Sunday, January 25, 2009

Excitement on Friday!

Boy did we have some excitement on Friday night. Mom and Aunt Bec were watching television and we were running in and out. (We have to come inside to make sure they are where we left them and that they don't have anything to eat that NEEDS to be shared with us.) Anyway, Andy was outside and started barking. Mom and Aunt Bec wondered what he was barking at since it is too cold for snakes and Andy was near the front door. Wild animals don't really like the scent of dogs or people so they usually stay away. "Usually" is the important word in that sentence. Well, Andy kept barking and, at the next commercial break, Aunt Bec went outside to investigate.

Well, imagine her surprise when Andy was almost nose to nose with a possum. Mom was so anxious to get us away from him that she didn't take a picture but here is one she got from Wikipedia



and here is more information on Wikipedia.

Well, Mom and Aunt Bec told us later that our possum really knew how to play possum. When he lays still and acts dead, that is called "playing possum". Mom put on some long heavy jeans, socks and her hiking boots so she could get the shovel to get the possum out of the yard. Aunt Bec was watching the possum. Aunt Bec couldn't see any injuries to the possum and thought he blinked and breathed a couple of times. With that in mind, they decided to come into the house with us and give him a chance to leave if he was just pretending to be dead to protect himself.

Twenty minutes later when Aunt Bec went back outside, the possum was gone. Mom and Aunt Bec are glad they didn't disturb him! Have you seen the teeth and claws on one of those things? Which, of course, was why they were worried about Andy. He didn't have any scratches on him which was another reason they didn't think there had actually been any kind of fight.

When they let us outside, we sniffed all around the area where the possum had been but we couldn't find him. Then it was time to go to bed.

We sure wish we had a picture of our possum so you could have seen him all curled up. Mom says she must not be a good photographer because she thinks about us first instead of getting the good picture.

13 comments:

BEAGLEDOM said...

You guys have all the fun, I wish we had possums, all we have is more stinky cats.

Mason Dixie said...

Whoa, glad you did not get too close. Playing dead is fun, it always fools the humans. he he =)

Dughallmor Beagles said...

Aww, we don't get citing critters like that here, how exciting....and a little bit scary!
Slobbers xx

Lorenza said...

Hi, friends!
Another wild adventure!
Glad that possum went away!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Noah the Airedale said...

G'day pals,
Hey it was great chatting with you today in the chatroom.
We've a possum living in the vines above our shed. Lucy barks at it all the time. It drives her crazy.

tailwags
Noah

Hohni said...

We're almost done with getting approved to be fosters for dachshunds. We have to wait for the home visit then they have to find us a dog that will fit in with our lifestyle and living so far away from the rescue.

The Musketeers said...

The possum is so cute . We never had one in the neighborhood !

Molly the Airedale said...

Our mom thinks possums look like big rats! ewwwwwwwwwwww
We're sure glad he decided to leave quietly on his own!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Lady Kaos said...

Tell your Mom to now worry about having pictures to show us. My Mom would have done the same thing. Actually, she would have made Dad put on the clothing and find the shovel and would have been inside the house using the annoying highpitched voice she uses when she's freaking out about something (large bugs, mice, one of us bleeding, etc.).
I've never met a possum and I have a feeling that's probably a good thing.
Kaos

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

We have 'em 'round here too!

When Mom lived down the street, she khaught one in the groundhog trap...

And one night years ago, she hit one in the driveway 'here'...but it was just stunned!

I wonder if they taste like skhwirrel or khat?

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

Ruby and Penny said...

I wish I could have seen it. It's so cold here, you don't even see birds. I need some excitement.
Love Ruby

Erin said...

Hi guys!
We have an award for you on our blog!
Stop by and check it out!!

Erin and the dachshunds

Life With Dogs said...

That was a close call!