My husband was taking the dogs out at 10:00 pm. Suddenly he re-opened the door and shouted, "C-A-R-O-L-Y-N! We've got something in the garage! Come out here. H-U-R-R-Y!"
I ran out to find him standing near the door, holding the leashes tightly so the girls wouldn't move. Without saying anything, he was pointing to the workbench. And that's when I saw the little critter.
That's also when I discovered I really am a blogger. My first thought was not, "We've got to get this thing out of here." Oh, no. It was "I've got to try to get a picture for my blog." What a difference a few months can make.
"Put the girls in a sit/stay and don't move a muscle," I whispered. I ran back into the house and quickly grabbed the camera.
And this is what I saw: a very small opossum climbing out of the boxes holding the bird feeders.
Oops! BustedHe crept to the edge of the workbench.
I gotta get out of here. He made his way down the same way he had come up.
Take it slow and steady. They are not chasing you. He took a final glance at me.
All right, lady. I'm going. Just keep those dogs still.At that point, my husband eased the dogs out of the garage on the opposite side. I put the camera down to make certain our little visitor actually left the garage. There are lots of places to hide in a garage and I didn't want him to spend the night.
-----I didn't get a photograph of the dogs, but they sat absolutely still, totally fascinated by this little critter. They clearly did not care to go after him and didn't even make a muffled "woof" much less bark. I'm not sure why. But when they came back, Lucy had to be pulled away from the area. She also checked out that corner the next morning.
-----We always bring the bird feeders inside the garage at sunset. We have too many nocturnal animals who would otherwise feast on our deck. What we have not previously done, is to close the garage door as soon as we bring in the feeders. Well, lesson learned. We not only close the garage door, we check the garage before taking the girls out at night.
-----This time the visitor was a 'possum. He was a very little one at that and I do worry about his size in the approaching winter. A little 'possum is one thing...a skunk, racoon, or (gulp) a black bear is another.
24 comments:
That's such a cute little opossum. I know what you mean about thinking "BLOG"
word verification: alogic
What a cute litte guy. Obviously a young one trying to find a home.
Amazing creatures they are :-)
He is so much cuter than the ones I usually see on the side of the road.
Amazing how we become "bloggers". I'm always looking for pictures "for the blog".
Actually those are kind of cute! I am not sure how close you are to Grandfather, but at my sisters house they were sitting out on thier deck, looked up into the dark woods and saw "yellow eyes" looking back at them! This happened on several occasions! They turned out to belong to the bear that raids the bird feeder.... They installed a critter cam to catch pics of the culprit. Me...i would rather not have known !
What a wonderful creature...I have a touch of wildlife envy....
I have never seen one, so totally fascinating.
You will probably think I am mad but could you not leave seed for him AWAY from the house.....he did look thin......
How big should he have been??
I have to laugh at your reaction to run and get the camera. I started blogging in June and I would have thought the SAME thing! I'm so glad to have found your blog via Shelley's,... I'll be visiting often.
A true Blogger-ye are!!! Glad the critter wasn't a SKUNK.. My sister-in-law was taking her dogs out one night --and they tangled with a stinky skunk in her garage. YUK!!!!
I chuckled out loud at your reaction of having to go get your camera...yikes I'm the same way anymore! Cute pictures of that possum, tho, you did a good job of capturing him! :)
Oh yeah--you are a blogger. It's absolutely confirmed. When your first thoughts are--camera, blog--that's when you know.
I have always found possums to be cute. And they look so vulnerable. They are just too slow to make it long term in this crazy world.
We had a possum at our birdfeeder tonight!
But, the adults seem to lose some of the cuteness of the young.
I whipped into blogger action, too--but missed any pictures--DRAT!
Ha yep you turned into a blogger.
to funny and glad you got the pics and shared.
Yep, when your first thought is "Gotta get this for the b log!" you are addicted.
Glad you got the critter out of the garage safely. Put me down for one anti-'possum vote - I just don't see the cute in them.
"Good Girls!!" to Lucy and Ellie for minding so well.
~Kathi
Verif word is "squiric," as in "Possums are not very squiric (squirrel-like) in appearance."
That's priceless Carolyn!! Yes, definitely get your priorities straight and don't miss the opportunity for blog fodder!!!! Love it!!! Yes, you are a certified blogger now....lolol! Glad it was only a possum too.
Aww, he is a cute little bugger, as far as opossums go. We've had to relocate a few oppossums - even after we moved all possible food sources outside of our fenced yard, they kept ending up back there, and I was afraid that the dogs would hurt them. (I don't know that Z or L would hurt them, but S surely would have.) I felt bad about trapping them and relocating them, (one was a cute little fella about the size of yours) but I would have felt worse if the dogs had gotten a hold of them.
Lynne - Yes, he was a cute thing.
Scienceguy - I want him to have a home too. Just not in my garage.
Nick - They are one of the most interesting animals in the US.
Beth - Oh yeah! By far.
Cicero - My husband was amazed that I ran for the camera instead of a broom to shoo him away.
Pat - I grew up very near Grandfather, but we're a couple of hours away from there now.
Cheryl - He should have been about the size of an adult average cat. I you compare him to the WD-40 can, he is much smaller.
Cedar - Thanks for dropping by.
Betsy - I've heard horror stories about skunks and dogs in the garage and the way the car smells afterwards, not to mention the garage and the dog.
Tina - I think I would carry a camera with me all the time if it weren't so conspicious.
Donna - Yes, possums are really vulnerable. The first time I saw one crossing the road, I understood how easily they could get hit. Very clumsy and slow.
Nina - Oh, I agree. And this one was really a cutie.
Toni - Thanks
Kathi - I'm not especially fond of possoms myself, having seen one bare his horrible looking teeth. As for the girls, they seemed mesmerized by this little thing. Perhaps because he moved so slowly
Jayne - It was a funny feeling and my husband had a good laugh.
Dog Geek - Our dogs didn't even attempt to go after the possum. I think it was because he moved so slowly and deliberately. Outside might have been a different story.
Betsy brings her bird feeders in every night as well. I thought she was being too careful until one night when I caught a possum checking out the area where the feeders would be during the day!
Hi there,
Donna from KGMom sent me here. Obviously with my blog name I LOVE possums! Yours is very cute, but yes, he does seem awfully small this late in the season. I usually see them that size in August.
Being North America's only marsupial I find them fascinating! And, even though they are considered predators, with humans they are very timid and meek unless cornered, and they do keep the rodent population down!
A cute young scrappy fellow doing what's necessary to survive! I'm surprised he didn't play dead when he saw you. We had one in our garage and he instantly lay on the garage floor and played dead.
You are hopeless, addicted to the blog :o) Yes, you are a blogger.
I told my husband once, put your foot on that snake while I get the camera! LOL!
Priorities, girl. Priorities.
If you can't blog about it, it didn't happen.
I'm in the Cute Camp. Baby possums are adorable. We had one in the yard about a year ago, and I thought it was one of the girls' tiny stuffed animals. And they can move fast, when they aren't playing dead.
Neat story! We all think like that now, I figure. "Quick, get the camera!"
WD-40 could be your corporate sponsor for this entry!
Carolyn: I loved this post. so often the first think I think is get the camera.
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