What's Happening to the World?

Don't remember if I posted about the possum in the house last week... something was disturbing the dogs every night and getting into the trash. I knew by the mess it was too big to be a mouse... every fall, mice try moving inside... but whenever I got up and turned on the lights, I saw nothing. And there were no mouse droppings. Let's face it, a mouse can't go a foot without leaving a momento. Anyway, one night the possum fell into the empty dogfood can (a large garbage can which I had just washed and left open to air dry) and in the morning, I took the can outside, tilted it on it's side and the "teenage" rodent wandered off into the woods.

Well, a night or two later, the dogs were at it again. I'd been keeping the back door closed, starting in the late afternoon, so I didn't think another... or the same... critter had come back in. But after a couple nights, it became clear there was a possum in the kitchen AND it was bold enough to wander into "the dog room," where it was eating the dogfood pushed outside the pen by the little rescues (who have dogfood scattered all over.) But, again, every time I got up and turned on the lights, it was gone. I looked everywhere and couldn't find the thing. Until yesterday when I saw it in the middle of the morning, wide awake and staring at me from on top of the unused dog crates stacked in the corner. The cupboards for over the washer and dryer are right there and one of them was barely open. When I looked back, the animal was gone and when I opened the cupboard, I could see it sitting on top of something it had shredded inside a plastic bag. I guess when I had looked in there before, it was sleeping and I couldn't see it. Anyway, I spent the rest of the day... off and on... trying to figure out how to get it out of the cupboard and the house without getting bit or hurting it. (If I got bit, I was definitely going to hurt it!) Last night, the retched thing spent some time in my bathroom, driving my dogs nuts and keeping me from sleeping, so I got up determined to proceed with the eviction. Now, I grew up with possums that gave meaning to "playing possum." When threatened, they dropped over and played dead. Even when handled... gently by people or violently by dogs... they kept up the act. I was counting on being able to move this animal, IN the plastic bag, with little if any trouble. HA! Apparently times have changed in the possum world! As soon as I opened the cupboard door, it sat up, hissed at me and showed its teeth. This was Playing Possum Part Two. I immediately changed my game plan... took off the gloves and got a broomstick. It attacked the stick. I prodded it back a little, trying to get the handle through the bag's loops. No luck. It attacked again and every time the stick got close enough. Eventually I moved the bag enough that it was in danger of falling out of the cupboard (and into the same garbage can, this time with the dogfood bag removed just for the purpose of possum hunting) and the beast went over and under the stuff in the cupboard to the other side. I prodded, none too gently, at it's rear and it half jumped/half fell on top of the crate (about a foot drop) and when I started to touch it again with the stick, it slid down the off side. As soon as I backed off, it climbed back up. We danced a couple tunes that way and then I started piling stuff on top of the crate, along the edge by the wall, so the possum couldn't get back up. As luck would have it, just as I was putting the last stack of books there, I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. And witnessed the bare naked tail disappearing out the door into the back yard. The devil climbed up the 6 foot chain link fence and sat on the top pole glaring at me until I closed the door. Later when I peeked out the window, it was gone. It's probably back in Possumville organizing an invasion.

Oh for the good ol'days when there were rules!

My Night Visitor

All my dogs are in the house. But they're not all loose at the same time, for a number of reasons. First, they would all always be in the same room I'm in... and I have a very small bathroom. Second, the older I get, the harder it is to shove the bigger ones off the furniture AND I'm tired of tripping over the ones on the floor who barely lift their heads in acknowledgement when I stumble over their bodies. Then there's this whole dog breeding thing... I want my pups to come from the parents I have chosen for them. So, along with the food and water bowls in every room, I also have pens and a couple wire crates. Just so you know, the only crate that is in steady use and has the door closed is the one where my old toy Poodle camps out... he is slow, crotchety and fragile... not a good combination for being around big dogs.

Anyway, at night, most of the gang have room assignments and are always in x-pens with the same dog or dogs. As soon as the lights go out, you can hear a pin drop. It is amazing... even when there are puppies around, the lights are out and everyone is quiet. Which is why I've been so annoyed the last couple nights with several of my guys. In my so called dog room are my young adult Goldendoodle guy, Bachelor, a neutered adult Poodle named Sage, Sparky, my miniature Poodle, several rescue males AND Keogh, my Goldendoodle girl (Bachelor's mom.) In the middle of the night, out of the blue, Bach starts barking. The other guys take up the chorus. About the only voice I don't hear is Keogh's. After a minute or two... a loonnngg time at 4 AM... it gets quiet again. Then as soon as I've settled back down, it starts all over. Two nights in a row I've gotten out of bed, traipsed, IN THE DARK, down to the dog room and read them the riot act. Which worked one night but not the other. The first morning after, I checked Keogh to make sure she wasn't coming into season... a very exciting event for young MALE dogs... and she isn't. (She's not due for a month and a half to two months, but you know how things go around here.)

So last night, I was about ready to take the shotgun along with me when I went to shut everyone up. And I turned the lights on just to see the best shot. And decided maybe the dogs just wanted to go outside for a quick potty break. So I open the pens and everyone rushes passed me into the kitchen... which is the wrong direction for going outside. I turn around to yell at them and some of them rush back while others stay in a clump staring at the floor. Finally, I make my point and they all go outside. On the kitchen floor, however, is a blob of fur. Which turns out to be a possum, a juvenile possum, curled in a loose circle, mouth open, tongue kinda out. It's very pretty silver color (except for it's pinkish snout and hairless tail) and my first thought is "Oh, durn, they've killed the poor thing." The obvious thought, "That's what it gets for coming in a house full of dogs." doesn't occur for several minutes. So now I've got to get it picked up, in a plastic garbage bag and out of the house. But wait! Don't possum carry lice and other such critters... do I want to touch it?

No, I do not. My broom is right there so I sweep it through the kitchen and manage to get it over the thresh hold of the door to drop in the small trash can that is right outside. It is as this poor thing is airborne that I hear the slightest squeal. And realize I've seen NO blood anywhere. I quickly close... and lock... the kitchen door.

And in the morning, it's gone.

So now, before the lights go out at night, I have to shut the doors. A common practice for city people, I understand. But out here I usually only shut doors to keep the heat (or a.c.) in. And right now, our weather is glorious! But perhaps caution is in order. Maybe the wild critters know something about the coming Winter and are looking for a place to hole up. Maybe they need to keep looking!