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#1
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Last Night's Excitement
when i let the dogs out at night, i'm always careful to turn
on the porch light and make lots of noise so that any malingering critters can GO THE HELL AWAY. it usually works pretty well, with the occasional exception of a slow moving bunny. last night, though, the dogs cornered something along the fence. in the blackest, pitch dark corner of the yard. guess who forgot to pick up flashlight batteries when she was at the store last weekend? crap! so, i couldn't see what it was, but from the way it bounced against the fence, it seemed to be in the 20-30lb range. it hissed *and* growled. i've never heard anything like it before. elliott had the good sense not to get too close, more from fear of getting his ass kicked by harriet than anything else. after the last time, he's no dummy! when she's in "must kill it" mode, only a truly stupid dog would want to get on her radar. harriet's face got pretty scratched up, but there were no deep wounds and her eyes were fine (ever since elliott got poked in the eye by the cat, i've been paranoid about eye wounds). i cleaned her up with peroxide and checked her out *very* thoroughly. she was tweaked by the encounter, but was only hurt superficially. she calmed down quickly and slept fine. i checked her several times throughout the night and gave her another good going over this morning. she seems perfectly fine, though. just scratches, which look a *lot* better today. my visual memory of last night is that she had hamburger face, but it wasn't actually that bad. i took the dogs out on leashes this morning, just to be on the safe side. there was no sign of The Thing, though. so, what the heck did she tangle with? i'm guessing it was a raccoon, but they aren't very common here. i know they can hiss, but do 'possums growl? -- shelly http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ http://letters-to-esther.blogspot.com/ (updated 4/3/05) |
#2
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In article e.net,
shelly wrote: so, what the heck did she tangle with? i'm guessing it was a raccoon, but they aren't very common here. Sounds to me like a raccoon - in addition to the noises, they're also a lot more likely to be scrappy. Glad to hear that Harriet's wounds are minor. On Thursday night I was out on the deck with a couple of the dogs, who alerted on something over by the creek. I got out the binoculars and watched as a big skunk moved 4 of her babies, one-by-one, onto my property between the orchard and the creek. It was fascinating but it's also the sort of thing that makes you say "Oh, crap." -- Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - 43% of all private-sector jobs created in the US from 2001 to April 2005 are housing-related |
#3
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On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 11:52:01 -0500 shelly whittled these words:
so, what the heck did she tangle with? i'm guessing it was a raccoon, but they aren't very common here. i know they can hiss, but do 'possums growl? Yes, they growl. But for one to bite enough to put a dent in a dog is *very* unusual. Raccoon or cat is more likely. -- Diane Blackman http://dog-play.com/ http://dogplay.com/Shop/ |
#4
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on 2005-06-07 at 13:09 wrote:
Sounds to me like a raccoon - in addition to the noises, they're also a lot more likely to be scrappy. that's what i figured. oh, and by "not common here" i mean that i don't see as many of them road killed as i do 'possums, squirrels, etc. we've got raccoons a-plenty. Glad to hear that Harriet's wounds are minor. thank you! the blood gave me a fright (face wounds do know how to bleed!). after she calmed down, though, she was Just Fine--no clinginess and she was very interested in the leftovers i was putting away. On Thursday night I was out on the deck with a couple of the dogs, who alerted on something over by the creek. I got out the binoculars and watched as a big skunk moved 4 of her babies, one-by-one, onto my property between the orchard and the creek. It was fascinating but it's also the sort of thing that makes you say "Oh, crap." oh no! is there anything you can do to encourage Ms. Skunk to take her family somewhere else? i have yet to have a dog tangle with a skunk (knocking furiously on wood). i think i'd probably cry like a baby if one of them ever did. -- shelly http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ http://letters-to-esther.blogspot.com/ (updated 4/3/05) |
#5
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In article e.net,
