our Newfie

[rumpel]

just killed a baby opossum! He brought it into the house, and it was really in bad shape - :(

I am quite cross with him right now...

Last night he was going crazy at one corner of the yard, and I had to take a leash to pry him away from there. I heard this low growl - I knew it was an opossum, racoons we have too, but they gnarl and hiss when cornered. I hope it is not a nest and there are more...

We all feel so bad. Sigh.

[NJCher]

1. same deal here

My sympathies are with you.

Right now I have a chipmunk running loose in the house. Poor little thing is terrifed, with two black kitties on either side of him. I think he's under the black storage unit in the living room. I saw them bring him in this morning and I tried to catch him and take him back outside but I just wasn't fast enough.

BTW, my kitties are indoor but they have a catwalk to the garden and in the garden there is a cage that they can sit in and watch nature. Unfortunately, they are so clever and cunning that they can even catch a little hapless chipmunk from their cage.

This is what I call the "dark side" of our animal companions.



Cher

[rumpel]

8. sure is dark side

well at least he is running around...somewhere

[I Have A Dream]

2. (((rumpel)))

:(

:hug:

[rumpel]

16. thank you , Dream

but....

[Callie McAllie]

3. We have had a pregnant possie living under our deck

My hubby and I have seen her in the evenings from the porch. She's not pregnant any more, thouhg, so we must have babies under the deck too now.
Every morning the animals go out and sniff around frantically.

The same thing happened last year, with racoons. All winter we'd been calling that fat racoon sneaking under the deck "Rocky." Until spring, when he came out with five babies in tow behind him, uh, her. Rockette, I guess.

[rumpel]

10. that's funny

Rockette & gang went off into the woods, happily thereafter?

[PinkTiger]

4. You guys!

You are all city folk, I can tell.
This is hilarious to those of us who live in the wild, wooly woods, but I can understand the sentiments. It is tough when your pets are not civilized.
On our farm, we have every type of animal you can imagine, and our cat and dog are no longer interested (cat is interested, but he is lazy. Sits under the bird feeder and licks his chops, but too fat to do anything about it.) I actually praise my dog when he gets a bit riled when the coyotes come up to the fence. He hates their taunting. To make him feel good, I'll say, "Bandit, go gettim!!!!" And he tries, but he is a wuss. LOL
It's raining this morning, but usually we can go out in the yard and look over the field and see deer grazing in the lower 40, right along with the cattle. We have wild geese and cranes on the lake, and in the winter we have bald eagles who come down from the hills to seek food.
On the blacktop leading to town, we have many a dead armadillo, occasionally a skunk (pew) and scores of assorted raccoons, possums, and squirrels that end up being road kill.
So it is hard to imagine how you feel about the dog killing the possum. But I do feel for you. I know Larry, my husband, used to get very cross with our late dog Duchess, because she would kill rabbits. She preferred the baby ones, and that is what really pissed him off. But Duchess was old, and the babies were easier for her. I told him, we have so many rabbits! And they will eat your garden!
Side note: If you don't believe we have rabbits galore, every time I come home after dark and drive up to park, dozens of rabbits run for cover. It looks like a regular warren.

[rumpel]

11. :)

you are lucky you have the company of so many animals.

We do have them all too - but not many can actually visit our backyard - it is all fenced in. The bunnies actually live in an area where the dogs can not get in, but every moment the dogs are not in the yard they are out there grazing on the lawn. lol they are way too fast for our non-hunters.

I do smell the skunks and the deer do prance down our street at dusk, and the coyotes howl at night. The only visitor I would be apprehensive in our yard about is a mountain lion. Each of them have a large territory and we do occasionally have reports of them watching children play. I believe the ranger said there are 3 or so here in the Santa Monica Mountains...

Yup, our dogs are totally uncivilized..the Newfie thinks he is my lap dog

[PinkTiger]

22. We don't have Mountain Lions; thank goodness!

We do have bob cats and an occasional panther or black bear; but the panthers are rare and solitary, and stay away from our farms because they are scared of us and have plenty of food in the timber. In California the natural habitat of the Mountain Lion has been usurped by humans, right? I think that is the reason they are around, that and the scarcity of food.
Don't you just love the wild animals? We do. But there are many more people around here now than there used to be 31 years ago when I moved to this place. We have a herd of deer who live on our farm, and we never hunt them. My husband is one of those guys who think Deer Camp is spelled with a B. (Beer camp, get it?)

All they do every November is pitch tents, add a generator, a TV set and Dish network, and play cards and drink. Silliest thing I ever saw.

[rumpel]

23. panthers must be beautiful

I have only seen the acting ones - worked twice with black panthers. I have great respect for them.

Yes, it is sad...but we have the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and they pretty much bought a lot of the remaining land so it can no longer be developed. But the damage is done. There is one section they are still trying to get. But there is just not enough range for any more mountain lions than there are now.
We have plenty of deer and rabbits, but after fires and in drought conditions it gets tough for them -
I don't think they are hungry in a sense when they observe the children - the animal trainers will not let children, especially near panthers - you can not look them directly into their eyes - even from afar they sense it from your body language - they take it as a challenge.

beer camp is a good one.

