April 4, 2010

HAPPY EASTER!  Hope everyone is having a beautiful, restful day today. 

 Zoe and I started out the morning early...at 4:20...when Zoe let me know she HAD to go out.  I wasn't really excited about an early bathroom break on a day when I get to sleep in, but she was VERY insistent and persuasive, so we went out, me with my eyes barely open.  The second I opened the door, I knew there was going to be trouble.  She shot out into the yard with purpose and intent, which is ALWAYS a bad sign.  Sure enough, before I could get to the corner of the house, she's yelping and something is growling / hissing and she's barking furiously and I'm FREAKING!  I'm even more freaked when I see what she has cornered.  TWO, count them, TWO HUGE opossums.  Really, seriously huge.  Bigger than she is...which considering she only weighs 13.5 lbs., it isn't too hard for raccoons and opossums to easily outweigh her.  As I watch helplessly, one of them is taking advantage of the confusion to slink away.  The other one, the biggest one by far, is ready to fight, teeth barred, hissing and snapping at her as she dances around the awful, freakish-looking thing.  My heart was in my throat.  I kept calling her, but Zoe was so focused on the intruder, she wasn't paying any attention to me.  I finally got her to come to me, after what seemed like 10 minutes of calling her name loudly and forcefully.  She let me pick her up and she was whimpering and snuggling under my neck.  That freaked me out even more.  I was scared to death she was hurt, but even though the porch lights were blazing. it was still too dark to see well,   I ran into the house with her in my arms and examined her (with her still snuggling and whimpering), but I couldn't find any injuries.  I looked again later, when she wasn't so in need of being held and loved on.  Still no signs of broken skin.  Needless to say, I didn't exactly go back to sleep.  I was a little wound up at this point.  But I'm thankful my silly little Schnauzer isn't injured and I'm praying we never encounter those possums again!