A dog & canine forum. DogBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » DogBanter forum » Dog forums » Dog behavior
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Last Night's Excitement



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old June 7th 05, 05:52 PM
shelly
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 7th 05, 06:09 PM
Melinda Shore
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old June 7th 05, 06:21 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old June 7th 05, 06:27 PM
shelly
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old June 7th 05, 06:37 PM
Melinda Shore
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old June 7th 05, 06:40 PM
shelly
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old June 7th 05, 06:40 PM
ceb
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old June 7th 05, 06:43 PM
shelly
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old June 7th 05, 06:55 PM
diannes
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old June 7th 05, 07:53 PM
shelly
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

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)
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
A bit of excitement ceb Dog behavior 9 May 17th 05 08:56 PM
A little excitement [email protected] Dog behavior 26 November 10th 04 02:42 AM
Morning excitement D.Currie Dog behavior 53 July 1st 04 07:54 AM
Morning excitement D.Currie Dog behavior 0 June 28th 04 02:13 AM
Morning excitement D.Currie Dog behavior 0 June 28th 04 02:13 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:42 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0 (Unauthorized Upgrade)
Copyright ©2004-2024 DogBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.