[LWolf]

17. I feel both sides.

Living rurally puts us closer to the cycles of life; our pets have their place in the scheme of things.

I'll be honest. Spiders don't bother me; I move them out of the house, but otherwise leave them alone. Packrats and mice DO bother me. I trap them year-round, and the cat helps some.

I also have an incredible over-population of rabbits this year. Last year my cat brought in several baby bunnies, some live, some not. This year, my dog is enjoying chasing them all over the place.No casualties yet. ;)

While I'm generally quite content to share my world, I have a low tolerance for rodents.

[rumpel]

19. I agree

several years back we had an overpopulation of rats in the area and everyone had problems. They had chewed through my cables in my truck, I had at the time, several times which cost me quite a bit.
Then they had chewed through the concrete foundation and went into the garage! It took a call to the pros.
We are just careful not to attract them into the house, but they are around. I hear them in the bushes at night...eeek.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Remember that animals live in a state of grace

and that the hunter and the hunted are a part of the natural process. One reason oppossums have so many young is that so many of them do become prey. So bless them and send them on their way.

[rumpel]

12. thanks, ayesha

see post below :)

[stellanoir]

6. rumpel

OKAY

I'm coming straight over to abduct your newfie for a little "time out" period.

I've always especially LOVED newfies.

There was one named Henry who used to walk with his mistress up and down the street where I read in the mid 90's.

I was the reader and worked with all these college clerks who were always pining away over their impossible boyfriends.

So I mocked them by pretending to pine for Henry by saying stuff like, "Oh that bandana he's wearing is all WRONG for him. It's simply not his color. His mistress clearly doesn't understand him the way I do."

I was having great fun.

Yesterday I had a bumblebee in the house who my son's cat decided to hunt and boy oh boy did that bee got quite irate. I thought, "Oh great. One of us will get stung."

I found myself talking to the bee. "The window is that way." LOL

Then I opened the window wider and went out into the garden and hoped for the best. It worked. Phew.

I guess it's long past time to put the screens up.

But seriously, when my son's cat brings in his "trophies" of wounded rodents and birds, I really don't like finding myself in the dilemma of wondering whether it's more ethical to take the animal back outside to probably die a slow and torturous inevitable death or just let nature take its course.

I hope you and your pooch have made peace by now .

:grouphug:

[rumpel]

13. thanks, yes

see post below

btw I have yet to take him to swim...unfortunately they don't allow dogs on most beaches around here..

[latebloomer]

7. Our cat killed its first bird yesterday

My daughter was so upset.

She said, "All the other birds were crying."

[rumpel]

14. it is upsetting

your poor daughter...give her hugs from me

:grouphug:

[latebloomer]

21. Thank you, my friend

I will.

:hug:

[vanboggie]

9. Awwwww, been there!

Are you sure it isn't still alive?? We lost our Newfie Tipper last Spring, but I remember when she "killed" an opossum. This was a full size one, and we pulled her away from it after the deed was done ... we thought. When we went back to the yard to bury it, the opossum was gone. It's amazing it survived Tipper's huge jaws, but "playing possum" did the trick.

Newfies are the best. I can't tell you how much we still miss her. My late father-in-law named her after Tipper Gore.




Edited to add: We do live in the wild, wooly woods. Tipper was my horse dog. Most horse people have the herder breeds, but Tip was the best at keeping the horses in line. When she was failing and having trouble walking, she'd still make it out to the barn with me. It was her job :) She was a great lap dog, too. I don't miss the bushels of Newfie fur always floating about the house. Still, I try to stay clear of Newfs these days because if I ever had the chance, I'd let another own me in a minute.

[rumpel]

15. ooooh... & bingo

yes, they are incredible sweet..

[rumpel]

18. A hopeful epilogue

So, we thought the opossum was dead or will be within minutes, and did not want the dogs get to it. What to do? So, I asked daughter's fiancee took him to the trash, which he had already placed at the curb earlier for todays collection.

It nagged me and I thought why did we not bury him...

I post the post here, and then sat thinking...wait a minute! These things pretend to have died. So I call my daughter's fiancee and told him we should bring him back and put him where I think his mom is, and even if he dies at least he dies a dignified death - not in the stink of human trash and dog poo.
And so we go with flashlight and placed him where the dogs can not get to.

This morning he was gone! Maybe he was not hurt that bad after all.:bounce:

I bet you, the only way our Newfie got to him was because he pretended to have died.
In the morning when I go pick up the mess of the dogs, all dogs join me. A few times I saw the Newfie's nose pretty much stuck to the ground sniffing and obviously following a trail, busting through bushes like a bulldozer - a bunny 5 feet in front of him, accelerating away to safe territory - Newfie never sees the bunny. lol
A sight hound, they are definitely not.

I just hope opossum is alive and Mom moved next door with her entourage. They currently do not have a dog...their's was a hunter.

[Celebration]

20. Great story!!

Tincture of patience, essence of time= prescription

(my MD dad's favorite saying)

Hey it works--like for a waterlogged baby bird I scooped up out of the pool--GONE IN HOURS

The wildlife, and even our domesticated animals, liked to play "possom." I have too many stories to enumerate........ :P