The Opossum or Cat

The other night, as we let the dog out for his last chance to use the outdoor facilities, we noticed two other creatures in the front yard. A cat was crouching just a few yards from a opossum, and it wasn't the stray black cat we normally feed, this one's white hair glowed in the security light. The other creature was a very pregnant looking opossum. Daniel, of course, true to form, at once leaped off the porch growling and barking, waiting to chase the first thing that moved, and the first thing that moved was the cat, so he took off chasing it into the back yard. As he returned to the front yard, and before we could distract him, he had seen the opossum, heading into the shadows of the front yard's oak trees. He proceeded to move in wide circles around the opossum, cutting it off from its escape route, scratching the ground around him with his back feet, and barking. Of course, we were calling him away, and using our most serious, come-here-now voices, which he answered back with his own, come-here-now voice. The yard was dark, the grass high and I didn't want to step off into it in case one of them came running towards me, which of course would have been the opossum first, trying to lose the dog.

As the dog and opossum moved deeper into the shadows of the front yard, I grew worried. Daniel lived his first three years in the city, he has no common sense when it come to these backwoods country creatures. I was yelling "Leave alone!", and Ray was yelling, "Come here!", and neither one of us was getting anywhere with Daniel. I'm not sure how the dog and the opossum came to a mutual agreement, but Daniel came scampering back onto the porch, with his ears laid back, head up high, and tail bowed. I was relieved when Daniel came out of the shadows and not the opossum. Thinking back, I'm sure the cat would have had better chances of disposing the opossum than Daniel would have. Dogs just have a way of heading nose long into the melee without thinking. We put out extra food for the other cat, I hope it isn't female.

Since we have had Daniel here in the country, he has had run ins with armadillos, stray cats, dogs, and of course, ticks and fleas. Before we lay him to rest beside my own sweet dachshund, Dixie, I'm sure that list will have grown considerably. I'm dreading it.