Bad Kitty

Opossum - Opossum

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The bad kitties are back. *Thomas, you're strange, what are you talking about now?* I bought my house December 2004. In the Spring of 2005, I experienced my first resident Opossum brood. There were 5 of them; the momma and the babies. I know they are transient and fairly passive so I wasn't worried about them. What I was worried about, was the mutt. My dog is very protective, but if you're ON the property he figures you're a friend. Inside the house is a different story. But the Opossum's were outside. My dog is a quick learner and stubbornly smart. But he knows the following words well:

• Bad
• Kitty, and
• Careful

So I sat on the back porch and let him watch the Opossum invade his space while holding onto him. He so very badly wanted to go play with them. I told him, "Careful - Bad Kitty." He just looked at me like, "but dad, surely not!" We waited and watch. All the while I kept repeating "Careful - Bad Kitty." I then let him loose. He slowly walked around and the Opossum just watched him. He slowly meandered up to the larger one. It hissed and he jumped back and ran to me. "Daddy, Bad Kitty." I had to laugh. But he learned. The bad kitties stayed for about a month then moved on, as they normally do.

The past couple of days, he's been acting sort of funny wanting to stay out longer and sniffing at the hole in the door to the garage (which is a fancy word for saying structure that needs to be torn down.) Tonight - I discovered that the bad kitties had returned. Dog did his business and came right back in for what he knew would be some people-food yummy scraps. Well that ended quickly enough. So I took him to the back door and told him to sit. He and I had a man to dog revisit on the "bad kitties." He looked at me, as if to say, "you dork, I've been trying to tell you that for days. Can I go back out and have tea with my friends, please?" They are just outside hanging inside the garage. I think my dog thinks he's their protector. Yes, he's had his rabies vaccine, but I'm not worried. I'm more worried about the chow-chow that has learned to climb fences. It's the funniest durn thing to watch. And my dog - he don't be likin' no chow-chow's, at all.