Playin' Possum

Well, the other night while I was already in my pajamas and slippers, my husband had taken the dogs out after dark for their late evening before bedtime "potty". He came flying in the door with two of the three dogs and stated that I had better come quick as there was a dead animal in our back garden up against the fence and Spot, the border collie had dragged it for some feet by it's *ss. So I grabbed a coat and a flashlight and back out we went. As I shined the light towards the whitish creature, the reflection of eyes moving along the fence line in a westerly direction was what I saw. My British husband who doesn't have much experience with wild creatures in the States, swore to me that it dead and stiff as he had kicked at it in his slippers! OMG! Fido immediately went for it as I was screaming at Steve to get his dog. It, of course, "dropped dead" in it's tracks, leaving it's mouth partially open showing just exactly how sharp it's teeth are. Steve managed to get the dog indoors and came back out and approached the opossum once again to push at it with his slippers exclaiming, "I didn't realize they had such sharp teeth!" In which I replied, "That's why, darling, you should be kicking it at with slippers on. Haven't you ever heard the saying, "Playin' possum"?". We left it alone and it went on it's merry way. Having horses, I do not like to have opossums on my property, but I keep my feed locked up and safe. I then reminded Steve that opossums are marsupials and she was probably carrying a sack of infants. If you think this is bad, you should see him try to battle off a pack of coyotes with a flashlight. I would have used the shotgun! Also in his slippers and jammies!