The possum loses to the Beast.

[DogMom]

So I'm finally sitting down, comfortable for the evening, channel surfing in my PJ's........

When I hear a dog making not a gawd awful sound but one that I have honestly never heard before. Then it dawned on me that it was a howl of sorts--and considering I have the only two "howlers" in the neighborhood I knew there was an issue.

So slightly freaked out I put my boots on (keep in mind I'm wearing a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts) and went out the back door. And I see her standing, on the OTHER side of my 8 foot fence. I said her name and told her to come and she spun in circles before making that howl sound again.

I don't know how to explain the noise. I wish I could have taped it. It was one of those blood curdling sounds. Not your typical wolf howling at the moon either. It was only about a second long.....a cross between a cry, a howl and a yip. Bone chilling sound.

So I went out the front door, thinking if she heard me from the front she'd run around the fence, up on the porch and into the house. But she wouldn't come.

So I walked out to the side of the yard and saw her again. Still in the same spot, spinning in circles, making that awful sound. I watched her for a second and thought she's got to be on a chain. Which really made no sense to me......how would she have gotten on a chain??

So, concerned, I hurried may way through the brush, getting poked with whatever the heck those things are (but they hurt). I got about 10 feet from her and she rushed to me, almost knocking me over. Almost seemed like she refused to let me go further.

Ugh ugh, something ain't right here.

So I put the leash around her neck and brought her in the house. She ran to her crate and laid down comfortably.

Ugh ugh, something ain't right for sure--she hasn't gone in her crate for almost 2 years now.

Grabbed a flash light (hehe--I'll be honest, and the gun) and walked out the back door. Went to the fence and flashed the light through it, didn't see anything except the 10 foot weeds that had been smashed to the ground.

Climbed the fence and looked closer.

Agh ha.......there it is.

A big ole bloody possum, laying flat to the ground.

Rushed in the house and called my vet. Explained to him what happened. I've had this dog 4 years next month, she turned 4 in July. She's had her share of opportunities in the past to pull stunts like this. But she never has. Even when a guy running from the cops jumped my fence, she went into protective mode but never attacked the guy. The cats run by her like life is going out of style and she never chases them. Hell, we had a squirrel once and she loved on it like it was her own. IF she attacked this possum, she thought we were in danger.

If this possum gave her the impression it was dangerous, something must have been wrong with it. She's up to date on her rabies--but there's still that moment of concern.

But my vet reassured me possums are biologically unable to carry rabies and I have no reason to be concerned. He said they can carry distemper but in 40 years of practicing here he's not only never seen a positive distemper case but he's never heard of one either. I called one other vet and my ACO friend and they both said the same thing. So despite me not vaccinating against distemper, it was a sigh of relief.

Anyway.....so the possum, whatever his reason for coming into the center of town was, he lost a battle against the Beast.

Long distance call to the after hours vet clinic--$5
Poison Ivy treatment--$15
Replacement ID tags that got lost in the battle--$45
Beast protecting her family--well worth the $75 city shelter adoption fee

[celtechfarms]

lol, poor possum, poor you, poor beast, but it is pretty funny, no offence. At least all was well health wise. Did you find out how the beast got outside the fence?

[DogMom]

Okay, so I see the possum right.....laying there flat to the ground, it's covered in blood and there's blood all over everywhere in the area, tongue hanging out of its mouth, eyes wide open--it's dead, right?

WRONG!!

So hubby comes out with me and he shot the thing three times with the BB gun, just to make sure it was dead and if it wasn't, to at least put it out of its misery.

So he shoots it and then he's digging a hole to bury it. And heck if it didn't get up and walk away!!!!!

So I don't know what happened to it--but I'm sure I'll smell it in a few days. There's an old shed way on the back of my property and I think it's been living in there for awhile now. But the shed is too old, falling apart and full of everything you can imagine so it's just not safe to go walking through there.

I feel bad for the possum, I really do. But they run through town here like you'd see stray dogs and cats. I mean, they're everywhere. I knew something was back there and I've been on a waiting list for a live trap forever now. I'm sorry it ended like this.......but knowing now that it was a possum, I'm comforted knowing its gone--my kids play outside all the time, my dogs and my cats are outside and not to mention the other kids and animals in the neighborhood outside.

Maybe it was healthy, maybe it wasn't. But there's a smaller concern of spreading disease now.

It's sad--yeah. But it's nature's way.

Or at least that's what I'll keep telling myself for the comfort.

[DogMom]

Oh and PS........she jumped/climbed the fence.

An 8 foot fence (or any size fence) is no match to a 140 lb determined Malamute/Timberwolf. LOL I knew she could get over it--she's done it two other times in the past. We used to keep her on a chain inside the yard but I figured, in four years she's jumped the fence two times--once was right before a thunderstorm (thunder anxiety) but she jumped the fence and ran to the back door. But we 'fixed' that now by opening the fence to go around the back porch so she can come up and look into the house and we let her in when the thunder starts now too. The second time she jumped it my 7 year old had been playing out front and got stung by a wasp. So she was screaming bloody murder and about 3 seconds later the dog was at her side. I'm not going to put her back on a chain to prevent her from running to the aide of a screaming child. I mean, maybe it's wrong to think this way but this is her pack and instinct directs her to care for her pack.

And as upsetting as this stunt with the possum is, like I said, she obviously felt we were in danger. I mean, this thing was maybe 20 feet or so from my back door!!!! There are dozens of stray cats and dogs around here and they always walk around the fence but she never pays much attention to them. So had it been a dog or cat, she wouldn't have gone this distance. But obviously she felt it was necessary. I'm not going to punish her by chaining her back up (the chain I put her on couldn't hold her in determined mode anyway and it is a 30 foot chain but still).

[celtechfarms]

I agree, leave her free, the ferisum beast will always be albe to protect you that way.