shelly wrote: oh no! is there anything you can do to encourage Ms. Skunk to take her family somewhere else? This place is just one thing after another, and last month my barn foundation caved in. The barn is still standing and irreplaceable (over 100 years old, 60' hand-hewn beams, etc.) so I'm having the foundation rebuilt and some other structural work done. The foundation guys are parking all over my lawn and I'm hoping the hullaballoo will scare off the skunks. It's a big skunk with a lot of white that I'd seen crossing the road a few times, and when I mentioned it to a friend she says that there's a new "race" of big skunks with lots of white that tend to be particularly aggressive, but I think that may be a rural legend kind of a story. -- Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - 43% of all private-sector jobs created in the US from 2001 to April 2005 are housing-related |
#6
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on 2005-06-07 at 17:21 wrote:
On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 11:52:01 -0500 shelly whittled these words: so, what the heck did she tangle with? i'm guessing it was a raccoon, but they aren't very common here. i know they can hiss, but do 'possums growl? Yes, they growl. But for one to bite enough to put a dent in a dog is *very* unusual. that's been my experience of 'possums. they just do not want to tangle with dogs, no matter how much the dog insists on it. harriet has killed them without them ever coming out of their "playing dead" routine. Raccoon or cat is more likely. it could've been a cat. there are plenty of ferals and strays around. for a split second, i was afraid rory had gotten out and been cornered. i can't recollect why i thought that, though--whether it was the sound or the size or what. my recollection of the growling is that it *seemed* cat-like, but i don't trust myself on that one. and, now that you've mentioned that, i'd best check with my neighbors and make sure their cats are all okay. they don't usually roam as far as my place, but they've got a ginormous black male who visits periodically. i sure hope that's not what happened. -- shelly http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ http://letters-to-esther.blogspot.com/ (updated 4/3/05) |
#7
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shelly wrote in
arble.net: so, what the heck did she tangle with? i'm guessing it was a raccoon, but they aren't very common here. i know they can hiss, but do 'possums growl? Possums make godawful noises and even scarier faces -- and they can be kind of enormous. That'd be my bet. -- Catherine & Zoe the cockerchow & Queenie the black gold retriever & Rosalie the calico |
#8
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on 2005-06-07 at 12:28 wrote:
Coons do both. I've never encountered a growling possum, even though encountering one in dire straits is a daily occurence with me. not to say they don't. it just hasn't been my experience. thanks! that fits with my limited experience. i'd nearly forgotten, but the dogs *did* tangle with a 'possum, years ago, when i was living in town. that one was seriously pissed off, but it only hissed. also, it didn't harm the dogs. then again, they weren't as serious about killing critters back then. -- shelly http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ http://letters-to-esther.blogspot.com/ (updated 4/3/05) |
#9
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shelly wrote:
so, what the heck did she tangle with? i'm guessing it was a raccoon, but they aren't very common here. i know they can hiss, but do 'possums growl? Hairy O'Possum, the semi-tame possum that used to come in & out my cat door and sleep in my dresser drawers during the day, would wake up and hiss at me when I inadvertently interrupted his/her sleep. (S/he wasn't tame enough that I could examine genitalia, so I never knew gender for sure.) But s/he never growled at me. Could it have been a cat? Mine growls. If it really was a raccoon, you got off lucky - they can do *serious* damage to a dog. Dianne |
#10
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on 2005-06-07 at 17:55 wrote:
Could it have been a cat? Mine growls. it could've been. cats make an unholy noise when they fight. there was something definitely cat-like about the growl, but i don't trust my memory of it enough to make any sorts of claims one way or the other. BTW, i checked with my neighbors and their cats are all present, accounted for, and unscathed. if it was a cat, it was a stray or feral. that doesn't make it any better for the cat, of course, but i'd feel worse about it if they hurt a friend's pet. If it really was a raccoon, you got off lucky - they can do *serious* damage to a dog. believe me, when it occurred to me that it could be a raccoon, i nearly threw up. there's no way, short of an eeevil hot wire, to keep raccoons out, either. they can climb anything. and, whatever it was, if it came in via that corner of the yard, it climbed. there's no access for anything that large, otherwise. i'm going to have to consider my options. at this point, the only ways i can think of to avoid a repeat event are to leash the dogs for after dark potty trips or put in a hot wire. hrmph. -- shelly http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ http://letters-to-esther.blogspot.com/ (updated 4/3/05) |
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