A Friday Fiasco!

Our day started off with a heart-stopping moment here at Golden Pines! The morning started off as usual. I let the dogs out, fed the cat (she'd not eaten since last night so she was starved!) and I sat down to read blogs and check e-mails. It was not unusual to have the dogs barking at something because there's almost always a rabbit having breakfast nearby. There was also a little barking inside the house, again it wasn't nothing unusual. Sheba did seem a little nervous because she came to me a couple of times and I noticed that she was a little wet around her neck, but I wasn't concerned since we'd had a some rain yesterday.

Promptly at 6 o'clock, just as he always does, Sam came into the office to announce that it was time to get moving and go for our morning walk. I walked into the living room, and in the darkness of the room, I stepped on something cold and wet. I quickly turned on the light saw the wet lifeless body of a young opossum and I had stepped on its tail!!! My screams of shock, surprise or whatever you'd like to call it were no doubt heard throughout the county! They also brought about bedlam and confusion as the dogs began running to me and away from me! I yelled at all the dogs to get outside. Knowing that it was probably safer to listen to a shrieking crazy woman most of the dogs did exactly as they were told. However, Sheba who is always compliant found herself torn between wanting to do what she was told and rolling on the poor lifeless body of the opossum, which in all the commotion she managed to do a couple of times. Carl emerged from the bedroom and told me to get a towel because it was moving its mouth and appeared to still be alive. I couldn't look, I'd already seen and felt enough of it. Carl said there were no visible injuries, and maybe it was "playing possum" (or pretending to be dead for those who don't know the phrase) We decided that we would put it in a small dog crate from our barn and find someone to care for it. I chose going to the barn to get the crate and chance the spotting of a mouse over staying with a possibly injured, wet and wild animal. Carl took it outside and laid it on the grass where it promptly "woke up" and casually walked into the tall grass and safety of the woods.......Well okay then.....Lets get this day started!


**Postscript to post--We both checked all the dogs thoroughly including their mouths and thankfully NO injuries were found on any of them. I however, have a little bit of a sore throat ***