeah, kinda.
Wear your glasses when letting the kids outside. Next time it might be a skunk waiting to perfume the dogs. |
| Urk... dead things and dogs are not a fun combination. |
| UGH...I was out one night with the dogs and
saw Pooh and Georgie playing tug with one!!!
The oppossum did NOT have an end of a rope.... GROSS |
SheepieBoss wrote: Good thing you didn't see inside the mouth! They got some mightly nasty teeth. Prehistoric......yeah, kinda.
Wear your glasses when letting the kids outside. Next time it might be a skunk waiting to perfume the dogs. My Dad once caught my Mom following her long haired black and white cat around the back yard one night trying to convince her to come in. The only problem was the cat WAS in... 
She wasn't wearing her glasses either....He's never let her live that one down.
And, yeah, Kerry, those possum critters are nasty looking. <shudder> Kristine |
| I called the vet yesterday, Morgan question, but I did ask if we needed to do anything with Marley because of her encounter. (The answer was no, she had a recent rabies shot and her titers are fine) The office manager was telling me about how her hsuband was outside one night petting his "cat" on the stone wall - except of course the cat was in the house. Apparently if you go out without turning the outside light on you make those types of mistakes. |
| And apparently CATS are smart enough to steer clear
Having been too heavily influenced by Disney as a youngster, apparently, I think skunks are adorable. To look at. From a distance. A GOOD distance
Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: And apparently CATS are smart enough to steer clear
Having been too heavily influenced by Disney as a youngster, apparently, I think skunks are adorable. To look at. From a distance. A GOOD distance Kristine Actually, no. Our last skunk encounter wasn't by the dogs - it was Tipup the cat. He is more a dog than a cat though, so no one who knows him was really very surprised. And watching Todd bathe him was quite the entertainment. After 2 baths it just had to wear off.....
We have lots of possum (redneck slang  ) around here. One time had a dead one on the sidewalk. Turns out it wasn't dead - it was just "playing possum". Guess that's how that phrase came about! It also was covered in poop. Todd said they do that to add to the grossness and hope it deters something that would want to kill it. I just wanted it off my sidewalk! 
I made Todd remove it.....thank goodness. They are considered bad when coon hunting too - your dog is hunting "trash" if it trails coons. Man, all the worthless trivia I have stored - wasted brain space! |
Phew  when reading the first part of the post I was sure it was a skunk. If Chauncey is going to emcounter something I'd rather it be an oppossum than a skunk, most of the time they drop and play dead.
Our friends Chow got sprayed as a puppy, it was not a good time. |
| I was thinking the same thing when I started reading regarding the skunk so I was "pleasantly surprised" that it was "just" a opposum.
Of course, I say that bravely from how many miles away? I would had to change my pajama bottoms if it had happened to me. |
If I may add a Possum story of almost no equal! About 15 years ago when we had our Shar Pei Ming, my wife was checking on him in the backyard and found that he had "killed" a rat. When I came home from work she told me all about how Mingy found a rat and killed it, and since I had never seen a rat anywhere in the area I was quite shocked. She told me about it's long tail and all the sharp teeth it had. She also told me how she didn't want Ming to rip the dead rat apart and possibly eat it so she went out into the yard and picked up the dead rat and wrapped it in some paper towels and put it in the trash can which she then brought into the house so Ming would not be able to get to it. This in itself is so out of character for my bride even I was amazed by her courage.  After a hour or so she then took the dead carcass outside and deposited it in one of our heavy duty Sears trash cans we had at the time which were made of very thick vinyl. Bear in mind my wife will not go near anything like a rat or dead animal EXCEPT in this case to keep Ming from getting into trouble. I was going to night school at the time and had to leave for class. The following day when I came home from work I wanted to check out the dead rat in the trash can. My wife had taken the carcass in the towels and deposited it in a plastic bag which she in turn put into the trash container outside. When I did my inspection, WHAT TO MY WONDERING EYES SHOULD APPEAR! NOTHING! All I found was an empty plastic bag and a HUGH hole eaten through the heavy duty trash can. Seems like our "dead" rat was only playing possum after all. The bride still shudders to this day when she thinks about it. |
| What does an "oppossum" look like never heard of one |
lisaoes wrote: What does an "oppossum" look like never heard of one
Kind of like giant rats! Here's a link - http://www.opossumsocietyus.org/opossum_photo_page.htm |
WOW the look like a cross between a rat and possum any wonder they call them " Opossum ", must be because they got together in the wild and when one was born the reaction was OH POSSUM WHAT DID YOU GET UP TOO !!!.  |
| One & the same, most people do call them possum. |
| The Opossum has quite a history here in the States. Believe it or not it was and still is a hugh food source for many HUMANS, especially so in the Southern States. It has an ability to "play dead" when threatened and actually not only looks to be dead but is able to actually smell dead to other animals. Therefore the term "playin possum" means when someone or something pretends to be dead but isn't. They are usually not very agreeive but will defend themselves on some occasions. Lots of teeth and really soft fur. Maybe it's our answer to the Platypus but on a smaller scale. |
baileesdad wrote: . Maybe it's our answer to the Platypus but on a smaller scale.
Nah our platypus played up with a duck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus |
| It is however, one of the few animals we have that rivals Australia. I believe they are marsupials, so they have a pouch. I could be wrong as I haven't looked it up. My cat had one when I was still at home. My dad went to throw the "carcass" away, and the damn thing sat up on the shovel. I wish I had seen my dad's face when that heppened. |
| They are the only marsupials in North America. Not as cute as Kangaroos! |
| Platypuses are monotremes, egg laying mammals. Echidnas are the only other momtremes in the world as well.
Both there babies are called "Puggles" 
So that's where the saying comes from "Playing Possum" from the Opossum? Pretending to be dead? |
lisaoes wrote: So that's where the saying comes from "Playing Possum" from the Opossum? Pretending to be dead? Yep, that's it! |
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